What Are Mycotoxins?
Mycotoxins are toxins—mold spores—produced by some species of mold.
These molds grow both indoors and outdoors, often on plants or plant products, building materials like drywall, wood paneling, wallpaper, insulation, and carpeting.
Not only can mycotoxins make you sick, they can also cause conditions like asthma or even mental illness—there are some people who suffer from toxic-mold based illnesses who report depression, anxiety, lack of focus or brain fog, and some even report insomnia as a side effect.
There are many different mycotoxins that affect humans in different ways—specifically, mycotoxins and autoimmune disease is a growing field of research—but joint pain is a surprisingly common effect of mycotoxin infections.
If you are noticing joint pain along with respiratory problems and headaches, exposure to mold may just be the issue.
Why Mycotoxins Can Cause Joint Pain
Joint pain and mycotoxin infection are linked due to the way that mycotoxins affect the immune system.
Mycotoxins, like other natural and synthetic toxins, can actually cause your body to overproduce histamine. Histamine is the chemical that causes the body to go into “fight or flight” mode—that fight-or-flight response has many side effects , including increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, rapid breathing, dilated pupils…and joint pain.
Why Joint Pain Is A Problem For Mycotoxin Infection Sufferers
The thing to remember about joint pain is that it’s very similar to muscle fatigue. You might not even notice at first if you have arm or leg pain because you get used to it after a while—you don’t realize how much it’s actually hurting until you try to do something strenuous like lift a heavy box or carry groceries.
Likewise, if you’re experiencing chronic joint pain, you might not realize that it’s actually hurting because you gradually become accustomed to your level of discomfort. If you ignore the pain long enough, though, the muscles surrounding the joints (and even the joints themselves) can begin to degrade—the same way muscle tissue does when it goes unused for months or years at a time.
With mycotoxin infections, the pain doesn’t go away on its own—in fact, it doesn’t go away at all.
But there is a way to treat the pain and restore your body’s health: mycotoxin detox treatments.
Mycotoxins Making Pre-existing Joint Pain Worse
Many of the same problems that can be caused by mycotoxins will also exacerbate an existing problem with chronic joint pain. For example, inflammation—this is often one of the first side effects associated with toxic mold exposure, and if you suffer chronic joint pain, increased inflammation is only going to make the problem worse.
Holistic Treatments for Mycotoxin Infection
Any treatment plan for mycotoxin exposure and resulting chronic pain will need to be multifaceted.
The first step is finding a qualified physician to determine if your symptoms are actually stemming from mold exposure. Once you know this, you can begin targeted treatments such as the removal of allergenic materials in your home environment before exploring body detox programs.
Diet, exercise, and most importantly, supplemental therapy is one of the most effective ways to attack mold exposure.
How It Works
Detoxing via nutritional supplements, herbal tinctures, and homeopathic remedies to remove mycotoxins works primarily by binding them up in an inert form so they can be filtered by your kidneys or liver, or otherwise preventing them from being absorbed by your digestive system.
Vitamin C
Whole-food vitamin C is a potent detoxification aid because it binds with the chemicals before they have a chance to interact with any cells, allowing it to be safely excreted through urine. It also enhances white blood cell function which helps boost immunity against fungi.
Activated Charcoal
Although activated charcoal can bind to mold toxins in your digestive tract, most of the damage occurs before they ever get there so this treatment has limited benefits. Sometimes herbal treatments that stimulate liver cleansing might help you detoxify faster if taken at the same time as an activated charcoal regimen.
Molybdenum DTX
The most common herbal formula used by people who worry about mycotoxins is called molybdenum DTX. Molybdenum supplements contain chelating agents such as DMSA or EDTA, which grab hold of mycotoxins and flush them out through your urine.
Since activated charcoal can grab on to many beneficial nutrients as well as toxins, people who take molybdenum DTX have reported better outcomes and less fatigue from mold toxicity symptoms.
Conclusion
If you are experiencing joint pain with no apparent cause, the answer may be a mycotoxin infection, joint pain is one of the most common symptoms of mycotoxin exposure. If you suspect such a problem, contact a mold specialist, doctor or physician for a diagnosis.
