Break Free From Fatigue
Fatigue isnt the same as tiredness. Its weariness, lethargy, apathy, and a general lack of energy all wrapped up into one depressing package that doesnt go away when you sleep or rest.
Unfortunately most people dont understand that. Friends and family can think youre being lazy and might expect you to pull yourself together. But fatigue isnt a condition that you can recover from by trying harder or thinking positively. Thats why weve design this simple chronic fatigue test.
While fatigue can be related to lack of sleep, its also usually related to doing too much, experiencing high stress and having a poor diet. For some people, it can become chronic, making everyday tasks increasingly difficult sometimes impossible.
If youre suffering from fatigue, the challenge is figuring out whats causing it. This chronic fatigue test investigates the underlying factors that can contribute to a general lack of energy. Based on your blood test results, our medical professionals can advise you on simple changes you can make to improve your energy.
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Physical Causes Of Tiredness
Tiredness may be due to a wide range of physical illnesses. Examples include:
- A tendency to be lacking in iron .
- An underactive thyroid gland .
- Side-effects of some medicines .
Most physical causes of tiredness will cause other symptoms. Some causes of tiredness may not cause any other symptoms apart from tiredness.
Find Out If You Have A Mthfr Genetic Mutation
Methyl-tetra-hydro-folate reductase is an enzyme that your body uses to convert folate into the active form of folate used by the body. This process is methylation.
There are a few common genetic mutations that can influence how effectively your body is able to make this important conversion. Poor methylators commonly experience symptoms such as sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, fatigue and/or chronic pain. Here are some of the most common versions of the MTHFR genetic mutation, and how much it influences your bodys ability to convert folate from food and supplements into methyl folate, the form that is useable by your body:
- MTHFR C677T = heterozygous mutation estimated up to 40% loss of function
- MTHFR T677T = homozygous mutation estimated up to 70% loss of function
- MTHFR A1298C = heterozygous mutation estimated up to 20% loss of function
- MTHFR C1298C = homozygous mutation estimated up to 40% loss of function
You used to be able to find out if you have a MTHFR genetic mutation by taking a 23andme ancestry test and then accessing the resulting raw genetic data, but rumor has it they no longer include MTHFR in the raw genetic data, so the best bet is probably asking your doctor to run genetic testing.
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How Pathology Testing Can Help Identify The Cause Of Patient Fatigue
Fatigue is a symptom which can have debilitating effects on patients, posing a negative impact on their overall quality of life including work, family life and general social relationships. Patients experiencing chronic, ongoing fatigue often find it difficult to convey their symptoms to their healthcare professionals. What if there was a way to test for conditions associated with fatigue, giving practitioners and their patients a clearer more targeted treatment approach? Studies have confirmed that without treatment the prognosis of patients with idiopathic fatigue is poor.
Pathology testing is the first step in identifying the cause of patients fatigue. The most common conditions associated with fatigue are usually anaemia, thyroid disorders and vitamin D deficiency. These disorders have a known pathophysiological association with fatigue, therefore testing for these first will provide practitioners with a baseline for potential underlying causes of fatigue.
Stress and poor sleep can also have direct influence in elevated levels of fatigue. Testing patients salivary cortisol and melatonin levels can provide further insight into potential contributors to fatigue symptoms.
Gut health and genetics can also be implicated in the development of fatigue symptoms. Testing for intestinal permeability or identifying a polymorphisms on the MTHFR gene methylation pathway, may be useful particularly with patients presenting with idiopathic symptoms of fatigue.
There Are Four Essential Lab Tests That Can Be Run By Your Conventional Doctor In Order To Uncover The Cause Of Your Fatigue
The conventional treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome is wretched. Antidepressants and painkillers are never going to address the underlying or root cause of your fatigue. But before you spend lots of money on a functional medicine practitioner, have your conventional doctor run the following lab tests. These labs are some of the more common causes of fatigue. Unfortunately, even they are seldom tested for in a conventional setting.
Your chronic fatigue could actually be an imbalance in specific vitamins, minerals, and/or hormones. All of which can easily be tested for by your family doctor.
Below, Ill describe each of the lab tests I recommend you have done as well as two different reference ranges you should use to interpret your results.
The conventional reference range is what your doctor will use to determine whether you have a disease/illness. This reference range is not conducive to health. It measures disease. Conventional reference ranges were created using unhealthy controls. Consider diabetes. As more and more people develop diabetes than ever before, the normal blood sugar level continues to increase. This is not reflective of healthy populations. It is reflective of populations with higher numbers of diabetes.
Remember, normal does not equate to healthy.
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Treat Your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Testing for chronic fatigue syndrome is definitely recommended and certainly helps to diagnose the condition. After testing is completed, a few different treatments can be used, including medication, getting plenty of rest, and natural remedies. To learn more about this condition and treatment options available for you, contact us at Medical Transformation Center in Louisville, KY today.
Most Patients Get Better But It Takes A While
Over the past year, Avdalovic has seen improvements with his patients in the long-haul clinic. In general, these patients get better over time. The first 15 patients seen at the clinic were all experiencing fatigue and shortness of breath. They saw their symptoms improve after seven weeks of pulmonary training or exercise to strengthen the lungs. Participants improved on the six-minute walk test, which measures how far someone can walk in six minutes and their cardiovascular response. With about three-fourths of our patients, things eventually come back to either normal or near-normal for them. But it’s just that for some, it takes a long time, Avdalovic said.
Link here to more about the UC Davis Post-COVID-19 clinic.
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Probiotics For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Roman and associates noted that evidence suggested that the gut microbiota might play an important role in fibromyalgia syndrome and CFS. These investigators reviewed the reported effect of probiotic treatments in patients diagnosed with FMS or CFS. They performed a systematic review using 14 databases in February 2016 to search for RCTs and pilot studies of CFS or FMS patient, published in the past 10 years . The Jadad scale was used to evaluate the quality of the clinical trials considered 2 studies met the inclusion criteria, which were performed in CFS patients and both studies were considered as a high range of quality score. The administration of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota in CFS patients, over the course of 8 weeks, reduced anxiety scores. Likewise, this probiotic changed the fecal composition following 8 weeks of treatment. Additionally, the treatment with Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in CFS patients, during the same period, reduced inflammatory biomarkers. The authors concluded that the evidence on the usefulness of probiotics in CFS and FMS patients remains limited. The studied strains of probiotics have demonstrated a significant effect on modulating the anxiety and inflammatory processes in CFS patients. However, these researchers stated that more experimental research, focusing mainly on the symptoms of the pathologies studied, is needed.
Immune Activation Is Associated With Depression And Fatigue
Higher rates of depression and fatigue have been shown across a broad range of conditions associated with activation of the immune system such as allergies, autoimmune diseases , and infections . Patients with both atopy and asthma have a roughly 50% increased rate of depression . Du et al. found that 35.9% of asthmatic patients suffer from depression and that TNF levels were significantly higher in the depressed cohort, with IFN being significantly lower.
In diabetes, activated inflammatory immune response is implicated in its pathogenesis, with immune activation being involved in the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes . Meta-analyses have found that the prevalence of depression in patients with diabetes is up to twice that of people without the disease . Associations have been shown between depression and serum levels of CRP, IL-1, IL-1RA, and MCP-1 in type 2 diabetes patients, with all serum levels being significantly higher in those who are depressed .
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Free T4 Test This Type Of Test Looks At A Hormone In The Body Called Thyroxine Thyroxine Is Then Converted To T3 Which Is A Hormone That Regulates Body Temperature Helps In Producing Energy And Monitors Heart Rate
People who have hypothyroidism might experience a decreased production of thyroxine which can lead to excessive fatigue, lack of motivation, and other symptoms.
TSH test TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone which is a type of hormone produced by the pituitary gland. The fatigue panel looks at the levels of TSH in your bloodstream to determine if you have too much or too little TSH.
This hormone is important because as its name implies, it stimulates the thyroid gland to produce T4 and T3 hormones. If the TSH levels are too high, the thyroid gland might work overtime which leads to thyroid dysfunction and fatigue.
Free T3 Test We talked about the T3 hormone earlier in the Free T4 Test, and we learned that the T3 gets converted from T4. This hormone is also responsible with regulating the heart rate, body temperature, and other important body functions.
If the levels of unbound triiodothyronine are too low, this might result in excessive fatigue which can last for weeks and even months. It is important to mention here that a high-quality fatigue panel looks at the free levels of T3 in the body, not only at the total T3 levels, because these are the most responsible with regulating energy and causing fatigue.
What Is Chronic Fatigue
Fatigue is our bodys way of letting us know that we need to rest and recover. It happens after intense exercise or sleep loss. Normally, we can beat fatigue by sleeping more, letting our bodies recover after exercise, eating healthier, and reducing stress. But what happens when youre still tired all the time even after a full nights sleep and cutting the sugar out of your diet? This is when fatigue becomes chronic. With chronic fatigue, you dont just feel physically tired and weak. You also lack the motivation to accomplish daily tasks, cant concentrate, and may even feel slightly depressed.
If you can relate to this, then its time to dig deeper to see whats really going on. By taking specific lab tests, you can uncover the source of your fatigue and start taking steps to get your mood, focus, and energy back.
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How The Study Worked
The study included 32 patients, ages 21 to 79, who had been independently diagnosed as depressed in a clinical interview, and 32 non-depressed controls in the same age range. Some of the patients had been on long-term antidepressants but were still depressed. The patients, from Northwestern general internal medicine clinics, also were participating in a previously reported study comparing the effectiveness of face-to-face and telephone-administered cognitive behavioral therapy.
At baseline before the therapy, Northwestern scientists found nine RNA blood markers with levels significantly different in the depressed patients from those of controls. These markers were able to diagnose depression.
After 18 weeks of therapy , the changed levels of certain markers could differentiate patients who had responded positively and were no longer depressed from patients who remained depressed. This is the first biological indicator of the success of cognitive behavioral therapy, the study authors said.
What Do The Results Mean
If you are diagnosed with depression, it’s important to get treatment as soon as possible. The sooner you get treatment, the better chance you have of recovery. Treatment for depression may take a long time, but most people who get treated eventually feel better.
If your primary care provider diagnosed you, he or she may refer you to a mental health provider. If a mental health provider diagnosed you, he or she will recommend a treatment plan based on the type of depression you have and how serious it is.
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Are There Lab Tests For Depression
Panyawat Boontanom / EyeEm / Getty Images
When you’re ill, your doctor may run a battery of tests to help figure out what’s causing you to feel unwell. In the case of common infections, a simple blood test can make the diagnosis and guide your doctor in prescribing the right treatment.
When you have symptoms of mental illness, however, diagnosis and treatment can be a far more complex process. Promising research is being done, but we don’t yet have a simple blood test that can diagnose depression.
Check Your Calcium And Potassium Levels With Hair Analysis
High calcium can be a true driver of fatigue, as it slows down your body. The average American today gets far too much calcium relative to potassium. Typically, this isn’t because one is in too much calcium from food sources per say , but instead from calcium supplements, calcium fortified food, and/or increased calcium absorption from taking high dose vitamin D3. Part of vitamin Ds job is to tell your body to absorb more calcium from your food, pushing calcium levels even higher in the body, and pushing potassium levels lower. Pair that with a chronically low intake of potassium from fruits and vegetables, and you have yourself some powerful nutritional forces messing with your thyroid hormone’s ability to do its job. This often manifests with symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, low body temperature, blood sugar issues , and sluggish digestion.
Luckily, you can find out what your calcium and potassium levels are with hair analysis. By assessing the ratio of your calcium to potassium levels, you can see how well your thyroid hormones are doing their job. Then, if needed, make supplemental and dietary adjustments to bring the ratio into better balance, supporting healthy thyroid function naturally.
If youre curious if vitamin D supplementation has your thyroid function in hot water by way of high calcium levels, you may want to consider getting a hair analysis, to see how it’s affecting your mineral levels. You can learn more about hair analysis or get started here.
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How To Treat It
Brain fog treatment depends on the cause. For example, if youre anemic, iron supplements may increase your production of red blood cells and reduce your brain fog.
If youre diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, a doctor may recommend a corticosteroid or other medication to reduce inflammation or suppress the immune system.
Sometimes, relieving brain fog is a matter of correcting a nutritional deficiency, switching medications, or improving the quality of your sleep.
Home remedies to improve brain fog include:
- sleeping 8 to 9 hours per night
- managing stress by knowing your limitations and avoiding excessive alcohol and caffeine
- strengthening your thinking abilities
- finding enjoyable activities
Pick Your Fatigue Test Today
You are not supposed to live with chronic tiredness regardless of your age or medical condition. If you have one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, make sure that you order a fatigue test from below.
These tests will check your health and give you an insight into what’s wrong with your hormones. Many patients report improvements after just a few days or weeks of treatment, so why shouldn’t you feel full of life and energy again?
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Understand What It Is
Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis , is a chronic and complex disease where you have difficulty in physical activities due to extreme tiredness. It can affect multiple body systems, including the nervous system, brain, hormones, immune system, or gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms vary from person to person, but some of the common ones are fatigue that doesnt improve with rest or sleep, muscle pain, and cognitive impairment.
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What Is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Myalgic encephalomyelitis , commonly referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome , is a complex disorder characterized by unexplained and persistent fatigue. Generally, it is not the result of ongoing exertion and rest does not improve symptoms. The condition usually results in a substantial reduction of previous levels of occupational, educational, social or personal activities.
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Immunomodulatory Effects Of Antidepressant And Anti
Changes in the levels of immune markers have also been associated with the response to antidepressant therapies and found helpful in predicting treatment efficacy . In mice treated with LPS, serotonin reuptake inhibitor and serotoninnorepinephrine reuptake inhibitor administration lead to decreased serum levels of TNF and increased levels of IL-10 . In the repeated social stress model, treatment with tricyclic antidepressant decreased microglial expression of IL-6 mRNA both in vivo and following ex vivo stimulation, where TNF and IL-1 mRNA levels were also reduced . In vitro studies using animal macrophages have also confirmed similar immunosuppressive effects where the decrease in IL-6 and increase in IL-10 that follows treatment with amitriptyline, fluoxetine, and mianserin, suggests that such effects may be mediated by an inhibition of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells pathway . On the other hand, Munzer et al. found that treatment in vitro of whole blood cultures with SSRIs and mirtazapine, a tetracyclic antidepressant , had the opposite effect on the stimulated production of cytokines, with an increase in inflammatory markers including IL-1, IL-6, and TNF.
