THE SURPRISING REASON WHY CHRONIC FATIGUE WON’T GO AWAY
If you are one of the 400,000 plus people in the UK suffering from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or ME, you may be shocked to learn one of the main reasons why you still have chronic fatigue. It may be ruining your life but this is something your doctor has probably never talked to you about. Yet knowing this most common cause is critical to your recovery. Read on to find out what it is …
“Your lab tests look fine”
Have you been to your doctor complaining of ongoing fatigue, perhaps accompanied by brain fog and aches and pains? Is your fatigue is stopping you from earning the living you would like, or looking after your family? If you overdo it one day, do you pay the price the next?
You are not alone. A UK study found that 1 in 50 sixteen years olds were affected by chronic fatigue lasting over 3 months. Chronic fatigue is no longer a condition of the elderly. This gives a small snapshot of how chronic fatigue can disable across the age spectrum.
Have you been told that all your lab tests look just fine? That there is nothing wrong, that it is “all in your head” and why don’t you take an antidepressant? I forgot to add menopause, which often gets blamed for everything if you are over the age of 35. But what if the cause of your fatigue isn’t psychosomatic, or antidepressant deficiency, but a lack of usable energy? In other words, a real physical condition that can be measured if you run the right tests.
The Big Missing Piece: Energy Delivery, not Motivation
Bodies are made up of cells. Energy (aka ATP) is the fuel produced in the powerhouses of the cells called mitochondria. When mitochondria get damaged, less energy gets made and the result is fatigue and poor exercise recovery.
Why “Rest More” Doesn’t Fix It
Sleep and rest may help a little but never solve the problem on their own. Resting doesn’t fix a leaking fuel tank. You need to find out what is actively draining the energy from the fuel tank and then address this.
The Stealth Infections Your Doctor Rarely Talks About
Infections - especially low-grade, lingering ones - are now recognised as the most common underlying trigger for chronic fatigue, even when the original illness seemed mild or is long forgotten. This type of infection isn’t acute, isn’t obvious (no fever) and is often quite old, reactivated, or never fully cleared in the first place. Examples include:
*Viruses (EBV, herpes family, Coxsackie, Long Covid)
*Bacteria (strep, Lyme and co-infections)
*Fungal or mould infections
*Parasites
These infections don’t always cause fever. They may be specific to certain organs (teeth, tonsils, gut, lungs, intestines and bladder). But they do demand constant energy from your immune system.
How Infections Quietly Drain Your Energy (The Part That No One Explains)
Your immune system protects you from outside “invaders” that it perceives as “non-self” and is always “on.” Viral, bacterial, fungal particles activate the immune response. Your immune system relies on energy to work. This is like leaving your car idling 24/7 - it uses up a lot of fuel!
Some microbes interfere directly with energy production by slowing down cell activity. An example of this is a virus directing thyroid hormone away from being made into active T3 hormone to metabolically inactive Reverse T3 hormone. This acts like the brake on the gas pedal, forcing you to slow down. Infections create chronic inflammation, alter blood flow, oxygen and nutrient uptake. The result is blocked energy flow in the energy production “factories” of the cells - heavy limbs, brain fog, “battery stuck at 20%.”
Why Fibromyalgia Feels Like Pain and Exhaustion
The word “fibromyalgia” describes the symptoms of pain and fatigue but this is not a diagnosis. Pain is an energy issue. Muscles without enough energy delivery in the cells become tight, acidic and hypertensive. The body becomes noisy and reactive when energy is low - the result is nervous system overload.
Why Standard Blood Tests Miss This
Standard blood tests are looking for acute disease. Chronic infections don’t behave that way. Doctors are trained to rule out danger, not explain dysfunction. This doesn’t mean your symptoms aren’t real. You just haven’t had specific enough tests to pick up the infections and immune dysfunction. To see how people can fall through the cracks with NHS infection tests, please read my blog on the Good Health Clinic website: Falling Through The Cracks With Standard NHS Infection Tests.
The Vicious Cycle: Low Energy Makes Infections Harder To Heal
Low energy means a weaker immune response to a perceived invader. A weaker immune response means that infections persist. Persistent infections mean even lower energy. This self-perpetuating loop explains crashes after stress, why “pushing through” or “graded exercise” backfires, why you might not be able to “bounce back.”
How Covid Has Made Things Worse
Covid, which we have all had contact with over the past few years, is an unusual kind of virus called
a retrovirus. Like certain other viruses such as chickenpox and Epstein Barr Virus (glandular fever), it does not exit the body but stays “dormant” in viral reservoirs in the body. The immune system is supposed to keep it in check.
Covid behaves like a retrovirus. The key thing about retroviruses is that they can wake up old infections that have been “sleeping” in the viral reservoirs in your body. Once these old infections like Epstein Barr, strep, shingles, Coxsackievirus, Lyme and co. are reactivated and now “awake,” the immune system reacts and produces symptoms, including fatigue.
Both Covid and its vaccines use a Spike Protein to enter cells. This is a foreign protein to the body which the immune system will perceive as an invader and then go on high alert. Once again, this uses up more energy. Sometimes, the Spike Protein production does not stop. I have seen it still active on lab results several years after viral or vaccine exposure.
What Is The Solution?
1.Test, don’t guess: To access the tests to find out if your immune system is struggling with stealth infections or still active Spike Protein, you need to go outside the NHS. Revealing the true causes of your fatigue can open up the pathway to recovery.
2.Support your immune system appropriately: The support needed depends on the results of your lab tests. It is important not to ignore this vital first step in the rush to address infections.
3.Address all sources of inflammation: This includes replacing inflammatory foods and drinks with anti-inflammatory nutritious foods, good sleep hygiene and reducing toxic and wifi exposures.
4.Address infections only when your immune system is ready: The big mistake is to go for infections when the immune system is still on high alert. A sign that this is occurring is hypersensitivity or “herx” reactions to the smallest does of supplements or foods. Going aggressively after infections at this stage will only backfire.
5. Address the unique factors on your case that will block recovery: A thorough case history helps reveal those factors which could include: Focal infections of the jawbone, teeth and tonsils (“focal” infections exert affects on distant organs); hollow space infections like sinus, lung, gut, bladder etc.which keep the immune system suppressed, toxic environment (wifi radiation, mould, lack of purpose, toxic relationships etc.) Be prepared to travel to see the right specialist dentist.
6.Once you have a plan, work at it, don’t get distracted by internet opinion: Be discerning with your sources of information. The internet is a vast confusing place filled with fake news, information and a surfeit of opinions. Keeping on questing when you have already found the answers in your lab tests can lead to confusion, anxiety and unnecessary suffering. Learn to switch from constant questing to sticking to the plan to get yourself better.
If you are battling chronic fatigue and would like help with this, please get in touch with the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment. Please note that an Enquiry call is not a consultation but an exploratory call to see if this is a clinical approach you wish to pursue.To your very good health,
Suzanne Jeffery (Nutritional Medicine Consultant)
M.A.(Oxon), BSc.(NMed), PGCE, GNC, BSEM, MNNA, CNHC
The Good Health Clinic at The Business Centre, 2, Cattedown Road, Plymouth PL4 0EG
Tel no: 07836 552936/ Answer phone: 01752 774755
Disclaimer:
All advice given out by Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic is for general guidance and informational purposes only. All advice relating to other health professionals’ advice is for general guidance and information purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information provided with other sources. Patients and consumers should review the information carefully with their professional health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by other practitioners and physicians. Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages arising therefrom.