Chronic infections, steal infections are part of the cycle in the ‘nothing is wrong with you’ diagnosis or even the basic label of fibromyalgia.
This is when you have been chasing chronic pain, inflammation, always sick, chronic digestive issues, brain fog, anxiety, depression, chronic sinus and lung trouble, thyroid ‘disease’, adrenal fatigue.
Lyme is consistently missed and mimics RA, ALS, Alzhemiers. This is not something you want to misdiagnose and choose the wrong treatment. We will talk about diagnosis and treatment in just a few minutes.
Most people with these infections find everything they do or take gets them about 10% better, maybe even 25% better but then in a few weeks they are back to being miserable. Nothing works. Nothing sticks.
The question functional medicine always works to answer is “why”. why is nothing working? where is this coming from? Which system is down, and STOP CHASING SYMPTOMS.
True health is not ‘which symptom to fix first’ it is a ‘which system to fix first.”
What is a chronic infection, think of something like epstein barr virus or Lyme disease, where the body is unable to completely kill the pathogen so it remains in the body, doing its dirty work, inflamming the body, and causing chronic conditions. So we start chasing the hypertension, thyroid disease, and sinus infection instead of the root cause.
Looking at your blood work you might see that your liver markers are up, you have autoimmune markers showing, your CRP and monocytes are elevated. Also, you might see nothing at all.
This is why we use symptoms surveys, a total health history analysis, and other labs.
What do you do if you think you have a chronic infection?
1. Get tested for that specific issue
2. Start with a gentle detox to reset the body, clear the pathways for the body to start to heal
3. Get specific in your treatment. This is when we look at homeopathic kits, essential oils, and herbal support.
You do need to know that one thing is never one thing.
This means that there is usually an initial infection that is driving the bus. Like the multiple bacteria strains of Lyme or simple as strep from childhood that doesn’t clear. Then the bus is able to make stops and add on viruses, mold, and more bacteria.
Candida or yeast infections are never alone. They are almost always a secondary infection. I tell you this so you don’t run out and chase one issue, you have to look at everything and work with a functional medicine specialist because when it comes to testing, these tests are up for INTERPRETATION. This is not a yes/no situation.
When we test for EBV (epstien barr virus) the physician gets a chart to see interpret the results. I have said “yes you have an infection” and another doctor has said “no there is no infection” looking at the same test. There is the same situation for Lyme disease. The test is up for interpretation. If you see a doctor that specializes in Lyme, or has a Lyme clinic, you honestly will be diagnosed with Lyme.
In speaking of Lyme specifically, Johns Hopkins says the test misses 55% of Lyme positive patients and the CDC says the tests miss 81% of positive patients that did not have a rash.
I use a questionnaire specific for Lyme as well as testing. We go by symptoms and muscle testing. We can treat multiple infections at once, but your protocols will be very patient specific. Meaning, I can’t give you my chronic infection protocol because it is different for everyone.
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#illness #autoimmune #infection #lyme #EBV #strep