The Reason for Your Chronic Fatigue May Be Hidden in Plain Sight
In conventional medicine, a condition must have progressed far enough along for it to be diagnosed and treated. But, what about low-grade symptoms that don’t meet the threshold for diagnosis nor treatment? Many think that they simply have to live with symptoms such as chronic fatigue or abdominal pain and constipation. But, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the reason for our symptoms is diagnosable and reducible if we simply refer to a different scale.
In integrative or functional medicine we refer to parameters of good health rather than disease. The scale is different - narrower.
Some Example…
I’ll give you the example of hypothyroidism; a very common issue that can lead to chronic constipation and fatigue. In conventional medicine your doctor will typically run a test called TSH. If it comes back above 5 iu/ml you’ll be diagnosed with hypothyroidism and potentially treated with medication. But, what if we looked at hypothyroidism in the context of good health? Most people feel their best with a TSH score of about 2 iu/ml. Anything above that might warrant investigation if you are feeling fatigued or depressed. But, we also want to know why the thyroid isn’t functioning optimally. We can look at the markers free T4 or thyroglobulin to determine if more iodine is needed for the thyroid to make thyroid hormone. We can look at the marker free T3 to determine if the thyroid is actually converting the inactive thyroid hormone to it’s active form T3. If free T3 is below the optimal range this could mean you need more selenium, or that liver support is needed as this is largely where conversion occurs. And of course, check thyroid antibodies to determine if there is any presence of autoimmune thyroid disease. This last part I am passionate about as it was a decade beyond my first abnormal thyroid score before I learned I had autoimmune thyroid disease myself.
We can also look at liver enzymes and proteins to determine if specific nutrients are lacking or not being properly absorbed. Malabsorption of nutrients results in lower energy production by your cells.
And white blood cell counts to determine if there may be a low grade infection or inflammation. This is extremely important in the post pandemic era as many will experience lasting symptoms after having Covid. We commonly see low neutrophils in those experiencing post Covid fatigue.
Most people have had this bloodwork run, but just don’t know how to interpret or use it to their advantage. If you are interested in bloodwork interpretation feel free to book a one-on-one call (or a group workshop) with one of our practitioners at Cowichan Colonic and IV.
