{"id":31838,"date":"2025-01-06T22:04:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T04:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?p=31838"},"modified":"2025-01-06T22:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T04:04:13","slug":"a-checklist-of-overlooked-causes-of-chronic-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/06\/a-checklist-of-overlooked-causes-of-chronic-fatigue","title":{"rendered":"A CHECKLIST OF OVERLOOKED CAUSES OF CHRONIC FATIGUE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If there\u2019s one single symptom that brings patients most frequently into the offices of WholeHealth Chicago, it\u2019s this: \u201cI\u2019m tired all the time and doctors can\u2019t find anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201ccan\u2019t find\u201d you all are experiencing is the real problem of today\u2019s health care system. It\u2019s that notorious\u00a0fifteen minute medical encounter of primary care medicine: vital signs by the nurse, eyeball physical exam, and over to the lab to check your blood count, metabolic profile, cholesterol, TSH (thyroid), sed rate (inflammation), and perhaps levels of vitamin B 12 and D. Overly suspicious doctors will check you for pregnancy, HIV and even syphilis. (Maybe AI orders these tests, I don\u2019t know).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, if you have one or more specific symptoms, like something in your belly, a pain in your elbow, you\u2019re lateraled like a football from one specialist to another. Maybe a gastroenterologist for some scopings or a rheumatologist for more blood tests. They find nothing, tell you, \u201cGood news everything\u2019s normal!\u201d But you\u2019re still tired and now you\u2019re depressed. (\u201cPsych referral, anyone?\u201d). You\u2019ve travelled from specialty \u201csilo\u201d to \u201csilo\u201d finally exiting the last silo in an empty field with PTSD from the healthcare system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, \u201cwe can\u2019t find\u201d really means \u201cwe didn\u2019t bother to look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these listed causes of chronic fatigue has a link to a longer article on our website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long CO<\/a>VID<\/a><\/strong>: if you were a reasonably well person until 2021 and developed fatigue after one or more episodes of COVID or COVID immunizations, then join the 14% of Americans suffering from any of the 100 (!!) long COVID symptoms of which fatigue is right at the top. Because there is no specific test and no specific FDA approved treatment, patients don\u2019t get much help from conventional medicine. By the way,\u00a0researchers now think this fatigue is similar to that caused by chronic mono (Epstein-Barr)<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chronic Lyme Dise<\/a>ase<\/a><\/strong>: finally an accepted diagnosis but both tests and treatment are still inadequate. Always suspect Lyme when family vacationed in WI or MI. It\u2019s usual for the tick bite to occur around age 10 and then resurface in adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mold Biotoxin Illness (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome-CIRS)<\/a><\/strong>: a genetic susceptibility to the off gassing of certain mold species triggering systemic inflammation. Victims are made ill in water damaged buildings, get well in dry areas and when the biotoxins are cleared from their bodies using binders like cholestyramine (and the dwellings are mold remediated).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subclinical hypothyroidism<\/a>:<\/strong> all the symptoms and signs of underactive thyroid but with normal thyroid tests. Often responds to (T3) liothyronine (Wilson\u2019s Syndrome) or Armour thyroid<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adrenal fatig<\/a>ue<\/a><\/strong>: the two walnut size glands sitting atop your kidneys give you energy enough for one day and then are restored at night. Adrenal fatigue presents as a mid-afternoon \u201ccrash\u201d between 2 PM and 4PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intestinal parasites\/dysbiosis\/candida<\/a><\/strong>: during the past two years an increasing number of research papers discussed links between parasites and chronic illnesses especially the once derided term \u2018leaky gut\u2019 finally got some respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin and mineral defic<\/a>iencies<\/a><\/strong>: the three most associated with \u2018fatigue\u2019 are magnesium, B-12 and D. Daily supplementation of each is encouraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep disorders<\/a><\/strong>: if you wake up exhausted in the morning or fall asleep easily during the day or your bedmate says you snore loudly or even stop breathing, get a sleep study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side effects of prescription drugs<\/a><\/strong>: virtually no one reads the package insert on new prescriptions but a vast number of them can make you tired and when you combine two or three together can make you non-functional. You\u2019ll also discover how doctors are VERY reluctant to discontinue another doctor\u2019s prescription even if he\/she knows this is the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS)<\/a><\/strong>: although MCS was first met with skepticism if not downright hostility when first described in 1950 by allergist Theron Randolph, M.D. to this day neither the mechanism nor the treatment is understood but unexplained fatigue is often the first manifestation followed by the slow realization on the part of the patient that once harmless products (carpeting, furniture, clothing) are causing a variety of seemingly unrelated symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it\u2019s the New Year. If you or a friend or loved one is struggling with chronic fatigue, forward this checklist and suggest an appointment at any of the WholeHealth Chicago offices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Edelberg, M<\/em>D<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one single symptom that brings patients most frequently into the offices of WholeHealth Chicago, it\u2019s this: \u201cI\u2019m tired all the time and doctors can\u2019t find anything wrong.\u201d The \u201ccan\u2019t find\u201d you all are experiencing is the real problem of today\u2019s health care system. It\u2019s that notorious\u00a0fifteen minute medical encounter of primary care medicine: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":31842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2302,45,130],"tags":[343,2861,2437,1283],"class_list":["post-31838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c","category-chronic-fatigue","category-f","category-integrative-medicine","tag-chronic-fatigue","tag-fatigue-recovery","tag-holistic-health","tag-integrative-medicine"],"yoast_head":"\r\nA CHECKLIST OF OVERLOOKED CAUSES OF CHRONIC FATIGUE<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Long COVID: if you were a reasonably well person until 2021 and developed fatigue after one or more episodes of COVID\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link 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