Dan was 52 years old when he signed up for Quantify, after struggling for years with debilitating fatigue, muscle stiffness, and joint pain that had developed seemingly out of nowhere.
His primary care doctor had ordered an antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), and rheumatoid factor (RF) to investigate what was going on, but when his test results came back normal—indicating he likely didn’t have an autoimmune condition—his doctor suggested that Dan might have fibromyalgia, and that he should see a rheumatologist to confirm the diagnosis.
After an excruciating, year-long wait (to get a 15-minute appointment), Dan’s rheumatologist ultimately agreed that his symptoms were consistent with fibromyalgia, but she didn’t have anything to offer, other than a prescription for over-the-counter pain medication, for when his symptoms flared.
Unwilling to accept that taking painkillers was his only option, and that there was nothing he could do to reverse the condition, Dan started exploring options outside of conventional medicine.
For years, he dragged himself to acupuncturists, chiropractors, herbalists, and other natural health practitioners, and while he experienced some degree of improvement from their modalities, he also increasingly felt that something was missing, and that his practitioners were effectively trying to guess about the specific approach that was best for him, rather than making decisions based on data.
In his first appointment at Quantify, Dan’s health coach recommended a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) stool analysis and food sensitivity test, to test for parasites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and evaluate intestinal permeability, inflammation, the health of his microbiome, and immune reactivity to commonly consumed foods.
Test results
His first time conducting a comprehensive evaluation of his health, Dan’s qPCR stool analysis showed significant dysbiosis, or an imbalance of good bacteria to bad bacteria, which commonly contributes to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypothyroidism, and other chronic conditions.
Providing an additional clue as to what was going on, his results also showed increased intestinal permeability (or, more colloquially, leaky gut), which is when the junctions between the single layer of cells that line your intestines become compromised and widen, ultimately allowing pathogens, toxins, and food antigens into your bloodstream that shouldn’t be there.
Completing the puzzle, his food sensitivity test also showed significant sensitivities to gluten (a protein in wheat, barley, and rye), whey (a protein in milk), legumes, and nightshades, which together had been the foundation of his diet for his entire life.
Recovery
Dan had never thought much about how his diet could affect his health—his doctors, over the years, would often commend him on his “fast metabolism,” or his ability to evade weight gain, despite not exercising and being on the standard American diet—so to learn that the foods he was eating regularly were causing his fibromyalgia was quite the surprise.
While his diet had consisted mostly of cereal, sandwiches, pasta, and other high-carbohydrate foods that tend to contribute to metabolic dysfunction, he had somehow managed to maintain the same weight since high school, and thus assumed that he was doing everything right.
Thrilled to finally get answers, Dan started following his health plan closely, checking in with his health coach regularly to help him stay on track.
He eliminated processed foods, sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, and nightshades from his diet, increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods, started drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day, and took certain supplements, such as ginger, triphala, and astragalus.
Within a few months, the extreme fatigue, muscle stiffness, and joint pain that he had lived with for years started to improve, an encouraging indication that the systemic inflammation underlying his symptoms was decreasing.
Within a year, his symptoms had completely resolved, he reported feeling “20 years younger,” and a follow-up qPCR stool analysis showed no indication of dysbiosis or leaky gut, further validating the work he had done to address the factors that had unknowingly compromised his health.