Jennifer was 48 years old when she signed up for Quantify, after struggling for a decade with debilitating fatigue, muscle stiffness, and joint pain that had developed seemingly out of nowhere.
A rheumatologist had diagnosed her with fibromyalgia soon after her symptoms started, but he didn’t have anything to offer, other than a prescription for over-the-counter pain medication, for when her symptoms flared.
Unwilling to accept that taking painkillers was her only option, and that there was nothing she could do to reverse the condition, Jennifer started exploring options outside of conventional medicine.
For years, she dragged herself to acupuncturists, chiropractors, herbalists, and other natural health practitioners, and while she experienced some degree of improvement from their modalities, she also increasingly felt that something was missing, and that her practitioners were effectively trying to guess about the specific approach that was best for her, rather than making decisions based on data.
In her first appointment at Quantify, Jennifer’s health coach recommended an immune panel, Epstein-Barr virus test, and Lyme disease test, to evaluate her immune function and test for Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that causes mononucleosis, and Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.
Test results
Her first time conducting a comprehensive evaluation of her health, Jennifer’s immune panel showed abnormally low total IgM and IgG antibodies, indicating compromised immune function, which was likely caused by chronic infections.
Further revealing the causes of her symptoms, Jennifer’s Epstein-Barr virus test showed high IgG antibodies, indicating reactivated Epstein-Barr virus, which can cause fatigue, muscle stiffness, joint pain, and innumerable other chronic symptoms, and which often contributes to immune dysregulation.
Completing the puzzle, Jennifer’s Lyme disease test was also positive, indicating Lyme disease, the notoriously underdiagnosed tick-borne infection that often masquerades as other chronic conditions, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.
Recovery
Frustrated that no one had ever mentioned the possibility that her fibromyalgia might actually be caused by chronic infections, but also thrilled to finally get answers, Jennifer started following her health coach’s recommendations closely.
She eliminated processed foods, sugar, grains, and dairy from her diet, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, took certain supplements, such as NAC, lysine, and astragalus, and started exercising every day.
Within a few months, the systemic inflammation and pain that she had lived with for a decade started to improve, a likely indication that her immune system was coming back online.
Within a year, her symptoms had completely resolved, she reported feeling like she had gotten her life back, and a follow-up Epstein-Barr virus test and Lyme disease test were both negative, further validating the work she had done to address the infections that had compromised her health, and that should’ve been tested for a decade prior.