Sanjay was 46 years old when he signed up for Quantify, after struggling for years with debilitating fatigue, and not getting anywhere with conventional medicine.
His primary care doctor had diagnosed him with chronic fatigue syndrome when he described feeling an unrelenting exhaustion—as if he was “operating at 1% capacity”—but after doing his own research, Sanjay learned that chronic fatigue syndrome was simply a convenient label for the condition of being tired all the time, and didn’t actually provide any insight into the underlying causes of his fatigue.
Initially reluctant to take the narcolepsy medication that his doctor had offered to prescribe, Sanjay first experimented with Rhodiola rosea, Ginkgo biloba, alpha GPC, and other supplements that people in chronic fatigue syndrome Facebook Groups had reported benefit from.
When supplements didn’t work, he tried cutting out alcohol and caffeine, but that didn’t seem to have any effect either.
Increasingly desperate, Sanjay ultimately decided to try the medication, and while the artificially-induced energy boost certainly made it easier to function, when he started experiencing scary side effects—insomnia, anxiety, and heart palpitations—he realized it was probably only a matter of time until things got worse.
Unwilling to continue playing the guessing game, Sanjay decided to pursue a more data-driven approach.
In his first appointment at Quantify, Sanjay’s health coach recommended an immune panel, Lyme disease test, and Epstein-Barr virus test, to evaluate his immune function and test for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, and Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that causes mononucleosis.
Test results
His first time conducting a comprehensive evaluation of his health, Sanjay’s immune panel showed low total IgG antibodies, indicating compromised immune function, which was likely caused by a chronic infection.
Providing an additional clue as to what was going on, while his Lyme disease test was negative, indicating he likely didn’t have Lyme disease, his Epstein-Barr virus test showed significantly elevated IgM and IgG antibodies, indicating reactivated Epstein-Barr virus, which commonly causes fatigue, brain fog, hypothyroidism, and other chronic symptoms.
While the majority (>90%) of the global population are infected with Epstein-Barr virus, only in the minority, typically the immunocompromised, does it actually become active and cause symptoms, as it was for Sanjay.
Recovery
Sanjay was shocked to learn that a virus was causing his fatigue, but he wasn’t surprised.
Thinking back to when it all started, he recalled going through a particularly stressful time at work, involving tight deadlines, junk food, and caffeine-fueled all-nighters.
Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, he recognized that the stress he put his body through had likely compromised his immune function to such an extent that caused the virus to reactivate, and his health coach agreed, having seen the same story play out for other members.
Thrilled to finally get answers, Sanjay started following his health plan closely, checking in with his health coach regularly to help him stay on track.
He eliminated processed foods, sugar, and grains from his diet, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, started drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day, and took certain supplements, such as oregano oil, lysine, and NAC.
Within a few months, the inexplicable tiredness that he had lived with for years started to improve, an encouraging indication that the virus was retreating, and his immune function was coming back online.
Within a year, his fatigue had completely resolved, his doctor had retracted his diagnosis (citing a “misdiagnosis”), and a follow-up immune panel and Epstein-Barr virus test showed no abnormalities, further validating the work he had done to recover his health.