My story of healing chronic fatigue naturally

Chronic fatigue is a passion of mine as a naturopath. When I was in year 7, I got incredibly sick from Glandular Fever. Looking back, that was the beginning of my fatigue journey. I was in and out of the doctors office, was doing blood test after blood test, and was so sick I missed months of school. With the fatigue, I developed anxiety, and debilitating daily brain fog that I felt had completely changed my personality. And over years, these feelings were getting worse and not better.

I began to google my symptoms, I was constantly at the doctors asking them to test this, and test that, and was disappointed when I was told my ‘results were normal’. I had multiple scans of my brain, ultrasounds of my thyroid, uterus and kidneys, and an endoscopy and colonoscopy. I had been prescribed multiple anti-depressants, the pill, antibiotics, ferro-grad C, b12 injections, low dose naltrexone.. and was going down the path to get a diagnosis of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’. This was 15 years after my initial illness of glandular fever.

My life changing moment was studying naturopathy

Luckily for me, I chose to study naturopathy when I was 19 years old. I still remember the moment when I told my GP that I was doing this – she laughed at me, and told me that I was going to waste my time. In that same appointment, she told me that my fatigue was also in my head. She was my trusted GP, the person I had been seeing for years about these issues, who I now understand completely failed me as a young adult.

How my degree allowed me to take control of my health direction

In my degree, I was learning more and more about the body, and also about how our mainstream medical system worked. I realised that when my GP was telling me ‘everything is fine’, I actually had no idea what they were talking about – no one went through the blood tests with me, or explained what has been tested, or explained what they were referring to when they said ‘everything is fine’. I learnt that the reference range that many GPs want you to fall within, is constantly changing – as it is based on a demographic average. I learnt that there are different reference ranges to follow when you want to be in ‘peak physical health’ rather than just ‘avoiding disease’. I learnt that GPs need to follow rules set by medicare, and that not ‘everything’ is tested in one blood test. I learnt that some tests are best done fasted and in a particular day/time. And finally, I learnt that there are even patterns within a blood test, and one test shouldn’t be looked at alone.

I decided to get my records from the GP that I was seeing when I first got glandular fever, as well as from the other GP I mentioned above. I got all of my blood test results, and went through them, through the eyes of a student naturopath. Wow, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Test after test showed many markers out of range, none which was communicated to me. I had a history of abnormal liver and kidney function, and iron levels. The biggest shocker, was when I was put on an antidepressant medication in grade 8 to manage my severe anxiety, and to see that correlate with an almost non existent iron/ferritin score (3). I also saw that the same tests were done time and time again, no one was looking outside of the same few tests.

Digging deeper, & understanding the limitations of a ‘good GP’

I then decided to seek a new GP, and I found an amazing and caring GP who I saw the whole time while studying my degree. I didn’t tell her about what I was studying, but she seemed to appreciate my knowledge and was very thorough in what she tested for me. Unfortunately, despite the extensive testing she did for me, she couldn’t find an answer for my chronic fatigue. Each time we did a test, I asked for a copy, and I took them home to study. I then started to work from an ‘optimal range’. Even though the levels weren’t in the ‘red range’, I realised my body was mildly inflamed, and that many nutrients (iron, vitamin D, b12, zinc, magnesium) were sitting in the low range of normal. I also saw a pattern of liver congestion. I decided to dig deeper.

I tested my gut microbiome, and did a functional hormone test. I realised I wasn’t ovulating, and my estrogen was incredibly low. I also found 2 parasites in my stool, and over 6 different bacterial overgrowths, along with a condition called ‘leaky gut’! I went back to my GP with my results, and showed them to her. Her solution? Triple antibiotic therapy. That’s the only tool she had.

Creating my own protocol and taking charge of my health

So, back I was in trusted study at home, looking over all of these results – I decided to do a protocol. I was in my final year of college, and had been in student clinic for the past year, so I had a good amount of clinical experience. I gave myself a methodical, 5 month plan to address my gut, the nutrient deficiencies, and to start on my hormones. I also cleaned up my diet, and started to do exercise. A life changing moment. After the 5 months, it was the best I had ever felt. I wasn’t tired after eating, my brain fog wasn’t daily, my congested skin had gone away, I didn’t have headaches – actually, I realised just how bad I had felt for so long. The body is truly incredible at adaption.

I was good, but I wasn’t amazing. I was still having moments were I would wake up tired and brain foggy, or have terrible headaches, and certain foods would bloat me – This triggered a trauma response within me – I would get so worried that I would return to the daily debilitating symptoms that I guess it would make me depressed. So, I did another gut microbiome test – no parasites, but I still had certain bacterias out of balance. I did another iron test also, this time checking a few markers that went into blood sugar regulating and my nervous system – I learnt my iron was on the low end of normal still, and that my cortisol was too low which can affect my morning energy.

I did another protocol, this time focussing heavily on my diet, prioritising fibre, probiotic foods, and organic foods. I also started on herbs that focussed on my nervous system, and another short round of antimicrobials and probiotics to address my gut imbalances. I did daily meditation, prioritised my sleep, started to run, and did 3 day fasts a few times a year. Another year went by, I was pretty deep into my career and my own clinical practice now, and thankfully, I had never felt better – I was waking up clear, I was running 5kms easily, I was pooping every day and had no issues with bloating, my period would come and go with no issues, and I barely had any headaches.

What I have learnt

I have learnt that chronic fatigue is a complex dysfunction of the body and mind. There is not a one supplement ‘cure’ that everyone seeks. It is not a short process either. To this day, I practice the following:

• 8 hours of sleep
• Daily meditation
• Daily exercise
• Organic/spray free food
• Wholefoods
• 30g of fibre daily, probiotic foods daily
• Supplements: I prioritise stress management – I take a daily herb called withania, and if I have a fair bit of stress going on with my commitments, I might cycle through some magnesium/B supplements. Anything else I supplement based off testing
• Testing – ever year, I do a ‘maintenance’ blood tests (unless I feel a type of way and want to do a blood test to see what is going on), and every 2 years, I do a microbiome test – I have had parasites show up again, after a 3 month Europe/Africa trip – I had NO stomach symptoms, but my fatigue and brain fog had returned. This improved after another short protocol.

If my story sounds familiar

If you’re in Brisbane, and you recognise yourself in any part of this story — the endless testing, the “everything looks normal,” the fatigue that no one can explain, maybe even the comments about it being in your head — don’t accept it.

Seek a guided individualised approach that focusses on root causes, not symptomatic bandaid treatments