In the previous article we talked about three common culprits that can be common coinfections behind Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Todays article focuses on how these infections contribute to toxic overload and cause varied symptoms.
Stealth Infections Adrenal Fatigue and Toxicity
Stealth infections continuously place a burden on the body and, over a period of time, lead to an overload of toxins in the body. These toxins may be caused by viruses, yeast and/or mold and negatively affect the adrenal glands, causing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Among the symptoms many people will experience:
- Joint pain
- Tingling
- Nervousness
- Malaise
- Fatigue
- Insomnia or sleep disturbances
- Hormone Imbalances
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Gastric problems
- Food sensitivities
- Brain fog
- Anxiety
All these can worsen over time, become unchecked chronic infections can lead to even more problems, aggravating the disorders as the toxins keep on accumulating. This is biotoxin overload.
When there is a toxic overload in the body, more cortisol is released by the adrenal glands as a reaction to the inflammatory response. If the body is in a constant state of inflammation, the adrenal glands are over-worked and simply cannot keep up with the demand to produce increasing amounts of cortisol.
This leads to a vicious cycle – adrenal fatigue causes cortisol depletion, the anti-inflammatory response decreases and the toxic overload increases. What is worse is that the liver function also decreases. The stealth toxins actually cause cell death and the dead cells have to be removed from the body by the liver. Thus the liver gets over-worked as well. If the person already has a previous history of liver problems caused by hepatitis, alcohol intake, some medicines (like statins used for lowering cholesterol or some antibiotics) he or she is even more at risk. With ageing, the weakened liver gets even more compromised.
Stealth Infections Often Become Antibiotic Resistant
At some point of time, if the stealth infections cannot be treated, the toxins in the body increase so much so that the liver cannot handle the waste, the adrenal glands cannot produce sufficient cortisol and the stealth infections get a free run in the body. By the time the infections show up in lab results, they have actually been in the body for a long time and conventional treatment is by strong antibiotics, which only cause the pathogens to re-enter stealth mode. When the medicine stops, the pathogens become stronger and the body is subjected to an active infection that is worse, resulting in stronger antibiotics to counter the effect of the infection. This cycle is repeated till eventually antibiotic resistant bacteria take over, by which time there are no more antibiotics that will work and the patient is left in dire straits.
Immune System Shutdown- A Real Problem For People with Chronic Infections
While the body has a great immune system that can ward off minor infections, though not major ones, there is just so much it can do before giving up. If your immune system is strong, the stealth infections can lie dormant with fewer symptoms. But when your body weakens, the stealth infection becomes more active and manifests stronger or more symptoms. The fight between the body’s defense involving the liver and the adrenals and the stealth infections can go on for a long time, even decades. This depends on your constitution and your external environment to a great deal. However, when the pathogen sees any weakness, it gets more aggressive.
You can be disease free and symptom fee for long periods of time, particularly if you take care of your lifestyle, health and nutrition, but the moment you lapse, the infection will return. Systemic Candida, Chronic hepatitis and Epstein-Barr are some of the stealth infections that can hit your body at any time. Among the triggers you should watch out for are:
- Emotional stress
- Physical Stress Such as surgery and medications
- Diet high in hydrogenated fats or sugar
- Irregular menstrual cycle
- Dehydration
- Bloating/Gas and signs of Gastrointestinal stress.
- Insomnia or poor sleep patterns.
The symptoms can be so bad that the person is incapacitated, yet laboratory tests will show up normal.
Stealth infections are notoriously difficult to diagnose
Stealth infections often do not manifest strong symptoms and are very difficult to diagnose because of the nature of the stealth pathogens. Normal lab tests simply cannot find these pathogens. There are some special tests, cultures and assays that can find some of these pathogens. Some physicians who are aware of these stealth infections may find them by correlating symptoms and by exclusion of other ailments.
The next article will deal with specific stealth infections (Epstein Barr, Lyme disease and Candida infections) that are present in people with adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Missed the previous article? Go back and read it here
Holistic and Natural Treatment Methods For Chronic Infections Should Include
You not only need to get the chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosed properly but also treated by a holistic physician. Various tests can tell the doctor about
- Micro flora in the gut.
- Pathogens in blood and stool samples.
- Chemical stressors, physical stressors and inflammation that play a contributory role in adrenal fatigue syndrome.
- Food intolerances, allergies and sensitivities as certain foods may not be immunologically compatible with your body and aggravate inflammation and stress.
- Investigating intestinal permeability in the gut that checks proteins that are part of the structural integrity of the intestinal tract.
- Problems with your dietary intake – an adept holistic health care practitioner can zero in on the dietary stressors that impact adrenal recovery.
- Hormonal problems can be caused by imbalance of different hormones including thyroid, estrogen progesterone, DHEA, DHT and testosterone and adrenal glands are very sensitve to all the hormones.
- Adrenal fatigue syndrome has complex causes including chemical, environmental and heavy metal toxins. While a simple salivary cortisol may show if the adrenals glands are affected, this test cannot pinpoint the reasons behind the adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.
You need a knowledgeable holistic health practitioner who can best guide and treat you.