Fatigue, Pain, EBV and you
Katie* had experienced severe depression, bloating, pain in various regions, and extreme fatigue. She exhausted all avenues of medical and “alternative” help, was diagnosed as having PMS and finally sought my help as a natural therapist. Scratching beneath the surface of her symptom recital revealed a lady in her prime who was fast becoming a non-functional wreck. She was (is) a successful, high-achieving businesswoman who was sometimes challenged to get out of bed from fatigue. She was in constant pain – worse every month. She was also determined to find a solution –and we finally did.
Another clioent had memory blanks, difficulty in concentrating, pain in fingers, headaches and poor coordination. Neurologists had reached no conclusion.
Both ladies had in common five things – they had all suffered badly from shingles in their life; had had (sometimes undiagnosed**) glandular fever as a teenager or earlier; they had so much discomfort every waking moment that their battle for life was truly heroic, were utterly determined to find an answer, and had tried every avenue of help to no avail; they had battled through childbirth, were successful, positive women in their own right, determined to live and yet desperate to be out of pain and discomfort, both physical and neurological.
**later found with blood tests
Two other similar cases also readily spring to mind. Well, I love a challenge.
As I accepted these cases as a naturopath, one thing was clear to me. They had different backgrounds, unique sets of symptoms and needed to be treated individually.
First up – we had to accept that there would be no “magic bullet” solutions. These issues would take time to work through.
Epstein Barr virus.
A social virus, found in 85%* of Australians and around 95% of Americans, EBV initially “lives” in the 5th cervical nerve (neck) and sometimes also the 6th.
It inhabits the myelin (fatty) sheath that insulates each nerve, inflaming them. It can spread along nerves, sometimes causing painful cold sores, sometimes also roof of mouth, the top and bottom lip and tongue. Over years or decades, it can apparently end up in the nerves of the skin (shingles) and brain (over 50% of the cause of viral meningitis) and lower spine, liver/gallbladder, and cellular mitochondria (your energy source).
*some references say 95%. See below.
Multiple Sclerosis also
Also, This virus alone even looms large as a suspect in being a major cause of Multiple Sclerosis according to a recent, large-scale study.
I have long suspected this because of its mode of action in de-myelinationg nerves, as suspected by the MS Society in the nineties. See the following link:
https://www.msaustralia.org.au/news/new-evidence-does-the-epstein-barr-virus-cause-ms/
And last but not least, it can inhabit your “killer” white blood cells, and so allowing other invading bacteria (pathogens) to become established in colonies in certain areas in your body (co-infection).
Consequences of co-infection
Such areas that could be colonised by bacteria such as Streptococcus may include joints, and other cartilage tissues that have poor access to capillary circulation. See link:
https://www.google.com/search?q=do+cartilage+contain+capillaries&rlz=1C1GCEU_en-AUAU821AU821&sxsrf=APq-WBt5EyCSxjH90P4GM_7-sJNyLtIMDg%3A1646719876449&ei=hPMmYoeMG8GQseMP1p6XmAw&oq=capillariescartilage&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYAjIICAAQCBAHEB4yCAgAEAgQBxAeMggIABAIEAcQHjoHCAAQRxCwAzoHCAAQsAMQQzoJCCMQJxBGEPkBOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToICAAQgAQQsQM6BQgAEIAEOgYIABAHEB46DAgjELECECcQRhD5AToMCCMQsAIQJxBGEPkBOgoIABCxAxCDARANOgcIABCxAxANOgQIABANOggIABAHEAoQHjoKCAAQCBAHEAoQHjoICAAQDRAKEB5KBAhBGABKBAhGGABQ-ipYiq8BYNaiAmgBcAF4AIABvQKIAYQSkgEIMC4xMS4xLjGYAQCgAQHIAQrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz
And the fact that heart valves are made of cartilage may mean that infection may also build up within these also. And any swelling in A-V valves may lead to atrial fibrillation. See link: https://www.healthline.com/health/atrial-fibrillation/valvular
The drug option is effective only if used in the very early (prodromal) stages, otherwise limited.
These days I consider any unexplained, chronic and generalised pain as infection-based until proven otherwise, and approach the problem accordingly.
These issues can set you up for not only PMS but also severe symptoms so often attributed to early menopause.
Our number one job is to treat for the pain, affected organ(s) and fatigue, then address any suspected major underlying causes – virus & other infection, undernutrition, poor gut absorption (leaky gut), general inflammation, potential food allergy, imbalanced (or no) exercise regimes, cellular dehydration, low muscle mass, obesity, liver/gallbladder and kidney dysfunction.
Both cases mentioned above agreed to do individual “programmes” that allowed for time to help sort out the underlying causes and have reported significant improvement, being in various stages of recovery.
Whether your chronic pain and fatigue has been labelled as menstrual, menopausal symptoms or other, ask our pharmacist or me for our simple and cheap test that may help us to determine key causes and commence your recovery programme.