Investigating Chronic Inflammation
inquiry in The age of inflammation
Chronic inflammation is a persistent battle within and can manifest in various conditions and diseases.
A proper investigation of where symptoms are rooted and discovering the underlying facets is a must to truly get well.
Read on to learn how inflammation shows up, the link between stress and inflammation, and how listening to your body and taking action can reduce your risks and improve your health.
Signs, Symptoms, and Solutions
Have you been struggling with a cluster of small, seemingly unrelated but nagging symptoms?
Does it feel like you’ve tried all the things but nothing seems to work for long?
If so, I encourage you to keep investigating!
Your journey to better health and vitality begins daily with the decision to make your self-care more of a priority. Even the simplest steps can lead to significant improvements in your overall well-being. But, likewise, simply minimizing or overlooking your signs and symptoms can prevent you from finding possible solutions. Chronic inflammation is one of those silent, and potentially deadly, manifestations that begs a closer examination.
Chronic inflammation is a persistent battle within and can manifest in various conditions and diseases. A proper investigation of where symptoms are rooted and discovering the underlying facets is a must to truly get well.
Acute inflammation is obvious. Like when you’re stung on the knee by a bald-faced hornet 🐝 😣 OOOF! The sting causes instant, shooting pain and shortly thereafter, a throbbing, red, hot kneecap. In this instance, your immune system jumps to high alert. Pro-inflammatory cells are rushed to the site of the sting to fight off a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction or an infection. Again, this is an OBVIOUS process that includes pain, heat, and swelling that you can see at the site of the injury.
But what happens when the injury is inside our body?
For example in the protective lining of our gut? This sensitive tissue, only one cell thick, gets injured every time we eat foods we are sensitive to. The result? This creates chronic inflammation! That same inflammatory process we saw with the sting is happening internally, where we can’t see - or necessarily feel it.
The battle within is manifesting as - in this case - leaky gut. And we know that leaky gut is implicated in several other symptoms and systemic conditions, along with a weakened immune system. In fact in cases of autoimmunity, in addition to a genetic component, there are two conditions that will be present to turn that gene on: leaky gut and inflammation!
So we don’t want to ignore or avoid potential symptoms that could be pointing to chronic inflammation. We want to self-assess and then do a little more digging to see if our immune system is working overtime to deal with chronic inflammation.
SELF-ASSESS
Do any of these apply to you?
Am I tired all the time?
Am I prone to anxiety or migraines?
Am I struggling or hormonally “off”?
Does my digestion worry me often?
Do my joints ache or often feel sore or swollen?
Do I struggle with recurrent infections?
These are all signs of inflammation.
Unlike acute inflammation, which fades quickly, chronic inflammation can persist for weeks, months, years, or even decades. During a thorough investigation for inflammation we discover two critical insights: 1) it is often upstream of symptoms and 2) it is often downstream of triggers (certain foods, low-grade gut infections, mold, heavy metals, and stress). What this means is that as we discover and remove your personal inflammatory triggers, both the inflammation and your symptoms have the opportunity to resolve through your body’s own innate healing abilities.
If it’s true that everything you do either increases or decreases your health, we could then venture to say that everything you do has a positive or negative impact on inflammation. Isn’t that an empowering concept? You don’t just have to settle for chronic inflammation wreaking havoc on your health, but often you do have to do some detective work.
So how might you begin your investigation? Take a minute and audit your signs and symptoms against this checklist.
How inflammation can show up:
Persistent Fatigue: The ongoing inflammatory response, coupled with pro-inflammatory cytokines, can leave you feeling constantly fatigued and unmotivated. Resolving inflammation and restoring balance can help bring back a sense of energy and vitality.
Pain and Discomfort: Chronic inflammation often brings persistent pain and discomfort, which can be localized or widespread. Tackling inflammation can bring relief and a renewed sense of comfort.
Joint Stiffness: Inflammatory diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, can lead to chronic inflammation in joints causing stiffness, swelling, and limited range of motion. In our work together to lower inflammation, we can improve joint health and flexibility.
Recurrent Infections: Strengthening your immune system is key to combating chronic inflammation. By running certain functional labs that measure food sensitivities or SIgA we can support your body's defense mechanisms to ward off those recurrent infections.
Digestive Symptoms: Chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to discomfort, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, etc. GI Map testing is utilized to address low-grade gut infections and other underlying gut health issues. It is a helpful guide in removing instigators of inflammation and rebalancing the beneficial bacteria in your gut.
Skin Changes: Chronic skin conditions like psoriasis or eczema can be linked to inflammation. Your skin is your largest organ and serves as a billboard. Don’t ignore your skin's health and appearance. It is often a sign that something deeper is below the surface.
Mood Disorders: Mental well-being is essential to quality of life. The gut-brain connection has now made its appearance to the public. More and more people are interested in this vital connection and how to nurture it to health. We know that chronic inflammation is linked to mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, brain fog, malaise, and more. To support your emotional health, it’s important to investigate and address the root causes. Left unchecked, other issues can manifest down the road such as neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
Hormone Imbalances: Inflammation presents as a persistent stressor on the body. This stress, as with all stress, increases the stress-hormone, cortisol. When cortisol goes up, sex hormones (estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, etc) go down. Often some of the most noticeable signs of internal inflammation are a decreased sex drive, mood swings, or other “hormonal” symptoms. One of our highest priorities in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition is reducing stressors of all kinds and balancing your hormones!
Stress fuels the fires of inflammation.
Here are a few tips to manage your stress. Follow me on Instagram to learn more about chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, and tips to support decreasing the inflammatory load in your body.
Inflammation investigating lab tests 🔎
One of the best ways to investigate your inflammation is through functional testing. Some of the lab tests that Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners run to assess where your inflammation falls on the spectrum are:
Stress and hormone panel (because stress is at the root of most chronic disease and causes metabolic chaos)
Secretory IgA (SIgA), the dominant antibody located within the mucosal barrier of your gut
Melatonin, not only your sleep hormone, but a potent antioxidant that when present points to problems within
GI Map to assess the health of the gut where 80% of your immune system resides
Mucosal Barrier Assessment, which indicates the presence and extent of leaky gut
Functional lab work, which includes among other things an iron panel, hsCRP, homocysteine, and a complete thyroid panel: each of these can point to potential inflammatory problems.
when YOU HAVE symptoms of inflammation
three options…
Option One: Do nothing
While it's tempting to normalize or ignore symptoms and hope they'll disappear; please don’t! Untreated inflammation can impact your overall well-being, quality of life, and lead to chaos in your body systems. I don’t want that for you!
Option two: Self-treat
Taking matters into your own hands is a brave and empowering step. No argument here. I encourage education and empowerment. I think it is wise to inform yourself about inflammation, or any other health condition, and to make positive changes. I only suggest, that if you choose this route, you find qualified practitioners and/or training and avoid blindly trusting invalidated internet searches and sources. If you have a complicated issue, or many intertwined issues, there’s much to be gained by bringing your body-wisdom to a specialist who will listen, be on your team, and work together with you to bring resolution.
Option three: Get professional support
Sometimes, it’s hard to admit, but seeking professional guidance is the most effective and efficient way to tackle health issues head-on. Let’s face it, it can be hard to ask for help. It dredges up uncomfortable feelings (shame, embarrassment, frustration) when you feel like you don’t know what to do with something as “basic” as eating or exercising. Trust me, there’s nothing basic about it! Health is biopsychosocial. It encompasses your body, mind, and connections and all this can feel as deep and wide as the oceans. You have every reason to feel overwhelmed with all the options!
Professionals will listen, validate, and can help you navigate through the complexities of your health puzzle. If they can’t help you, they can often connect you to someone who can. And if you choose a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner you can be confident they will search for hidden stressors, point you to healing opportunities, and develop a personalized program uniquely for you to help you rebuild your health.
In FDN, our goal is to “stop the cycle of trial and error” in healthcare.
A functional investigation into your inflammation may just reveal the next self-care steps you need to take to prioritize your future. Lowering inflammation, once the triggers are discovered, is often about adjusting your diet and lifestyle to remove what increases inflammation and replace with what can equip your body to fight and quell chronic inflammation. It is learning to apply the age-old wisdom of using food as medicine, where appropriate, to restore health rather than ignoring or masking symptoms.
Take the First Step Towards Healing!
If this blog brought up some questions or if you’ve been struggling with any of these signs and symptoms, don’t wait, start here with a FREE Discovery Call. This is an opportunity for you to share your health concerns, learn more about functional lab testing, and how a Holistic Health Rebuilding Program can change things for the better. Remember, your body has answers!
NOTE: I don’t diagnose or treat any specific conditions or focus on symptoms. I help clients to identify underlying causes of stress on the body creating an imbalance in the hormone, gut, immune and other systems of the body. I then teach a model of self-care to support staying healthy for life. All recommendations are voluntary and consulting with your physician is recommended.
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