Is Your Fatigue a Sign of Tickborne Illness?

💤 Is Your Fatigue a Sign of Tickborne Illness?

Perhaps you’ve cleaned up your diet and are prioritizing sleep. And yet, your lab results are stubbornly normal. Despite doing everything right, you’re still exhausted. Does this sound familiar?

For many, however, this is a frustrating reality. Indeed, fatigue is one of the most common complaints in medicine, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood.

When “Normal” Doesn’t Feel Right

To begin with, persistent fatigue is often chalked up to stress, aging, or simply “life.” As a result, it’s frequently brushed aside or masked by caffeine, sleep aids, or quick-fix supplements. However, if your energy never seems to return, there may be a deeper, underlying reason that deserves investigation.

❓ What Conventional Medicine Looks For

Typically, in conventional care, a doctor will investigate a few usual suspects for fatigue, such as:

Anemia
Low thyroid function (hypothyroidism)
Adrenal dysfunction or burnout
Sleep apnea or poor sleep hygiene
Chronic stress or depression
A few specific nutrient deficiencies (usually limited to B12, vitamin D, or iron)

But what happens, then, if these basic labs come back normal? In many cases, you might be told “everything looks fine” before being offered a prescription for an antidepressant, stimulant, or sleep aid. Unfortunately, that’s not a root-cause approach; it’s symptom management.

❌ Why You Might Still Feel Tired, Even After Trying Everything

Let’s say you’ve already addressed the basics. For instance, you are eating a healthy diet, taking iron or B vitamins, getting more sleep, supporting your thyroid and adrenals, and even exercising when you can. And yet, you’re still dragging through your day, feeling “wired and tired,” brain-foggy, and emotionally worn out.

Unquestionably, this experience is a major red flag. It might be time to consider what conventional medicine often overlooks: a hidden tickborne illness.

🦠 The Hidden Mechanisms of Fatigue

Stealth infections like Lyme, Babesia, Bartonella, and their co-infections can silently sabotage your energy. They accomplish this in several profound ways:

🧬 First, these infections disrupt your mitochondria. These are the powerhouses in your cells responsible for producing ATP, your body’s energy currency. The infection can directly impair their function, leading to a massive energy drop.
🌿 In addition, the ongoing immune battle drains your nutrient reserves. To fight a chronic infection and manage inflammation, the body uses up vitamins and minerals at an accelerated rate, which ultimately leaves you depleted.
🔥 Furthermore, they generate systemic inflammation. As a result, the immune response to these pathogens creates inflammatory molecules that can cause brain fog, joint pain, and unexplained “flu-like” crashes.
🧠 Finally, they affect sleep, mood, and cognition. Neurological inflammation can disrupt sleep cycles and neurotransmitter balance, leaving you feeling unrested, anxious, or depressed.

Because these infections are so adept at hiding, they often go undiagnosed for years and, consequently, don’t always show up on standard lab tests.

🧭 What You Can Do Next

✅ 1. Take the Tickborne Illness Self-Assessment

The MSIDS Questionnaire is a screening tool that identifies clusters of symptoms commonly associated with tickborne diseases. Click here to take the free questionnaire-it’s a valuable first step.

✅ 2. Start with Foundational Nutrient Support

When your mitochondria are compromised and your body is depleted, you must rebuild your foundation with:

Whole food-based vitamins and minerals
Gentle detoxification and liver support
Mitochondrial co-factors (like CoQ10, magnesium, and L-carnitine)
A gut-friendly protocol that prioritizes absorption

Rebuilding your nutrient stores gives your body a fighting chance, even before starting advanced treatments.

✅ 3. Don’t Settle for “Normal” When You Feel Abnormal

If your energy doesn’t match your lifestyle, and if your body feels like it’s breaking down no matter how hard you try, it’s time to dig deeper. In reality, a hidden tickborne infection may be sensitizing your entire system, making it harder to tolerate stress, foods, toxins, and even medications.

Identifying it could be the key to unlocking your health.

💡 Final Thought

Fatigue isn’t a character flaw or laziness. Instead, it’s a message. Therefore, if you’ve done everything “right” and still feel profoundly wrong, please don’t ignore it. You deserve real answers, and you deserve to feel energized again.

🔗 Ready to Get Clarity?

✔ Take the Self-Assessment: Get started with the tickborne questionnaire.
✔ Start a foundational Nourishing Protocol: Vitamin & Mineral™ and Digesti-Pan (or Pro-Enzymes if you need vegetarian supplements.)
✔ Schedule a free discovery call with Dr. Bonnie.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health regimen.

Dr. Bonnie Juul

Citations

Cook, M. J., & Puri, B. K. (2020). A systematic review of the evidence for causes of central fatigue in cases of chronic Lyme disease. Reviews on Environmental Health, 35(4), 379–387. https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2020-0035

Theoharides, T. C., & Tsilioni, I. (2024). The role of mitochondria in the development of brain fog and fatigue in post-Lyme disease, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and post-COVID. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(5), 1366. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13051366

Horowitz, R. I., & Freeman, P. R. (2019). Precision medicine: The role of the MSIDS model in defining, diagnosing, and treating chronic Lyme disease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome and other chronic illness. Healthcare, 7(1), 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7040129

Nicolson, G. L., & Ash, M. E. (2017). Lipid replacement therapy with a glycophospholipid formulation with NADH and CoQ10 as a vital adjunct to chronic fatigue syndrome therapy. Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association, 16(3), 1-13. (While this study is on CFS, the mechanism of mitochondrial support is relevant and often applied in chronic infection protocols.