No one wants to be told they’re sick. But ironically, one of the most disappointing experiences a patient can have is to hear their blood work is "normal" when they feel terrible.
It’s especially frustrating when you catch every bug that goes around, or find yourself dealing with one health issue after another – first allergies, then digestive problems, then joint pain, then recurring sinus infections. Or maybe you've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, IBS, or autoimmune conditions, but treatments aren't helping the way they should.
If this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with chronic infections that are flying under the radar of conventional testing. At The Center for Fully Functional Health, we understand how defeating it can be to feel sick while being told you're "fine." Many of our patients have spent years seeking answers, visiting multiple specialists and collecting diagnoses that address symptoms, but miss the underlying infectious causes.
Chronic infections are more common than most people realize, and they can be the hidden root cause behind a surprising number of health issues. These infections often simmer quietly in your system for months or years, gradually undermining your health and immune function.
Most people have had strep throat, an ear infection, or a bladder infection in their lifetime. These are all examples of acute infections that develop rapidly and last a relatively short period of time, with a clear starting point, standard symptoms, and a straightforward resolution.
In contrast, chronic infections often develop and worsen gradually over an extended period of time, bringing on a wide range of health concerns. Chronic infections can be stealthy, learning to hide from your immune system or form protective cellular barriers that prevent traditional detection and treatment.
it’s important to consider the possibility of chronic infections if you experience recurring illness, feel like your immune system isn't working properly, or have been diagnosed with conditions that aren't responding well to conventional treatment.
Red flags that may indicate chronic infection include:
If you've been told your symptoms are "just stress" or that your labs are normal even though you feel unwell, it's worth investigating whether chronic infections might be the missing piece of your health puzzle.
The award-winning doctors at The Center for Fully Functional Health are known for their ability to identify and treat complex conditions, and chronic infections are a root cause contributing to illness for many of our patients. The chronic infections we identify and treat most frequently include:
Little is more discouraging than receiving dozens of “normal” lab results when you’re exhausted and in pain, but it’s an incredibly common experience for patients with chronic infections. That’s not because your doctor doesn't care or isn’t trying, though.
There are several scientific reasons why standard medical testing frequently fails to detect chronic infections. Understanding these limitations is crucial for getting the proper diagnosis and treatment.
Most conventional labs test for antibodies in the blood – antibodies are the compounds your body creates when your immune system is mounting a strong response to an infection. However, chronic infections often suppress immune function or hide from immune detection, leading to low levels of antibodies and false negative results on lab work. Additionally, many standard tests look for acute infection markers, rather than the specialized antibodies that indicate chronic infection.
Standard tests often miss infections that cycle through active and dormant phases, or that are present in tissues rather than circulating in the blood at the time of testing. These include Epstein-Barr Virus, Herpes viruses, Lyme disease, Mycoplasma, Bartonella, Candida yeast, and many parasites. (That’s a lot of options that traditional testing may not detect!)
Many chronic infections form protective biofilms, a fortress-like coating that shields bacteria from both your immune system and standard detection methods. These biofilms can make infections virtually invisible to conventional testing, while allowing them to persist and cause ongoing symptoms.
Some infections live inside your cells rather than in your bloodstream, making them extremely difficult to detect with standard blood tests. Specialized testing methods are needed to identify these hidden-but-common infections.
All of this is why the functional medicine practitioners at The Center for Fully Functional Health in Carmel, IN, use advanced, specialized laboratories that employ more sensitive testing methods, specifically designed to detect chronic infections that conventional tests miss.
Why Chronic Infections Cause Such Diverse Symptoms
A chronic infection is like having a small fire burning in the attic of your house every day for months. Even though it's not enough to burn the house down, the constant smoke affects air quality throughout the entire home, making everything function less efficiently.
Similarly, chronic infections mean your immune system is constantly working overtime. All that effort creates widespread inflammation that can affect every system in your body: your brain (causing brain fog and mood changes), your joints (causing pain and stiffness), your digestive system (causing gut and skin issues), and your energy production (causing fatigue).
Additionally, chronic infections often disrupt your gut microbiome, impair nutrient absorption, and can trigger autoimmune reactions where your immune system begins attacking your own tissues. This explains why people with chronic infections often develop multiple seemingly unrelated health conditions over time.
Treating chronic infections requires a sophisticated, personalized approach that's quite different from taking antibiotics for a simple acute infection. Chronic infection treatment also often involves an initial period where you may feel worse before you feel better, and there's solid science behind why.
Remember the last time you cleaned out a cluttered garage or closet? The process of removing all that accumulated junk always makes things look worse before the space is clean and functional again. Similarly, when chronic infections are killed off during treatment, they release toxins as they die. This can temporarily increase inflammation and symptoms – a phenomenon called a Herxheimer reaction or "herx" for short.
Because treating infections increases your body's toxic load, comprehensive holistic treatment must include robust detoxification support to help your body process and eliminate these toxins safely and efficiently. Chronic infections also often dysregulate your immune system, so treatment needs to restore proper immune function, while supporting your body's natural healing processes. And any infections protected by biofilms need to be systematically disrupted before antimicrobial treatments can be effective.
All of this requires a fully customized approach that considers all the systems of your body and how they affect each other. Patients with chronic infections also need compassionate care for the very real emotional and mental impact of dealing with hidden health issues for months or years.
Our approach to treating chronic infections at The Center for Fully Functional Health is comprehensive and highly personalized, taking into account your specific infections, overall health status, immune function, and ability to tolerate treatment.
Our functional medicine for chronic infections in Carmel, Indiana, uses specialized laboratories that employ advanced testing methods specifically designed to detect chronic infections. This includes testing that can identify infections hiding in biofilms, intracellular infections, and dormant infections that conventional testing misses. We also assess your immune function, inflammatory status, and toxic burden to develop a complete picture of your health challenges.
Dr. Ellen and Dr. Scott Antoine each have over 25 years of experience and success helping patients navigate chronic infection treatment. Treatment plans are always carefully tailored to your specific infections and health status.
Your protocol might include carefully selected antimicrobial medications when appropriate, targeted antimicrobial herbs and botanical compounds, biofilm disruption protocols, and comprehensive immune system support. Having spent decades in emergency medicine, our physicians are not afraid to prescribe antibiotics intelligently and carefully when needed, but they never do so without providing additional gut and detoxification support.
Many patients also choose to use antimicrobial herbal protocols instead of or in addition to pharmaceutical treatments. We see excellent results from these alternative approaches, which can be just as effective while being gentler on your system.
Understanding that chronic infection treatment can be challenging, we provide extensive support including targeted nutritional supplementation, IV Therapy for immune support, Red Light Therapy to support cellular healing, Ballancer Pro Lymphatic Drainage to support toxin elimination, and sessions in our Full Spectrum Sauna to decrease inflammation.
Every patient also works closely with our dedicated health coaches, who offer help as you navigate the treatment process and make adjustments based on your response and tolerance.
Chronic infections often took months or years to establish and build in your system, so they typically require months of treatment to fully eradicate. However, many patients begin experiencing improvements in energy, immune function, and overall well-being within the first few weeks to months of starting treatment.
The key is having experienced practitioners who understand how to balance intensive treatment of infections with comprehensive support for your body's detoxification and healing processes.
Dr. Ellen and Dr. Scott Antoine bring decades of emergency medicine experience to their functional medicine practice, giving them a unique perspective on complex infectious diseases. Dr. Ellen was among the first 100 functional medicine doctors certified in the United States, and together they have helped bring hope and healing to thousands of patients.
The Antoines’ extensive medical training allows them to recognize when pharmaceutical interventions are necessary, while also utilizing the most effective natural antimicrobial and immune-supporting treatments available. They understand that treating chronic infections requires both medical expertise and compassionate support throughout the healing journey.
The Center for Fully Functional Health in Carmel, Indiana, combines cutting-edge diagnostic capabilities with advanced treatment options and ongoing patient support, making it uniquely qualified to help you overcome chronic infections and reclaim your health.
Please don't let chronic infections continue to undermine your quality of life. Call our supportive team at (317) 989-8463 Monday to Thursday, 8AM to 5PM Eastern, or fill out the simple form below to find out more and schedule your Initial Consult.
Schedule an Appointment Today.
The Center for Fully Functional Health® is led by a team of award-winning, internationally recognized physicians, committed to providing personalized, life-changing care.
