Best Biomarkers to Check for Chronic Fatigue and Brain Fog

We’ve all heard terms like chronic fatigue and brain fog bandied about, but when you actually experience one of these things kicking your feet out from under you, you don’t want generic overviews and simple fixes; you want actionable answers. When symptoms like difficulty concentrating and unreliable memory persist, and energy levels are consistently in the basement, it’s time to become a personal health detective.

​Our bodies are remarkable in their capacity to heal, but figuring out where to begin can feel overwhelming; that’s where having a road map can be useful. Exploring the powerful tool of actionable blood biomarkers, tuning into why a standard checkup might miss the marker, examining what a fuller panel can reveal, and learning how to advocate for ourselves are some great places to start. Let’s do this!

What Gets Missed

Doctors’ offices are busy places; waits can be long and visits all too brief. To make matters worse, some conditions involve multiple body systems struggling to function properly. When this occurs, basic testing might show normal results, even though your experience is anything but normal.

Chronic fatigue is notoriously hard to diagnose because many of its symptoms overlap with other conditions. Likewise, brain fog is a maddening component of multiple diseases and disorders. This difficulty in assessment means there isn’t a one-size-fits-all set of biomarkers to examine, which can lead to frustration and communication challenges between doctor and patient, further reducing the likelihood of a positive outcome. Although healthcare staff are there to help, sometimes it can take patience on your part to rule out other illnesses and develop a clearer picture of what’s going on for you.

Dig a Little Deeper

A normal visit to the clinic might include useful diagnostics like basic metabolic panels and tests for glucose, kidney function, and electrolytes. However, persistent fatigue can also stem from thyroid issues, iron deficiency, hormone imbalances, chronic inflammation, and blood sugar dysregulation. To discover what is at the root of your exhaustion could require more comprehensive testing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, experts on chronic fatigue will often begin assessment with panels that include:

• Complete blood count with differential
• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)
• Electrolytes
• Fasting glucose
• Renal function
• Calcium
• Phosphate
• Liver function
• C-reactive protein
• Thyroid Function
• Iron studies to assess for both iron overload and deficiency
• Celiac disease screening
• Urinalysis

However, even this expert overview can miss several things. For example, in addition to those analyses, it can help to assess the ratio of free thyroxine (free T4) to active thyroid hormone (free T3) and test for thyroid antibodies. This can reveal dysfunction that might be missed by solely checking TSH and can reveal the presence of autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease. Other useful tests include B12 and folate status, Vitamin D levels, nutrient testing, omega-3 fatty acid assessment, and sex and adrenal hormone testing.

The point is, if you want to test and not guess, you need to dig well below the surface, ask more nuanced questions, and take a network-based approach that includes immune, autonomic, and endocrine system analysis for clearer results.

Exploring Your Options

It’s empowering to choose which questions you want answered and which tests can answer them, but deciding which avenue to pursue can feel daunting. Examining leading companies that offer comprehensive testing and comparing them is an invaluable place to start. Among the reputable sites, Superpower, Mito Health, and Lifeforce stand out.

At a glance, each company offers an enticing array of services, including a wide selection of biomarker blood tests, expert consultation, health optimization strategies, and multiple plan options ranging from one-time blood draws to annual memberships. However, there are some crucial differences, so let’s pull out the magnifying glass and take a closer look.

Superpower 

This company aims to be your one-stop shop for overall health. They appeal to those of us who are passionate about our well-being and want to be proactive in sustaining it. It’s like a gym membership, except instead of simply working your muscles and cardiovascular system, you’re looking at what’s going on inside them and in the rest of your body’s systems, and building a lifestyle plan from there.

Starting at $349 for an annual membership, they begin your health journey with a panel of tests establishing what areas of strength and imbalance you have. They offer in-home testing, or they have partner labs in over 2000 locations. They use your blood work and a tailored AI to build a plan to optimize your well-being, which you can track across an array of devices. After six months, you test again, and they adjust your plan based on the new results. They offer 24/7 support from an AI equipped with your current data and plan, backed by their care team if your concerns haven’t been adequately addressed.

Mito Health 

This company positions itself from a more lab-centric angle, emphasizing affordability across a wide array of tests and offering plenty of flexibility in how you build your plan. They appeal to those of us who don’t want broad-spectrum testing because we already know what parts of our body are out of whack or we simply prefer a more minimalist approach while still getting clear data. Also, they keep in mind that with the cost of living soaring, being judicious in our spending can make a big difference.

With personalization in mind, you can manage your care by purchasing individual tests or comprehensive ones based on a particular area of concern, from energy, mood, and sleep to cardiovascular health, muscle fitness, and performance. They have 2000+ partner labs, as well as multiple at-home tests. They offer a $9 monthly membership that includes discounts on labs, a personalized action plan, AI support, and access to a clinician at a reduced fee.

Lifeforce 

This company operates from a longevity and optimization standpoint. They appeal to those of us who are very results-driven and like to know exactly where we are at now and how we can do better going forward. They take a comprehensive, personally curated approach to what they deliver. They are very hands-on, providing clinician insight and health coaching to help clients interpret lab results and craft an action plan. 

Lifeforce offers a monthly membership starting at $199, then $149 thereafter, and an annual membership for $599. The monthly membership includes quarterly blood draws in the comfort of your home that test 50+ biomarkers, plus a clinician to review the results, unlimited health coaching, and access to advanced panels and select peptides. The annual membership includes two at-home blood draws, one with clinician overview, and a personalized health plan. Both memberships include access to prescriptions and supplement discounts.

Which to Choose

While each company offers valuable services, they also appeal to different need sets and personality types. For example, if you’re highly independent in your healthcare journey and money is a major concern, Mito Health is likely your best option. If, on the other hand, you’re a fan of the big picture and want a snapshot of where you are today and enjoy tracking your progress with technology, Superpower could be the way to go. However, if you know that you require clear answers and a highly curated process with personal support, Lifeforce is the best choice.

What’s important is to consider the particular challenges that chronic fatigue and brain fog present. To understand what is causing our reduced function, we need to look at a broad array of biomarkers across multiple body systems. Getting that kind of granular detail isn’t always easy to access from a standard doctor’s visit.

The complicated nature of these conditions makes a good case for a multipronged approach that could include broad biomarker testing, careful clinical analysis of blood work, and ongoing support implementing your personalized program. The option most likely to succeed for you is the one that most accurately reveals areas of imbalance and informs an actionable plan that best suits your specific personality and health goals.