Most patients who walk into my clinic aren’t looking for a diagnosis anymore — they’re looking for answers. They’ve been told they have “autoimmune disease,” “chronic fatigue,” “IBS,” or “just anxiety,” but deep down, they know there’s something driving it all. Something underneath the symptoms, quietly hijacking their health.
That something is often chronic inflammation — not the kind you see or feel immediately, but the slow, silent type that simmers below the surface for months, even years. And in many cases, it's being triggered and perpetuated by toxic microbes.
What Is Chronic Inflammation?
Inflammation isn’t inherently bad. In fact, acute inflammation is one of the body’s most brilliant protective mechanisms. You cut your finger, and your immune system rushes in with blood flow, immune cells, and repair proteins to heal the wound. That’s acute — short-term, purposeful, and healing.
But chronic inflammation is a different story.
It happens when the immune system gets stuck in “on” mode — responding to a lingering threat that never fully resolves. This ongoing immune activation becomes destructive, not helpful. The body starts attacking healthy tissue, confusing friend from foe, and disrupting normal signaling across multiple systems.
Why Is Chronic Inflammation So Easily Missed?
Most conventional doctors are trained to look for disease endpoints, not the inflammatory process that leads there. So when symptoms begin — fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, insomnia, food sensitivities — they’re treated as isolated issues. You get one diagnosis for the gut, one for the joints, one for the brain.
But these aren’t separate problems. They’re expressions of the same inflammatory process, often driven by something deeper — like stealth infections, toxic mold exposure, or persistent microbial imbalance.
What makes this especially confusing is that chronic inflammation often mimics other conditions, leading to misdiagnoses such as:
- Autoimmune disease (when the immune system becomes confused by ongoing triggers)
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (when mitochondria are impaired by inflammatory cytokines)
- Depression or anxiety (when neuroinflammation alters mood and cognition)
- Fibromyalgia (when inflammation affects muscle and nerve signaling)
The Root Problem? Persistent Immune Activation
In my practice, we ask a different question: What is keeping the immune system inflamed?
Often, the answer lies in toxic microbes — stealth pathogens and biotoxin-producing organisms that don’t cause traditional, obvious infections but silently activate the immune system 24/7. The longer they go unaddressed, the more damage they cause.
This is why so many patients in Bloomfield Hills and beyond are caught in a cycle of symptom management, but never truly get better. Because no one has looked upstream to identify the true immune disruptor.
The Microbial Connection
What Are Toxic Microbes (aka Stealth Pathogens)?
Toxic microbes are organisms that either:
- Directly trigger immune dysfunction, or
- Produce biotoxins that hijack the immune response and cause systemic inflammation
They are often:
- Intracellular (living inside your cells)
- Immune-evasive (disguising themselves from detection)
- Slow-growing or dormant (which makes them harder to find with standard tests)
Common Microbial Triggers of Chronic Inflammation
Borrelia (Lyme Disease)
The bacteria behind Lyme is incredibly smart. It can change its form, hide in biofilms, and burrow deep into tissues. Standard Lyme tests miss many cases, especially chronic ones. Left untreated, Borrelia can cause brain fog, joint pain, mood changes, neuropathy, and more.
Bartonella
Often known as the “co-infection” of Lyme, Bartonella can cause neurological symptoms, blood vessel inflammation, skin rashes, and severe anxiety. It’s also linked to PANS/PANDAS in children.
Babesia
A malaria-like parasite that infects red blood cells. Symptoms include night sweats, air hunger, dizziness, and severe fatigue. Standard labs rarely test for it — and it often co-exists with Lyme.
Mycoplasma
This atypical bacteria has been linked to chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune conditions. It disrupts cell membranes and immune recognition — and often flies under the radar.
Chronic Candida or Aspergillus Colonization
These fungal organisms can overgrow in the gut, sinuses, or lungs, especially in immune-compromised individuals. Chronic colonization creates mycotoxins that further inflame the body and disrupt detox pathways.
Mold-Related Biotoxins
Environmental molds (such as Stachybotrys, Aspergillus, and Penicillium) produce biotoxins that impair cellular communication and immune regulation. These toxins can linger in the body long after the initial exposure — especially in individuals with HLA genetic susceptibility.
How Stealth Pathogens Evade and Disrupt the Immune System
These microbes have one job: survive. And they do it well.
They use tactics like:
- Biofilm formation – creating a protective slime that makes them invisible to immune cells and antibiotics
- Molecular mimicry – mimicking your own tissues, which can trigger autoimmunity
- Cellular invasion – hiding inside white blood cells, neurons, and tissues
- Toxin production – releasing chemicals that suppress immune signaling or create confusion in the body’s response
How We Diagnose the Root Cause at Restorative Medicine Center
A Comprehensive, Root-Cause-Focused Evaluation
We start with a full functional medicine intake — a deep, structured review of your:
- Health history
- Environmental exposures (mold, tick bites, travel)
- Life stressors
- Symptom evolution over time
Validated Clinical Screening Tools
We use two powerful tools to screen for biotoxin-related and microbially triggered chronic illness:
MSIDS Questionnaire
Developed by Dr. Richard Horowitz, this symptom-based tool helps screen for multi-system illness caused by stealth infections like Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, and Mycoplasma.
CIRS Symptom Clusters
CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) has defined symptom patterns and lab markers. If you meet these clusters — particularly in combination with a history of mold or vector exposure — your likelihood of biotoxin illness is high.
Advanced Lab Testing to Reveal the Hidden Inflammation
Once we've mapped out your clinical story, we turn to the biomarkers that standard labs ignore — the ones that tell us whether your immune system is inflamed, exhausted, or under microbial attack.
We may assess:
Inflammatory Markers
- C4a – a potent marker of biotoxin-driven immune activation
- TGF-β1 – contributes to fibrosis, brain fog, and autoimmunity
- MMP-9 – indicates leaky barriers and tissue remodeling
Microbial Identification
- PCR and DNA testing for Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma
- Urine or serum tests for fungal colonization and dysbiosis
Mold & Biotoxin Testing
- Mycotoxin panels (urine-based) to detect mold exposure
- HLA-DR gene testing to assess whether your body can clear biotoxins efficiently
- Additional markers like VIP, VEGF, ADH as needed
Functional Immune & Hormone Panels
- Immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgA, IgM)
- Vitamin D ratio (25-OH vs. 1,25-OH)
- Cortisol and DHEA for adrenal function
Environmental History: The Clues That Matter
We don’t just treat the body — we evaluate the environment the body lives in. We’ll ask about:
- Past or current water-damaged buildings
- Moldy basements or offices
- Past tick bites or outdoor exposures
- Travel history to endemic regions (for Lyme, parasites, or unusual infections)
The Root Cause Triad™ Approach to Treatment
1. Microbes – Identifying and Reducing the Hidden Infections
Toxic microbes like Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia, Candida, and Aspergillus don’t just linger — they disrupt immune signaling and keep the body in a constant inflammatory state.
We may use:
- Herbal or pharmaceutical antimicrobials (based on testing and tolerance)
- Antifungals (to treat colonization and mycotoxin-producing species)
- Anti-parasitics (especially in vector-exposed or travel-exposed patients)
- Biofilm disruptors to expose hidden infections
2. Toxins – Clearing the Inflammatory Load
Even after the microbes are gone, their toxic byproducts (biotoxins) often remain in the body, continuing to trigger inflammation. We support detoxification at every stage:
- Binders – to trap and remove circulating biotoxins
- Support for liver and bile flow – because many toxins are excreted via bile
- Mold remediation strategies – because you can’t get well in a toxic environment
- Water, food, and air quality optimization – essential to prevent re-exposure
3. Stress Response – Resetting the Nervous System
Chronic illness doesn’t just affect your body — it rewires your brain into a constant “fight or flight” mode, which only worsens inflammation.
To reset the stress response, we integrate:
- Limbic retraining programs like DNRS or Gupta
- Vagal nerve support through breathwork, cold exposure, and targeted therapies
- Adrenal and HPA axis testing and support
- Somatic and trauma-informed strategies (as appropriate)
Supportive Therapies That Accelerate Recovery
In addition to removing root causes, we support your body’s healing capacity through science-backed therapies, tailored to your stage of recovery:
- Mitochondrial support – for energy, brain function, and cellular repair
- Targeted nutrient repletion – based on lab testing and symptom tracking
- Far Infrared Sauna – to promote sweating and detox
- Red Light Therapy – for mitochondrial stimulation and immune modulation
- Methylene Blue – a neuroprotective agent that also supports energy and antimicrobial action (used cautiously and intentionally)
It’s Not All in Your Head — It’s in Your Immune System
If you’ve been living with brain fog, fatigue, pain, mood swings, or strange symptoms that come and go — and all your labs are “normal” — it’s time to look deeper.
Toxic microbes may be silently sabotaging your immune system, keeping you locked in a state of low-grade inflammation that disrupts everything from your hormones to your mitochondria.
At Restorative Medicine Center, we specialize in uncovering the real root causes of chronic inflammation. Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal is one of the only physicians in Michigan openly diagnosing and treating immune dysregulation driven by stealth pathogens, mold, and biotoxins.
Contact Us Today
📍 Restorative Medicine Center
705 Barclay Circle, Suite 115
Rochester Hills, MI 48307
📞 Phone: 248.289.6349
📠 Fax: 248.289.6923
🕘 Office Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Friday: Closed
🌐 www.restorativemedcenter.com
📩 Email: drbirkmeier@gmail.com