How one woman’s quest to understand her chronic fatigue sparked a breakthrough

Unexplained tiredness was driving Amanda Twinam crazy. Her journey for answers led to a scientific discovery that could help others, as Brian Vastag explains

Amanda Twinam and her daughter, Paige. Research on Amanda’s fatigue may help shed light on long covid and other conditions (Ashley Brown/Washington Post)

Amanda Twinam’s journey to understand her decades-long fatigue began with a breast cancer diagnosis at 28.

Amanda underwent a mastectomy before enduring chemotherapy. The medicines made her sick and triggered seizures, which eventually brought her to a rheumatologist.

That doctor found a marker for autoimmune diseases in Amanda’s blood. And yet, none of the proposed diagnoses fully fit.