Ryan Sutter Reveals More Details About His Mystery Illness

Ryan Sutter, who won the heart of Trista Sutter in the first ever season of "The Bachelorette," revealed in an Instagram post on Sunday that he is finally getting answers on his mystery illness. He has been suffering for nearly a year with strange symptoms, including, "deep body and muscle aches, fevers, night sweats, full body itching with no rash, headaches, neck and throat swelling, congestion, light headedness, nausea, and just general all around not feeling good," (via Instagram and People). In his latest post, Sutter wrote, "Things are looking up..."

Former "Bachelorette" Trista Sutter revealed news of her husband's health problems last year in November. "This guy...my rock, my best friend, my hero, my love...is struggling," she wrote on Instagram. "We've been struggling for months. Struggling to get answers." Penn Live points out that Trista and Ryan are one of five couples that are still together out of the 16 seasons of "The Bachelorette."

In his Instagram post on Sunday, Ryan Sutter confessed that he has been questioning whether continuing his career was the best idea. As People noted, the former "Bachelorette" cast member started having health problems after completing a training course for firefighting. "Maybe I picked a bad time to start my career over? Maybe I was too old, too broken, too confident, too selfish, too clueless?" he wrote. However, Sutter seems to have come to terms with it. "Maybe those maybes are meant to shine light on what may be," he continued.

Ryan also updated his followers on his mystery illness, writing, "answers have unfolded in regard to my health and I am certain of my direction moving forward there." He then hinted that he will explain what he means later on.

On Monday, Trista Sutter wrote her own Instagram post on the news, and thanked all the doctors involved in Sutter's health. "He has a way to go to heal, but we are hopeful that he is on a path of healing," the former "Bachelorette" wrote. She then revealed that she and her husband would explain more in a podcast which aired on Tuesday.

On Trista's podcast "Better Etc.," the couple discussed Ryan's medical journey in depth, and revealed that he has been suffering from COVID-19, Lyme disease, and Epstein-bar. He was also infected with mold, likely while working as a firefighter, which may have weakened his immune system and caused him to become more susceptible to the other diagnosed illnesses.

Trista explained that Ryan was likely exposed to COVID-19 at work. "They tested you [for covid] a lot, for your job," Trista recalled, speaking to Ryan. "But all of your tests came back negative, whether it was the test for the virus or the antibodies test ... so covid wasn't necessarily on the table."

Nearly a year later, the couple learned about the concept of "long-haul covid" and decided to get Ryan a T Cell test, which measures the amount of T Cells in the body designed to fight off COVID-19 (via Nature). The test came back positive, which meant that Ryan had been infected with COVID-19 back in 2020. Ryan also had a comprehensive test for Lyme disease, Epstein-bar, and mold toxins, all of which came back positive, as well. While the diagnoses are not something anyone wants to hear, Ryan and Trista noted that they are grateful to finally have answers. "A year or so ago, we started this investigative process, and it took a year to really come up with a diagnosis," Ryan said.