You have two changes at once here. You cannot attribute anything until one of them moves.

Access to mugs should be on the clinical questionnaire.

Test one thing at a time. It feels slower and it is the only way to learn anything.

Reference ranges differ between labs, so comparing two reports is close to meaningless.

Worth asking what specifically was measured. Pain scores move with mood and function does not. Two months in on a regulator warning and it lines up.