Ways To Cope With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Maybe you find it difficult to fall and stay asleep despite being absolutely exhausted. Maybe you have trouble focusing, too, and feel like you just cant remember things the way you used to like your brain is always in a fog.
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If youve had these symptoms for more than three months without an obvious cause, a condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome may be to blame. And while theres unfortunately no cure, there are ways to cope with this CFS to make life a little easier.
What Medications Can Treat Chronic Pain
Your healthcare provider may recommend certain medications to relieve chronic pain, including:
- Anticonvulsants for nerve pain.
- Antidepressants such as tricyclic antidepressants.
- Muscle relaxers.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen.
- Topical products that contain pain relievers or ingredients that create soothing heat or cold.
- Opioids . Opioids can be addictive, and you can build up a tolerance to them over time. Because of this, healthcare providers usually try other pain treatment options before prescribing opioids.
- Sedatives to help with anxiety or insomnia.
- Medical marijuana.
Other medical treatments your healthcare provider may have you try include:
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation : This procedure delivers small shocks through patches on your skin. The electrical impulses can relieve pain.
- Nerve blocks: For this treatment, your healthcare provider injects an anesthetic near the site of your pain to reduce feeling in the area. Nerve blocks can also sometimes provide diagnostic information and locate the source of your pain.
- Epidural steroid injections: This procedure is an injection of anti-inflammatory medicine a steroid or corticosteroid into the space around your spinal nerves known as the epidural space to treat chronic pain caused by irritation and inflammation of spinal nerve roots.
Treatment For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Currently there is no cure for chronic fatigue syndrome. Current treatment focuses on symptom relief. The most troublesome or disabling symptoms are typically addressed first, Nath says.
Common ways to manage chronic fatigue syndrome is to schedule activities that take into account energy levels that can help relieve some stress that the illness puts on people.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, cognitive behavior therapy and exercise that gradually increases over time have been shown to moderately improve fatigue levels, help patients with their day-to-day activities and manage anxiety and post-exertional malaise.
Depending on the person, chronic fatigue syndrome can last anywhere from six months to a few years, making it important to work with a health care team to find effective ways to find symptom relief and develop strategies that improve quality of life.
Take your health in your own hands and be proactive in finding an integrative or functional medicine provider that can guide you through a multi-pronged approach to support your body while it recovers and heals, eventually eliminating your symptoms, Sridhar says.
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Why Pacing Yourself Can Be Difficult
Some people with chronic illness may struggle with pacing because they may feel like they failed for doing less than what seems “normal.” Other people may avoid doing activities altogether because they associate it with chronic pain or fatigue.
“What I say to initially is ‘you know it’s always hard for us to accept things that feel like they’re being imposed on us things we didn’t have a choice in getting diagnosed with a chronic condition, especially as a young person,'” Shorey says. “But the fact of the matter is, at some point or another, we’re all going to have to learn to pace.”
It may also take a while for some patients to realize that they need to work with their current chronic pain and chronic fatigue levels. Shamin Ladhani, PsyD, a pain psychologist based in Wisconsin, tells Verywell that some patients may bounce from doctor to doctor looking for a cure.
“We have to kind of find out where they are in that status of motivation to change before we can kind of say can ‘we are in an acceptance place,'” Ladhani says. Pacing does not replace medication but it can help people manage their symptoms in conjunction with medication.
Healing Psychological And Emotional Factors
Why did this person get this illness at this time? Alternative Medicine Practitioners ask such questions because they realize that illness is more than a matter of imbalanced physiology. There are always psychological and emotional aspects to every health problem and unless these are thoroughly addressed, no cure will ever be complete and lasting.
Lifestyle choices, including how one thinks and acts, can contribute to chronic fatigue. For example, a lifestyle of high-paced overachievement or workaholism characterizes the lives of many CFS sufferers prior to becoming sick. For some people dealing with unremitting fatigue is the only way they will ever take the time to focus on their internal world. While not all CFS patients have the same psychological make-up, all of them do have psychological issues that play a contributing role in their illness, and these mental and emotional factors constantly interact with their physiological condition. For true and complete healing to be successful the CFS patient must learn the lesson of the disease. They must not to repeat the emotional, psychological and lifestyle patterns that contributed to their illness. Working with a trained professional to help deal with some of the emotional baggage is one of the keys to healing.
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How Does A Lack Of Sleep Affect Pain
Sleep is important. The National Sleep Foundation details how crucial sleep is to our well-being and energy levels.
Sleep has been proposed to be a physiological adaptation to conserve energy it restores energy to our bodies, helps clear waste from the brain, and can even clear out negative emotions from our thought process. There is a growing body of evidence that sleep duration is linked to metabolism and the regulation of appetite.
If someone with chronic pain manages to fall asleep, the pain can cause that person to wake up multiple times per night, resulting in low-quality sleep and a feeling of fatigue ensuing in an even more rapid depreciation of the body.
The fatigue a chronic pain sufferer endures can feed into the pain cycle and make one perceive the pain as even worse, making everyday tasks such as putting on clothes or getting out of bed very difficult. It can also lead to social alienation because you are simply not up for something that requires energy, such as going out or seeing friends.
Join A Support Group Meet Others Living With Chronic Pain
When you’re with people who have chronic pain and understand what you’re going through, you feel less alone. You also benefit from their wisdom in coping with the pain.
Also, consider meeting with a mental health professional. Anyone can develop depression if they are living with chronic pain. Getting counseling can help you learn to cope better and help you avoid negative thoughts that make pain worse — so you have a healthier attitude. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
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How Do People Live With Chronic Pain And Fatigue
Having enough energy to move forward can be tough when youre dealing with chronic pain and fatigue. You likely spend most of your time just trying to get through your day, and without the energy left to do anything else, you may be frustrated as you try to plan for the future. Understanding how to cope with chronic pain and fatigue, though, can help you know what to do next.
Fatigue In Peripheral Neuropathy
Unfortunately fatigue is a central part of many neuropathies and especially the immune mediated neuropathies. It is central to many other chronic illnesses that affect the bodys immune system. The causes are often complex and many.
Dr. Scott Berman, in his book Coping with Chronic Neuropathy notes in chapter VIII Dealing with Fatigue and Insomnia that this symptom is one of the most difficult and challenging for the neuropathy patient. Dr. Berman is a Psychiatrist, a member of the Board of Directors of the NSN and a Medical Advisor. Scott lives with untreatable CIDP.
He notes:
that in one study looking at fatigue in autoimmune neuropathy 80% of 113 patients had severe fatigue. The fatigue was independent of motor or sensory symptoms and was rated as one of the top three most disabling symptoms. .
For decades in living with untreated Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy , Autonomic Neuropathy and Progressive Polyneuropathy due to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, I can attest to the facts noted above. While other major symptoms respond to treatment with Immune Globulin , the symptom of severe fatigue continues as one of the symptoms that responds only temporarily to the infusions followed by several days of total fatigue following infusion and then with some lessening until the next infusion.
Impact on family and friends:
Educating yourself about neuropathy:
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What Are The Symptoms Of Me/cfs
The key symptom or feature of ME/CFS is called post-exertional malaise . This means that your symptoms get worse after exercise or mental effort and dont improve after sleep or rest. PEM can be very disabling and can reduce your ability to function during regular daily activities. PEM is also common if you have long COVID.
ME/CFS may start suddenly or gradually over months or years. The level of activity that triggers your PEM will vary from person to person and can depend on how severe your condition is. For example, if your ME/CFS is relatively mild, you may experience PEM after going for a walk or a jog, but if your ME/CFS is severe, just reading a book or brushing your teeth could bring on your PEM. Your PEM may appear immediately after activity or may sometimes be delayed by up to 3 days. It can last for 24 hours or for a few days. A more serious relapse can last for weeks or months.
A common misconception is that people with ME/CFS have âchronic fatigue and are just very tired. Persistent and profound fatigue is just one symptom of ME/CFS.
Other common symptoms of ME/CFS, that may also increase with PEM include:
- thinking problems, loss of memory or poor concentration
- gastrointestinal changes such as nausea, constipation or diarrhoea
- sensitivities to light or noise, food, medicines or chemicals
- problems with temperature regulation
Everyone is different, so you might experience only mild symptoms, or you might develop more severe symptoms.
Identify Treatments Youve Tried
In addition to tracking the symptoms you have experienced, keep a list of treatments you have tried. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a medications and supplements list you can use to track your medications, their dosage, how well they help, and if you experienced side effects. Write a separate list of other treatments you have tried beyond medications and supplements, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exercise, acupuncture, or meditation.
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Chronic Pain And Fatigue Self Help
IMPORTANT NOTICE – new guideline for ME/CFS
The updated guidance for England and Wales recommends people judge their own “energy limit” when undertaking activity of any kind, and a physical activity programme should only be considered in specific circumstances.
The article below and the linked printable PDF has not yet been updated
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Self help guide for chronic pain and/or fatigue, using effective CBT strategies. Make sense of the problem, then learn how to make positive changes
Save or print this page as a PDFBecause of the chronic and persistent pain and fatigue, it is easy to get into habits of activity and rest that may not be the best way to deal with the pain and fatigue. CBT can help to identify those unhelpful ways of thinking and acting, and help us make healthy and positive changes, and therefore reduce the pain and fatigue.Okay, I have this medical condition. Whats keeping the pain and fatigue going now?
Breaking this simplistic vicious cycle means stopping before the pain or fatigue makes you stop – and scheduling in some rest periods. Thoughts and physiological factors also play a significant part in the cycle:
There are several factors which contribute to fatigue and pain, on top of an existing chronic pain or chronic fatigue condition. These include:Doing too much too soon after illness.Resting too much for too long.
Boom and bust
Mental fatigue
How Your Family Can Help
Always remember that youre not alone. Support from your family can make your condition easier to bear by spending time with you on good days as well as the bad days.
I try to make family members a partner in treatment, he says. When you just want to spend the day in bed watching TV because of fatigue or pain, a family member can encourage simple, fun activities to help get you moving.
Whether your diagnosis is chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, a doctors role in treating the disease small. A doctor is there as the coach and can help you with the first 10% to 15% of improvement, while you have to help yourself manage the remaining 85% to 90%.
If youre suffering with chronic pain and/or fatigue, talk to your doctor. A diagnosis can put you in a better position to manage your symptoms even if there are still some mysteries surrounding your disease.
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Chronic Pain And Fatigue: How To Cope With The Symptoms
Do you struggle with chronic pain? Has exhaustion sapped your mojo? Have you wondered if these two problems are interlinked? Chronic pain and fatigue often go hand in hand. But before we dive into why, and give you evidence-based advice on how to cope, lets look at the definitions to ensure were on the same page.Chronic pain is pain that, Lasts beyond normal healing time after injury or illness generally 3 to 6 months. It is pain that just keeps going. While the definition is simple, the process is not. There are a range of complex physical and psychological factors involved. Long-term fatigue is also, by definition, chronic in nature it, too, just keeps going. Research published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management noted that:Chronic fatigue has been described as a sustained sense of whole-body exhaustion that is disproportionate to the level of physical exertion and is not relieved by rest.This kind of depletion has profound consequences. Tiredness can strike without physical exertion and is not remedied by a good sleep. This can lead to a poorer quality of life.A self-perpetuating cycle can also brew: pain worsens fatigue, fatigue leads to further pain, ad nauseam.
This raises an important question
Talking With Your Doctor About Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
If you are experiencing fatigue on an ongoing basis despite getting adequate sleep, talk to your doctor. While you could be facing chronic fatigue syndrome, many illnesses ranging from obstructive sleep apnea to iron-deficiency anemia can cause fatigue. Your doctor will need to ask questions and order tests to determine what is causing fatigue in your personal situation. Preparing for your appointment can help it go more smoothly.
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Biological Link Between Pain And Fatigue Discovered
- Date:
- University of Iowa
- Summary:
- A recent study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
A recent University of Iowa study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Working with mice, the researchers, led by Kathleen Sluka, Ph.D., professor in the Graduate Program in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, found that a protein involved in muscle pain works in conjunction with the male hormone testosterone to protect against muscle fatigue.
Chronic pain and fatigue often occur together as many as three in four people with chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain report having fatigue and as many as 94 percent of people with chronic fatigue syndromes report muscle pain. Women make up the majority of patients with these conditions.
To probe the link between pain and fatigue, and the influence of sex, the UI team compared exercise-induced muscle fatigue in male and female mice with and without ASIC3 an acid-activated ion channel protein that the team has shown to be involved in musculoskeletal pain.
Causes Of Fatigue In Arthritis
Inflammation, pain, inactivity and lifestyle factors can cause extreme tiredness when living with arthritis.
Everyone gets worn out from time to time. But exhaustion that disrupts your daily life and doesnt get better after a good nights sleep has its own medical term: fatigue. Fatigue significantly affects the quality of life for people with many forms of arthritis-related diseases, includingrheumatoid arthritis,psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia andosteoarthritis. Your lack of energy may be caused by your inflammatory disease and other health conditions you have, as well asmedications side effectsand lifestyle habits.
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Tips To Alleviate Fatigue
The pain-fatigue cycle can be a difficult one to break, but addressing one problem may help you alleviate the other. Listen to your body and its limits, and talk to your doctor about managing your pain and fatigue.
