Help For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

What May Cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Why chronic fatigue syndrome occurs is unclear and complex. Researchers conclude that infections, like pneumonia and bronchitis, and other immune deficiencies can be related to chronic fatigue syndrome. Depression, pain, and sleep disturbances frequently occur with chronic fatigue syndrome.

If you suspect chronic fatigue syndrome, you should find a healthcare practitioner who can take a holistic approach to your health and uncover underlying health issues and lifestyle factors that may contribute to your fatigue.

Unfortunately, patients sometimes feel frustrated that they havent been able to get answers from their doctors or by asking . They might see symptoms like chronic fatigue as in their head or they lack motivation or willpower.

Who Is At Risk For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Because the cause of CFS is not known, its hard to know what might put someone at risk for getting the condition. However, certain factors are seen more often in people with CFS. These factors include:

• Gender. CFS happens up to 4 times more often in women than in men.
• Age. CFS commonly affects middle-aged people, but people of any age can get it.

How Is Cfs Diagnosed

CFS is a very challenging condition to diagnose.

According to the Institute of Medicine, as of 2015, CFS occurs in about 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans. Its estimated, however, that 84 to 91 percent have yet to receive a diagnosis.

There are no medical tests to screen for CFS. Its symptoms are similar to many other conditions. Many people with CFS dont look sick, so doctors may not recognize that they indeed have a health condition.

In order to receive a CFS diagnosis, your doctor will rule out other potential causes and review your medical history with you.

Theyll confirm that you at least have the core symptoms previously mentioned. Theyll also ask about the duration and severity of your unexplained fatigue.

Ruling out other potential causes of your fatigue is a key part of the diagnosis process. Some conditions with symptoms that resemble those of CFS include:

• sleep disorders

The side effects of certain drugs, such as antihistamines and alcohol, can mimic symptoms of CFS as well.

Because of the similarities between symptoms of CFS and many other conditions, its important to not self-diagnose. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms. They can work with you to get relief.

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Diagnostic Criteria For Me/cfs Using The National Academy Of Medicine Clinical Criteria

For a diagnosis of ME/CFS, the person must have the following three symptoms:

Diagnosis also requires at least one of the following two symptoms:

It is important to note that these are not the only symptoms of ME/CFS, just the minimum needed to meet the diagnostic criteria.

While diagnosis requires that a person has had symptoms continually for six months, early intervention with pacing and rest can help reduce symptoms, improve quality of life and reduce the risk of exacerbating the disease. Research suggests that patients who are able to pace their activity and not push themselves tend to do better in the long term. Pacing and rest can start even prior to an official diagnosis.

While there is currently no cure and no evidence-based treatments, it is important to find a doctor who is not only sympathetic to ME/CFS, but can work with you to help manage your symptoms.

• The Many Faces of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin

Etiology Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Etiology of CFS is unknown. No infectious, hormonal, immunologic, or psychiatric cause has been established. Among the many proposed infectious causes, Epstein-Barr virus, Lyme disease, candidiasis, and cytomegalovirus have been proven not to cause CFS. Similarly, there are no allergic markers and no immunosuppression.

Some people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection COVID-19 COVID-19 is an acute, sometimes severe, respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Prevention is by vaccination, infection control precautions Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic stress disorder is recurring, intrusive recollections of an overwhelming traumatic event recollections last > 1 month and begin within 6 months of the event. The pathophysiology… read more . In addition, in some patients COVID-19 seems to trigger typical CFS, but further study is needed to confirm this association and determine causality.

Various minor immunologic abnormalities have been reported. These abnormalities include low levels of IgG, abnormal IgG, decreased lymphocytic proliferation, low interferon-gamma levels in response to mitogens, poor cytotoxicity of natural killer cells, circulating autoantibodies and immune complexes, and many other immunologic findings. However, none provide adequate sensitivity and specificity for defining CFS. They do, however, underscore the physiologic legitimacy of CFS.

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How Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diagnosed

CFS diagnosis depends on two criteria:

A specific treatment for CFS has yet to be proven effective. Vitamin supplements and medicines have some benefit. Many treatments just relieve the symptoms of CFS.

Moving Beyond Diagnosis To Find The Causes

I learned firsthand the struggle to understand fatigue-related disorders when a personal encounter with debilitating fatigue around age 50 forced me to see them differently than most physicians. After years of intense night call as an OB/GYN and keeping some pretty poor health habits, I was gradually propelled into chronic misery and had to give up my practice as a result.

I experienced the full range of symptoms common to chronic fatigue syndrome. And like most sufferers, I struggled between a diagnosis of CFS and fibromyalgia, but ultimately chose fibromyalgia because of pain issues. Later, after a tick bite with a bulls eye rash, I concluded that I had been suffering from chronic Lyme disease all along.

Now, after more than a decade of research and trial and error with nearly every possible conventional and alternative treatment, Im finally well again. In the process, Ive also come to the conclusion that all three of these illnesses chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and chronic Lyme are variations of the same fundamental problem: Loss of energy that can be sourced to mitochondrial dysfunction and disrupted communications within the body.

The list of possible coinfections includes mycoplasma, bartonella, babesia, anaplasma, ehrlichia, and rickettsia, but new microbes are being added to the list on a regular basis. In addition, most everyone with chronic Lyme disease is also found to have reactivation of EBV and a variety of other viruses.

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How Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treated

Treatment is determined by your healthcare provider and based on:

• Your overall health and medical history
• Extent of the condition
• Your tolerance for specific medicines, procedures, or therapies
• Expectations for the course of the condition
• Your opinion or preference

• Medicine, including corticosteroids, antidepressants, and others
• Light-intensity aerobic exercise
• Dietary supplements and herbal preparations
• Psychotherapy and supportive counseling

Getting Older And Me/cfs

There is very little information on getting older and ME/CFS, however people can develop ME/CFS at any age. Additionally, all of the strategies such as pacing to reduce PEM and managing symptoms still apply. As people age, other problems with their health may also arise, so discussing any new symptoms with their doctor important.

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How Will Me/cfs Affect My Quality Of Life

Not everyone will experience the same symptoms so itâs important not to compare people with ME/CFS. People with ME/CFS can have very different experiences of the condition and how long their symptoms last.

The impact of symptoms can be:

As symptoms change over time so does the impact they have on peopleâs lives.

Concluding Remarks And Future Directions

This review suggests that the beneficial effects of nutritional supplements are not random, but that their action is due to the removal of one of the causes of the CFS/ME. There is evidence that supplements may benefit CFS/ME patients therefore, nutritional supplements should be recommended, at least in CFS/ME patients with a biochemically proven deficiency. Studies investigating nutritional interventions in CFS/ME remain very limited most studies have had small sample sizes, and lacked long term followup . Despite the relative consistency in case definition, the studies differed with regard to inclusion and exclusion criteria and reporting participants’ sociodemographic characteristics and clinical features . This heterogeneity in study design makes the application of the findings to the clinical setting more difficult. Therefore, longerterm RCTs in homogeneous populations that use more specific case criteria are now warranted.

In agreement with several previous studies, pacing was consistently shown to be the most helpful treatment, CBT was useful for some patients but not all for all graded training may cause the condition to worsen. However, the results must be interpreted with care, as the participants are not a representative sample.

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Graded Exercise Therapy Controversy

The PACE TRIAL

In 2005, patient recruitment began for the PACE Trial – Pacing, Graded Activity, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and randomized Evaluation, which was conducted in the UK under the auspices of the UK Medical Research Council, Depart of Health and Social Care for England, Scottish Chief Scientist Office, and Department for Work and Pensions. The investigators were Peter White, a psychiatrist, Trudie Chalder, a professor of cognitive behavioral therapy, and Michael Sharpe, a professor of psychological medicine.

This study, which is the most well-funded single piece of ME/CFS research ever conducted, was designed to compare three different approaches to treatment:

1) Specialist Medical Care , which included the use of medications for symptoms management and instruction in avoidance of extreme activity or inactivity to SMC plus Adaptive Pacing Therapy , which is activity engagement limited by symptoms of PEM on one extreme and complete inactivity on the other

2) Informing the group that they were not ill, but rather deconditioned and should gradually return to activities and that there was nothing preventing their recovery and

3) CBT and GET with the premise that deconditioning, dysfunctional cognition, and false ideas were the source of their symptoms and functional limitations. The GET was to be advanced in a structured manner with the ultimate goal of the patients participating in regular aerobic exercise.

The consequences of the PACE Trial were:

Increase Potassium And Magnesium Intake

Research shows that both potassium and magnesium can help improve the symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Magnesium

In a study published in the UK medical journal The Lancet, chronic fatigue syndrome patients were found to have low magnesium levels that accounted for a low red blood cell count.

In this study, patients that were treated with magnesium supplements self-reported improved energy levels, a more balanced emotional state and less pain. At the end of the six-week study, all patients that were given magnesium had their red cell magnesium levels return to normal.

If you have chronic fatigue syndrome, consider adding these magnesiumrich foods to add to your diet: spinach, chard, pumpkin seeds, yogurt and kefir, almonds, black beans, avocados, figs, dark chocolate and bananas.

These delicious foods can help you overcome chronic fatigue, one of the symptoms of a magnesium deficiency, and support healthy nerve function, healthy blood sugar levels, blood pressure regulation, and much more. Its estimated that nearly 80 percent of Americans are currently deficient in this essential mineral.

Potassium

Potassium is responsible for proper electrolyte balance in the body. Potassium-rich foods include avocados, spinach, sweet potatoes, coconut water, kefir and yogurt, white beans, bananas, acorn squash, dried apricots and mushrooms.

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S To Overcoming Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Naturally

Getting well requires undoing the things that contributed to your misery in the first place. Once you minimize or eliminate the root causes , amazing things happen. Cells are reenergized. Normal communication pathways become re-established. Immune system functions rebound. Adrenal and thyroid functions normalize. Nerves and neurotransmitters calm, and the brain starts functioning again.

Healing can take place, and symptoms, including fatigue, gradually resolve.

But to get well, you must want to be well more deeply than anything you have ever wanted. Ultimately, becoming well is your responsibility, and you alone must put the effort forward to make your recovery happen. This doesnt exclude having positive relationships with healthcare providers, family, and friends, which are all much to your benefit. But when you leave behind a total dependence on others to rescue you from misery, and take a stand to regain wellness that is rightfully yours to enjoy, you become a new person with a renewed purpose in life. That renewed purpose will carry you back to wellness and beyond.

Even with renewed spirit, however, youll need a plan to follow. The following guidelines provide the basic outline for the strategy I used personally to recover wellness, and that Ive since shared to successfully help thousands of others. You can follow in their footsteps.

Children Young People And Me/cfs

ME/CFS can affect people of all ages, including the very young. Young people with ME/CFS, especially children under the age of ten, might have trouble knowing or articulating that something is wrong. They may not realise that their loss of stamina, or other symptoms they are experiencing, are not normal. Alternatively, they may not have the words to describe what they are feeling.

For both younger children and teenagers, schooling can be affected but ME/CFS is not school refusal. While school refusal can often be accompanied by physical complaints , and these complaints may tend to disappear when the young person stays home, the pattern is different with ME/CFS. In a young person with ME/CFS, some symptoms never ease and symptom exacerbation is triggered by activity. In ME/CFS, symptoms are likely to be worse after school attendance, and can reduce with pacing and rest, which includes time away from school or during holidays.

Some young people with ME/CFS can continue to attend school, and others may be too unwell for regular classroom attendance. Parents, healthcare providers, schools and the child or teenager need to work together to come up with a plan for the young persons continued education. This plan needs to take into account the energy limits of ME/CFS. Being creative and flexible is key and might include things like fewer subjects or school from home.

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Living With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Although experts have not yet found a cure for CFS/ME, many people who have the illness are able to make lifestyle changes and find treatments that allow them to reduce or manage their symptoms. Improvement is possible by living within your limits and working with a doctor to find treatments that help you. There are also many CFS/ME support groups both online and in-person. Meeting with such a group might prove to be helpful.

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Best Foods To Reduce Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

A balanced diet is themain source of energy that is much needed to a person who is already feeling weak and tired. Studies showed that eating small frequent meals assist CFS patients as it fuels them up throughout the day without over-indulging them.

The truth is eating larger amounts can tire anyone sick or healthy because blood get directed away from the brain and limbs but to your stomach and intestines.

So how to adapt your nutrition routineto reduce your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ?

Here are the 10 Healthy superfoods to add to your diet to beat CFS :

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Drug And Alternative Therapies

Specific chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms such as pain, depression, and poor sleep are treated.

Many different drugs and alternative therapies have been tried to relieve the chronic fatigue itself. Although many treatments, such as antidepressants and corticosteroids, seem to make a few people feel better, none are clearly effective for all. It can be hard for people and doctors to tell which treatments work because symptoms are different in different people and because symptoms may come and go on their own.

Controlled clinical trials The Science of Medicine Doctors have been treating people for many thousands of years. The earliest written description of medical treatment is from ancient Egypt and is over 3,500 years old. Even before that, healers… read more , which compare the benefits of a drug to those of a placebo , are the best way to test therapies, and no drug therapy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome in controlled trials. A number of treatments directed at possible causes, including use of interferons, intravenous injections of immune globulin, and antiviral drugs, have been mostly disappointing and potentially dangerous. Dietary supplements, such as evening primrose oil, fish oil supplements, and high-dose vitamins, are commonly used, but their benefits remain unproved. Other alternative treatments have also been ineffective. Treatments that have no proven benefits are best avoided because they can have side effects.

Common Brain Fog Causes

• Medical conditions

Each persons experience with brain fog is unique so that brain fog can be caused by a number of different factors.

In this blog post, I am going to focus onnatural brain fog remedies that have been shown scientifically to help with brain fatigue and other symptoms associated with brain fog, including poor concentration, mental confusion, and lack of memory recall.

Its important to note that brain fog can be a symptom of other underlying health conditions.

So, if you are experiencing brain fog and it does not go away after trying some of the remedies listed below, it is important to see a doctor for further evaluation.

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