What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a complicated disease for doctors to diagnose and even fully understand.
CFS is a physical condition, but it can also affect a person psychologically. This means that someone with CFS may feel physical symptoms, such as being very tired and weak , headaches, or dizziness. But the person may also notice emotional symptoms, such as a loss of interest in favorite activities.
To make it even more complicated, different people with CFS can have different symptoms. And the symptoms of CFS often are similar those of other health conditions, like mono, Lyme disease, or depression. And the symptoms can vary over time, even in the same person.
This makes treating the illness complicated because no single medicine or treatment can address all the possible symptoms.
Is Pots More Common In Certain People
There are no established risk factors for POTS. However, it is known to run in families, so it could have a genetic component. Researchers have also established a link between POTS and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome . So if you have one of these conditions, you might also have the other.
A big group of those diagnosed with POTS is young women and teens. However, this doesnt mean they are more likely to develop this condition.
Psychological Issues And Fatigue
Studies suggest that between 50 and 80 per cent of fatigue cases are mainly due to psychological factors. Suggestions include:
- Talk about it Theres some evidence that talking therapies such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy might help to fight fatigue. See your doctor for a referral for talking treatment.
- Reduce stress Stress uses up a lot of energy. Try to introduce relaxing activities into your day. This could be working out at the gym, or a gentler option such as meditation, yoga, listening to music, reading or spending time with friends. Whatever relaxes you will improve your energy.
- Assess your lifestyle for example, are you putting yourself under unnecessary stress? Are there ongoing problems in your life that may be causing prolonged anxiety or depression? It may help to seek professional counselling to work out family, career or personal issues.
- Learn to do nothing one of the drawbacks of modern life is the pressure to drive ourselves to bigger and better heights. A hectic lifestyle is exhausting. Try to carve out a few more hours in your week to simply relax and hang out. If you cant find a few more hours, it may be time to rethink your priorities and commitments.
- Have more fun maybe youre so preoccupied with commitments and pressures that you dont give yourself enough time for fun. Laughter is one of the best energy boosters around.
You May Like: Symptoms Of Dry Mouth And Fatigue
How To Stop Feeling Tired All The Time
Fatigue is a feeling that you’re chronically tired – mentally and physically.
It can be caused by a number of factors, including unhealthy lifestyle choices, workplace problems and stress.
There are many different ways you can boost your energy, but see your health practitioner first to make sure you don’t have an underlying medical problem.
Is It Possible That I Have Pots And Was Incorrectly Diagnosed
This is entirely possible. Given how common POTS symptoms are and how unfamiliar many doctors are with this condition, diagnostic mishaps happen. POTS is frequently misidentified as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, anxiety disorder, ADHD, irritable bowel syndrome, myositis, etc. It is also possible that you have both POTS and one of these conditions, which may complicate the diagnosis. Sometimes people with POTS are told that its all in your head, implying that the cause of their symptoms is psychological. If you feel like something is physically wrong, dont hesitate to seek a second, and even a third or fourth opinion.
COVID-19 and POTS: Is There a Link?
Although many people recover quickly from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, others who recover may continue to experience symptoms for months. Researchers are still determining the cause of these extended symptoms, but some COVID-19 “long-haulers” may actually be dealing with POTS.
Don’t Miss: What Can Cause Extreme Fatigue And Joint Pain
Go Easy On Foods High In Refined Carbohydrates
Bread, spaghetti, and cake are not your best choices. These foods make your blood sugar rise rapidly, then crash quickly. Youll end up feeling weak and tired. Eat more high-fibre foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain cereals, whole-wheat bread, and vegetables. These help stabilize blood sugar.
Build A Team Of Healers To Help You On Your Journey
It took more than one factor to get you to this place of burnout, and its likely going to take more than one form of treatment to help you get better.
On my personal journey, I visited a medical doctor, two naturopaths, a registered massage therapist, an acupuncturist, an energy healer, and a therapist. I made healing my full time job and I knew that having a dedicated team of healers around me would expedite my process.
While Im not guaranteeing youll need more than a simple visit to your doctor to get the clarity that youre looking for, it never hurts to get multiple opinions and tests done, just to rule out various health factors.
Healing your physical body from extreme burnout is a war of attrition, not a war of annihilation. Put in another way, lots of little things are going to add up to helping you to heal, more likely than it is that youll find one magic bullet to heal you right away .
So enlist help. Yes, friends and family but also enlist the aid of people who help others heal professionally.
Recommended Reading: Foods To Help Adrenal Fatigue
Natural Remedies For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
In functional medicine, the goal is to find out the root cause of problems like chronic fatigue. The reality is there isn’t just one cause of chronic fatigue syndromeit has many underlying pieces.
Still, there are a few steps you can take to start rehabbing your energy levels. Here are eight tips I recommend:
Nourish Yourself With The Right Diet
Optimal nutrition is vital for overcoming any kind of chronic illness and related digestive issues. The right diet supplies the body with the proper balance of nutrients necessary for healing, acquired from foods that are naturally easy to digest, promote the growth of normal microbes in the gut, and support healthy metabolism.
To eat this way means leaving behind the processed food products that have come to dominate the modern food supply and are loaded with carbohydrates and toxic fat. These foods are mostly derived from processed forms of wheat, corn, soybeans, and sugar, all of which disrupt immune system function, communication, and all other systems in the body.
The best diet for overcoming chronic fatigue syndrome can be boiled down to six basic guidelines. Follow these, and youll quickly propel your recovery in a forward direction.
Recommended Reading: How To Fight Diabetes Fatigue
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
There’s a long list of possible symptoms that someone with chronic fatigue syndrome can have. The most common ones include:
- severe fatigue, which can make it hard to get out of bed and do normal daily activities
- sleep problems, such as trouble falling or staying asleep, or not having a refreshing sleep
- symptoms getting worse after physical or mental effort
- symptoms or dizziness that get worse after standing up or sitting upright from a lying down position
- problems with concentration and memory
- headaches and stomachaches
Fuel Your Body With High
Theres no specific diet for MS, but the NMSS recommends following a healthy diet thats low in fat and high in fiber. According to the NMSS, the foods you choose to eat affect your energy levels.
Consuming simple carbohydrates such as sugary foods and highly refined foods such as white bread, white rice, or pasta can cause blood sugar levels to spike and crash. The crash can exacerbate preexisting fatigue in persons with MS, explains Barbara Giesser, MD, neurologist and MS specialist at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
How can you avoid this? Regularly choosing high-quality foods can help, says Dr. Giesser. Good options include:
- Protein-packed options, like beans, nuts, and lean animal proteins
- Fiber-rich foods, like oatmeal, brown rice, and high-fiber breakfast cereals
- Fresh fruit and leafy green vegetables
- Fat-free or low-fat yogurt
RELATED: 7 Ways to Fight MS Fatigue With Your Fork
Read Also: Fatigue Falling Asleep During The Day
Get 7 9 Hours Of Sleep Nightly
The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Some questions you can ask yourself to see if you are not sleeping enough include: Does it take me a long time to fall asleep? Do I wake up often or am I restless? Do I feel sleepy when driving? Do I need caffeine to get through the day? Answer, yes, to any of these indicates you may not be getting enough quality sleep.
Ways Of Boosting Energy Levels And Reducing Fatigue
Having energy has never been as important as it is today with the rise of the online rat-race. Stress is at an all-time high in todays generation and both men and women experience it daily.
Balancing a career, a healthy lifestyle, kids, a family, and an online social media presence has become the norm for a large portion of the western world. Our body, however, is not designed to be in a constant state of stress and has not caught up to this new way of living.
For this reason, fatigue is something a lot of us experience. It causes us to feel unmotivated, tired, and left with no energy to pursue the things we love.
The goal of this article is to analyze the role that fatigue plays in our daily lives and our overall health and to underline the best ways to get our energy back ASAP.
Contents
Read Also: Anti Fatigue Compression Foot Sleeve Socks
Eating And Drinking Habits
Diet can affect how tired or energetic a person feels. Maintaining a moderate and well-balanced diet can lead to better health and better sleep.
Here are some tips to try:
- Eat small, frequent meals throughout the day.
- Eat snacks that are low in sugar.
- Avoid junk food and follow a well-balanced, healthful diet.
- Consume plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Avoid consuming caffeine in the afternoon and evening.
Can Boredom Cause Fatigue
Being bored can make you feel tired. That may sound strange, but it’s true. If you were very busy during your working years, you may feel lost about how to spend your time when you retire. When you wake up in the morning, you may see long days stretching before you with nothing planned. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Engaging in social and productive activities that you enjoy, like volunteering in your community, may help maintain your well-being. Think about what interests you and what skills or knowledge you have to offer and look for places to volunteer. Read Participating in Activities You Enjoy for ways to find volunteer opportunities.
Recommended Reading: Is Fatigue A Symptom Of Uti
My Extreme Burnout Experience
For the first three years of starting up my business, I barely took a day off. And I really mean barely. Even saying barely feels generous.
My best guess is that within my first three years of writing online, I may have had a total of ten days where I actually did zero work.
First year of my business. Here I am working on my laptop while on vacation.
And while I feel so grateful to have the kind of job where I wouldnt want to take many days off from work, and a job where the time flexibility is so great that I am able to chip away at it on a daily basis, ultimately I am not a robot. Eventually my plans of constant productivity came crashing down around me.
Throughout the majority of my third year in business I had a sense of feeling tired but also wired. It felt like my body wanted to take a ten hour sleep but I couldnt because I had just consumed six cups of coffee. Which was strange because I dont drink tea, coffee, or caffeine in any form. Nevertheless, this underlying message from my cells screaming out for rest went unheeded.
Then, one day, my body demanded that I pay attention
It was a Wednesday morning that I woke up from an unusually long sleep still feeling exhausted.
My body felt heavy so heavy that I felt like I had woken up three times heavier than I had been when I went to sleep.
My brain felt foggy and exhausted. Stringing a complete sentence together was challenging.
The idea of getting out of bed to make myself breakfast felt impossible.
Work Closely With Your Ms Healthcare Providers
Make and keep regular appointments with your doctor to assess whether your disease is under the best control possible and youre receiving optimal MS treatment.
In many cases, when MS is well-controlled, it can help in terms of fatigue levels, says Devon Conway, MD, a neurologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research in Ohio.
Also Check: Chronic Back Pain And Fatigue
Eliminate Sugar And Processed Or Packaged Foods
Eat a candy bar and your energy will usually plummet soon after. Sugar and other refined carbohydrates give you a little shot of energy, but at a huge expense: Those blood sugar spikes nosedive quickly, leaving you feeling drained. If eliminating sugar completely is too challenging, gradually trade it for lower-sugar foods, like berries, to transition off sugar. Eat nuts instead of chips or cookies.
Can Stress Management Help With Cancer Fatigue
Managing stress can play an important role in combating fatigue. Here are some ways you can manage stress:
- Adjust your expectations. For example, if you have a list of 10 things you want to accomplish today, pare it down to two and leave the rest for other days. A sense of accomplishment goes a long way to reducing stress.
- Help others to understand and support you. Family and friends can be helpful if they can “put themselves in your shoes” and understand what cancer fatigue means for you. Cancer support groups can be a source of support as well. Other people with cancer truly understand what you are going through.
- Relaxation techniques including guided meditation, deep breathing or visualization can help reduce stress and minimize cancer fatigue.
- Divert your attention. Activities that divert your attention away from fatigue can also be helpful. Activities that require little physical energy but demand attention include knitting, reading or listening to music.
If your stress feels overwhelming, talk to your healthcare provider. They are there to help.
Also Check: What Causes Excessive Fatigue And Sleepiness
How Can I Conserve Energy When I Have Cancer Fatigue
Plan and organize your work
- Change storage of items to reduce trips or reaching.
- Delegate when needed.
- Combine motions and activities and simplify details.
Schedule rest
- Balance periods of rest and work.
- Rest before you feel tired.
- Frequent, short rests are beneficial.
Pace yourself
- Do not hold your breath.
- Wear comfortable clothes to allow for free and easy breathing.
Identify anything in your environment that may contribute to cancer fatigue
- Avoid extreme temperature.
- Eliminate smoke or noxious fumes.
- Avoid long, hot showers or baths.
Prioritize
- Use your energy on important tasks.
What Is The Treatment For Fatigue
The treatment for fatigue depends upon the cause. Some treatments for conditions that cause fatigue include medications, antibiotics, vitamins, and exercise. Medical treatment of fatigue depends on the treatment of its underlying cause. Fortunately, many causes of fatigue may be treated with medications, for example, iron supplements for anemia, medications and machines to help sleep apnea, medications to control blood sugar, medications to regulate thyroid function, antibiotics to treat infection, vitamins, and/or recommendations for dietary changes and a sensible exercise program. Again, treatment of the underlying cause is the key to treatment of the symptom of fatigue.
You May Like: What Can Cause Leg Fatigue
Treatment Of Normal Fatigue
If one has fatigue from any of the things that cause it listed above, you don’t have to be a doctor to understand that if you eliminate the cause, then this should remedy the problem. In other words, if you are not getting enough sleep, then get enough by trying to be regular in time of retiring and getting up. If you are doing too much to too little then do the opposite. For example, moderate exercise on a regular basis is a very good treatment for couch potato syndrome. If medicines are the problem, talk to your physician about substitutions with a medicine that does not cause fatigue in you. Today there are often many good medicines that can be used for treatment of a medical problem that vary in their degree of side effects, especially drowsiness.
Tips For Feeling Less Tired
Many of the lifestyle reasons for being always tired are interrelated and once you improve on one, youll find it easier to tackle other areas. For example, if you start getting sufficient quality sleep, youll have more energy to exercise and prepare healthy meals. Similarly, if you improve your diet, youre more likely to have the energy to exercise and consequently get better sleep, and so on.
Read Also: Extreme Fatigue And Joint Pain
