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.
Where Should I Obtain My Spirulina From
Where you obtain your suppliesof spirulina from is important to consider. You may in due course wish to grow your own. Its remarkably easy to do! But for now, to answer this question, we describe this in some detail on our What is spirulina about page. Please to understand spirulina better, to be reassured that its right for you. We only support producers on this site with rigorous production and supply chain procedures.
It might just help you with chronic fatigue.
Tips For Exercising Safely With Me/cfs
If you feel you can tolerate some exercise, be guided by your doctor or specialist, but general suggestions include:
- Experiment to find the type of exercise that works best for you. Choose from a range of gentle activities such as stretching, yoga, tai chi, walking and light weight training. Often, people find exercises lying down use less energy.
- Keep an activity diary so you have a long-term picture of your performance levels and factors that might impact on your symptoms. Some people with ME/CFS find they feel good straight after exercise, but then crash later on, so make sure you monitor how you feel, hours to days after exercise.
- Stop the physical activity well before you feel any symptom flare. Pacing yourself is very important.
- Remember that the amount of exercise you can do will change from one day to the next.
- Listen to your body if you dont feel up to exercising on a particular day, dont.
- Find out as much as you can about your ME/CFS. Make sure you consult with health professionals who fully understand ME/CFS as a biomedical disease
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Meal Plan And Prep When You Can
One of the best ways to ensure a nutritious diet is to meal plan and prep food ahead of time. On days that you have more energy, plan out what you will eat for the rest of the week and prep your basic ingredients or cook the meals all the way through. Your meals will be all ready to go. You wont have to worry about what youll eat on a given day. Even better: Enlist someone to help you so you can get more done without exhausting yourself.
Are There Supplements I Can Take
There is not enough evidence to support taking regular specific vitamin and mineral supplements to cure or manage ME/CFS. You may be at risk of side effects if you take doses above the recommended daily amount.
However, people with ME/CFS may be at risk of Vitamin D deficiency, particularly those who are bedbound or do not go outside. It is recommended to take a daily supplement containing 10g or 400IU vitamin D.
Most people should get all the nutrients they need through a balanced and varied diet, however if you are concerned, you could take a daily multivitamin containing no more than 100% of recommended daily intake.
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How Can A Physical Therapist Help
Your physical therapist will work with you to develop a treatment plan for your specific condition. The goal will be to help ease your discomfort and improve your ability to perform daily activities.
Because people with CFS have fatigue, pain, and weakness, treatment may focus on improving short-term endurance and strength. Your physical therapist also may check for other conditions, like depression. They may refer you to other specialists to help manage your symptoms.
Physical therapy treatments may include:
Education. Your physical therapist may design a program to help you save energy while doing daily activities. They also may teach you sleep-health promotion techniques.
Movement and strengthening exercises. Moving and exercising can improve your short-term endurance and strength. Movement also can help reduce your pain. Your physical therapist will identify and teach you specific movements to help reduce your symptoms.
Manual therapy. Your physical therapist may use manual therapy to help ease your symptoms. This treatment is used to mobilize your skin, bones, and soft tissues, to help reduce pain and improve movement.
Do A Mental Health Check
Check in with yourself to establish what mental patterns may be causing low energy levels. Anxiety symptoms include feeling worried, irritable, and nervous. Symptoms of depression include feeling sad, restless, and hopeless. Both conditions can lead to unhealthy sleep patterns and cause tiredness.
Consider seeing a therapist for talk therapy, known as cognitive behavioral therapy . This method helps you to get to the root cause of emotional issues so that they can be addressed and overcome.
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Treatment Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
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Acknowledgment of patient’s symptoms
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Sometimes graded exercise, limited to avoid a setback
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Drugs for depression, sleep, or pain if indicated
To provide effective care to patients with CFS, physicians must acknowledge and accept the validity of patients’ symptoms. Whatever the underlying cause, these patients are not malingerers but are suffering and strongly desire a return to their previous state of health. For successful management patients need to accept and accommodate their disability, focusing on what they can still do instead of lamenting what they cannot do.
If these measures are ineffective, hypnotic drugs and/or referral to a sleep specialist may be necessary. Patients with pain widespread tenderness of muscles, areas around… read more ) can be treated using a number of drugs such as pregabalin, duloxetine, amitriptyline, or gabapentin. Physical therapy is also often helpful. Treatment for orthostatic hypotension Treatment Orthostatic hypotension is an excessive fall in blood pressure when an upright position is assumed. The consensus definition is a drop of > 20 mm Hg systolic, > 10 mm Hg diastolic… read more may also be helpful.
Unproven or disproven treatments, such as antivirals, immunosuppressants, elimination diets, and amalgam extractions, should be avoided.
Boost Your Vitamin D Intake
Many people are deficient in vitamin D, a nutrient that is vital for a healthy immune system and may play a role in energy and fatigue. Your body can produce its own vitamin D when exposed to sunshine and you can get some vitamin D from your diet, such as from fish and fortified milk, but if your vitamin D levels are very low you may need to take a vitamin D supplement. You can talk to your doctor about whether you should get a blood test to check your vitamin D levels.
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What Youll Find In This Article
In this article I acknowledge the reality and magnitude of this problemyes, chronic fatigue exists, and its impact is enormousand dispel the dangerous myth that there is nothing that can be done.
Youll learn chronic fatigue syndrome is just the name we give to a constellation of problems that result when the bodys ability to make energy is impaired. And youll see that through a thoughtful, comprehensive, individualized systems biology and body-mind approach, you can heal. You can recover your energy and get your life back.
Your Healing Story
Address The Root Causes Of Your Fatigue
Overcoming your fatigue is about addressing the true underlying causes. You may need some help figuring out what these are. Once you know where your fatigue is coming from, focusing on your digestion, your thyroid health, your iron levels, your diet, or your unique stressors can have you feeling energetic again in no time.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a chronic illness characterized by extreme fatigue that lasts for more than six months. This fatigue cannot be explained away by an underlying medical condition. In fact, one of the diseases principle challenges is that its impossible to diagnose with laboratory tests. However, some professionals believe it is closely related to adrenal fatigue or system wide inflammation of the body.
The process for diagnosis usually begins with ruling out possible underlying diseases and chronic conditions until the only choice left is chronic fatigue syndrome. Left untreated, it decreases stamina, memory and concentration.
Chronic fatigue syndrome can result in strained relationships with friends and family, especially when it remain undiagnosed and/or untreated. Guilt, anxiety and anger are all common emotional responses for those fighting chronic fatigue.
Currently, over 1 million Americans are suffering from this debilitating illness that manifests with a lack of energy and motivation, and women are 24 times more likely than men to be diagnosed.
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Manage Stress And Increase Restorative Sleep
Doesn’t it feel like life gets busier every year? These hectic and stressful lives we live are doing a number on our sleep.
What to do: Start and end your day with mindfulness meditation. An amino acid called theanine has also been shown to improve sleep and allows you to feel rested and rejuvenated when you wake up. Low-caffeine teas like white tea or decaf green tea are great sleep-promoting options, as well.
Causes Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
We still know very little about chronic fatigue, and sadly, the cause is still unknown. While researchers continue to search for the root cause of CFS, there are preliminary findings that hormonal imbalances, poor immune system response, viral infections, chronic low blood pressure and nutritional deficiency are contributing factors.
In addition, research indicates that chronic fatigue syndrome may be linked to oxidative stress, Celiac disease, and food sensitivities or food allergies.
Most researchers believe that its a combination of factors that can vary from individual to individual. Viruses that can cause CFS include HHV-6, HTLV, Epstein-Barr, measles, coxsackie B, parovirus and cytomegalovirus.
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Memory And Concentration Problems
Memory aids, like organizers and calendars, can help with memory problems. For people with ME/CFS who have concentration problems, some doctors have prescribed stimulant medications, like those typically used to treat Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder . While stimulants might help improve concentration for some patients with ME/CFS, they might lead to the push-and-crash cycle and worsen symptoms. Push-and-crash cycles are when someone with ME/CFS is having a good day and tries to push to do more than they would normally attempt .
Try Smaller More Frequent Meals
Many people with chronic fatigue often feel too tired to eat or dont feel hungry. If youre losing weight or struggling to eat enough throughout the day, Groppo recommends trying smaller meals more frequently or adding small snacks between each meal. Eating more frequently may help keep your energy up. Smaller portions may be easier to tolerate as well.
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How Is Me/cfs Diagnosed
There is no single test to diagnose ME/CFS. Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms, and how long you have had them, and might do some tests to rule out other possible causes.
You can only receive a diagnosis of ME/CFS after you have had symptoms for 6 months or more.
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:
- mild
As symptoms change over time so does the impact they have on peopleâs lives.
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Limit Your Caffeine Intake
Caffeine seems like a great way to improve your energy, but it comes with consequences. Caffeine can give you a false sense of energy and lead you to overdo it, according to Montoya. A little bit of caffeine may be fine for some people. Just be careful to not overexert yourself and make sure your intake doesnt impact your sleep.
Build Peace And Relax
CFS can be debilitating both physically and mentally. Suffering from persistent exhaustion, reduced brain cognition, chronic muscle and joint pain, stress, and even guilt takes a toll on the body, and psyche.
Long-term stress control and relaxation must be a vital portion of any protocol used to overcome chronic fatigue syndrome. While seemingly impossible, its imperative that sufferers of CFS do their best to effectively manage stress, and rest.
The Power of Rest
Rest means more than just sleep. Dedicate one day per week when you dont have any responsibilities or commitments. Truly commit to a full day of rest. This gives your body and mind a much-needed respite helping to fight stress, anxiety and exhaustion. Its also important during the week, if you are having a particularly difficult day, to not overtax yourself.
While regular exercise supports wellness and helps to diminish stress, individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome need to exercise at a controlled intensity. High-intensity workouts can leave you drained for several days.
Exercise Therapy
Exercise therapy has been shown to help with fatigue, mental clarity and depression in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. According to a study released in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, individuals with CFS were recommended to perform aerobic activities, at the clinic twice per month, in combination with at-home exercises for roughly 5-15 minutes in duration, five days per week.
Sleep
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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome : Food Fact Sheet
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome , is a complex, chronic medical condition affecting multiple body systems.
It varies between individuals and can fluctuate over time.
Although some people recover or have a long period of remission, many will need to adapt to living with ME/CFS.
The impact of symptoms on everyday functioning varies widely in severity. People with mild ME/CFS may be able to do some light domestic tasks such as cooking , whereas people with moderate or severe ME/CFS may be more restricted in their activities. People with very severe ME/CFS may need help with eating, have difficulties chewing and swallowing, and/or require tube feeding.
Other Lifestyle Changes To Manage Me/cfs
Other ways to manage ME/CFS include:
- equipment â some people may need a blue badge for parking, a wheelchair, a stairlift, or other adaptations for their home
- changes in your place of work or study â when you’re ready and well enough to return to work or studies, your doctor should be able to advise you on changes that could ease your return
There’s limited or no evidence to recommend:
- resting completely â there’s no evidence this helps
- complementary medicine â there is not enough evidence that it’s helpful for ME/CFS
You should not take up vigorous unsupervised exercise such as going to the gym or for a run as this may make your symptoms worse.
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Can This Injury Or Condition Be Prevented
The actual causes of CFS are not fully understood. To date, there is no sure way to predict or prevent it. Detecting the signs and symptoms of CFS early may help to manage it.
Education is key to managing CFS. Your physical therapist will work with you to develop methods to help you manage your symptoms. They also will help you better understand your condition.
Learning ways to manage CFS symptoms can help improve your function and quality of life. Your physical therapist or other members of your health care team may use strategies that include:
- Teaching you ways to balance activity and rest periods.
- A pacing self-management program. Your physical therapist can teach you mild, short-duration exercises. These will help you add physical activity to your life without making your symptoms worse.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy. These therapies may help address any related problems such as anxiety and depression.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Personal Impact
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a crushing diagnosis.
It means your doctors cant figure out whats wrong.
It likely means you look good but feel terrible, so no one believes you are fighting for your life.
It means lost energy, wellbeing, potential. Lost earnings. Lost time with children and loved ones. Perhaps loss of who you used to be.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a world of loss and hurt and struggle. Its a personal and public health crisis of epic proportions.
Now that whats wrong with you has a name, are you better off?
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