Beating Chronic Pain With Ayurvedic Methods
Chronic pain has many causes leading it such as lack of exercise and physical activity, stress, and anxiety. It affects the normal mental and physical activities of a person who suffers from Chronic Pain Syndrome.
Although there are many chronic pains such as Cancer, Arthritis, etc., Fibromyalgia is one common kind of Chronic pain that affects women more than men. This condition can take away your energy and ability to concentrate on daily activities. In most cases, this type of pain is hardly diagnosed by doctors because it does not show any signs or symptoms other than chronic pain in different parts of the body. This makes sufferers feel misunderstood and isolated from others even though they may be physically healthy.
What Can I Do To Cope With Me/cfs
Talking about your feelings with a friend or family member can help. Sometimes it also helps to talk with people who are going through the same thing. Consider joining an ME/CFS support group. See the âME/CFS Organizationsâ section at the end of this fact sheet for a list of organizations that offer additional information on ME/CFS and can help you find ME/CFS support groups.
What Is The Treatment For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A treatment plan for CFS aims to relieve your symptoms to improve your quality of life. The plan should include:
- a plan for how to manage stress
- a very gentle exercise plan
- a nutritious diet, with regular meals/snacks to keep up your energy
- supplements if your diet lacks a good balance or if your blood tests indicate deficiencies
- a sleep management plan, which may include medication
- physiotherapy to help with pain and good breathing techniques
- medication for pain
- psychological input if you are particularly stressed or depressed.
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Mental Health Support And Me/cfs
ME/CFS is not a psychological disorder. However, living with a chronic illness is challenging, especially one that involves missing out on normal life activities, and this may lead to mental health problems like anxiety or depression.
Speaking with a qualified mental health professional who understands the challenges of living with ME/CFS can be very helpful. They can help with things such as coping with changes to schooling, employment or social activities, and symptoms such as difficulty with sleep or pain. With the availability of Medicare rebates for telehealth, many mental health practitioners now offer remote consultations which makes healthcare more accessible for those who are housebound or bedbound with ME/CFS.
Caring For Someone With Me/cfs
Having a supportive community of family, friends, school, work, employers and health workers, who understand the potential seriousness of ME/CFS, can also help improve the quality of life of people living with ME/CFS.
Everyone involved in supporting someone with ME/CFS needs to understand Post Exertional Malaise, which is an abnormal, biological response to exercise or activity. This means the patient will not be able to do all of the activities they used to be able to do, and will benefit from practical and emotional support. People with ME/CFS will each have different needs and preferences, so it is important to talk with them about how best to provide support. This may include help with daily routines, family life, accessing healthcare and other personal priorities.
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Living With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
There are strategies for dealing with the daily challenges of CFS. These may work for you, especially in combination with medications prescribed by your doctor.
- Keep a daily diary to identify times when you have the most energy. Plan your activities for these times.
- Keep up some level of activity and exercise, within your abilities. Your doctor can help you plan an exercise program to maintain your strength at whatever level is possible. Exercise can help your body and mind.
- Give yourself permission to recognize and express your feelings, such as sadness, anger, and frustration.
- Ask for support from family and friends. Look for support groups or counseling in your community. Your doctor is another important source of help. Emotional support is important in coping with a chronic health problem.
- If your memory and concentration are affected by chronic fatigue, keep lists and make notes to remind yourself of important things. Also, give yourself more time for activities that take concentration. Medicine may also help you sleep better, which might improve your memory and concentration.
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Central Nervous System Abnormalities
Abnormal levels of certain chemicals in the brain system known as the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis have been proposed as a cause of CFS. This system controls important functions, including sleep, the stress response, and depression. Some people with CFS appear to have imbalances in hormones controlled by the HPA axis, such as cortisol.
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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.
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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Psychological Me/cfs Symptoms List
Patients are often told that they have depression or anxiety and that there is nothing wrong with them physically. However, whilst they may be experiencing depressive thoughts and anxiety, their CFS symptoms are real of course. So unfortunately, sometimes their symptoms are misattributed to a mental illness when in fact they are experiencing a real physical illness.
This however does not mean that people experiencing ME/CFS dont have co-morbid mental illness, they often do. So whilst the list of physical CFS symptoms is extensive, there can also be a range of psychological symptoms in CFS. This sometimes leads to other mental health diagnosis.
Here are some of the common psychological symptoms experienced:
- emotional flattening
What Else Should I Know
- Strong emotions can be a part of the illness, so it’s important to recognize and express your feelings. Feelings like sadness, anger, and frustration are completely normal and it’s important to acknowledge how you feel and recognize that it’s not your fault. Recognizing emotions can help you figure out what’s behind your feelings and help you manage problems.
- It can help to keep a daily diary of feelings and energy highs and lows. This also can let you share information that might help your doctor. You can also track trends for example, if your energy is high at one time of day and low at another that will help you figure out when to exercise or do other activities.
- Give yourself more time to do things, especially activities that take concentration or physical exertion.
- Get support from family, teachers, and friends.
Most important, don’t give up. Having chronic fatigue syndrome can be hard. But for most people, the symptoms are most severe in the beginning. Later, they may come and go. Teens with CFS generally get better faster and recover more completely than adults do. Most teens get partial or full recovery within 5 years after symptoms began.
Try to keep a positive approach to getting well and to not look for the reason why you have CFS. People who take action and stay positive can have a good outcome.
You also can find more information and support online at:
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What Is The Outlook
The long-term outlook for chronic fatigue syndrome varies from person to person. Although some people recover or have a long period of remission, many will need to adapt to living with /CFS. The outlook is better in children and young people than in adults.
Chronic fatigue syndrome affects everyone differently and its impact varies widely. For some people symptoms still allow them to carry out some activities, whereas for others they cause severe impacts on different aspects of the lives of people with CFS and their families and carers, including activities of daily living, family life, social life, emotional well-being, work and education.
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Someone with chronic fatigue syndrome can have many possible symptoms. 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
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Diagnosis Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
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Laboratory tests to exclude other causes of symptoms
At least one of the following manifestations is also required:
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Difficulty thinking
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Feeling of light-headedness or dizziness when standing up that is relieved by lying down
The frequency and severity of the symptoms should be assessed by a doctor. If people do not have these symptoms at least half of the time with moderate, substantial, or severe intensity, doctors reconsider the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome .
Criteria for diagnosis are important mainly because they help doctors communicate clearly with each other when they study a problem. However, when treating a specific individual, doctors focus more on that person’s symptoms rather than the criteria.
I Dont Have Insurance How Can The Affordable Care Act Help Me
If youâre uninsured or have been denied coverage in the past for ME/CFS, the Health Insurance Marketplace may be able to provide you with access to affordable coverage. With health insurance plans in the Marketplace, you can no longer be refused coverage just because you have a pre-existing health condition. Medicaid and the Childrenâs Health Insurance Program also canât refuse to cover you or charge you more because of a health condition. They also canât charge women more than men. Learn more about the Affordable Care Act and the Health Insurance Marketplace at Healthcare.gov.
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How Can I Care For Myself With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
In addition to the treatments above, there are things you can do to help manage this condition, such as:
- reducing your stress
- getting plenty of rest
- making sleep a priority if you are having trouble sleeping, check out these tips to improve your sleeping habits
- eating a healthy diet to make sure your body is getting the nutrients it needs
- having plenty of salt if you have low blood pressure and a tendency to feel dizzy or even faint on standing
- learning to prioritise the things you need to get done, and then pacing yourself by dividing them into short times of activity with rest breaks in between
- learning mindfulness, meditation or creative visualisation
- getting out into nature regularly, listening to music and enjoying your pets
- developing a support network of understanding friends and family/whnau for when you need help
- joining a support group if there is one in your area
- talking to your doctor about whether there are any medications or supplements that may help you.
What Are The Treatments For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
There is no cure or approved treatment for CFS, but you may be able to treat or manage some of your symptoms. You, your family, and your health care provider should work together to decide on a plan. You should figure out which symptom causes the most problems and try to treat that first. For example, if sleep problems affect you the most, you might first try using good sleep habits. If those do not help, you may need to take medicines or see a sleep specialist.
Strategies such as learning new ways to manage activity can also be helpful. You need to make sure that you do not “push and crash.” This can happen when you feel better, do too much, and then get worse again.
Since the process of developing a treatment plan and attending to self-care can be hard if you have CFS, it is important to have support from family members and friends.
Don’t try any new treatments without talking to your health care provider. Some treatments that are promoted as cures for CFS are unproven, often costly, and could be dangerous.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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What Is The Latest Research On Me/cfs
Today, we have a better understanding of ME/CFS, but researchers are still searching for the cause. ME/CFS is sometimes seen in members of the same family, perhaps because of a genetic link. Researchers are also testing a variety of treatments for ME/CFS, including anti-viral medications and medications that affect the immune system.
Researchers also are looking at ways to help health care providers identify and diagnose ME/CFS more quickly. HHS currently supports a study led by the Institute of Medicine to recommend improved and updated criteria to help physicians make a diagnosis of ME/CFS. The IOM’s recommendations may also guide future research.
The Influence Of Vata Dosha On Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Vata dosha when out of balance pulls Kapha and Pitta along with it creating various diseases when there is an imbalance among the three doshas. Vata has an indirect relationship with the endocrine system. Weakness of endocrine glands is a product of Vatas increased activity in the body which causes Vata to create an imbalance, leading to a depletion in nutrients because Agni fails to break down food into nutrients because it is weak and imbalanced. The result may be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
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How To Know If You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a complex condition marked by extreme fatigue that lasts for a minimum of six months that can not be completely explained by another medical condition. CFS fatigue is characterized by worsening with physical or mental exercise but is not alleviated with ample rest. Meaning, that CFS can cause everyday activities to become impossible. There are times when people with CFS are unable to get out of bed.
Presently the exact cause of CFS is unidentified, although there are several working theories varying from viral infections to a chronic inflammatory response syndrome. It is, however, becoming more commonly accepted in the scientific community that chronic fatigue syndrome might be brought on by a combination of elements such as exposure to toxins, anesthetics, gastroenteritis, or physical or emotional trauma. Given the range of triggers and how they impact the immune system, CFS can have a sudden or gradual onset.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis . However, the most recent term is systemic exertion intolerance disease .
Is There A Cure For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Unfortunately, no. But there are methods for managing symptoms. As an article in The Atlantic eloquently explained in an interview with David Kaufman, the medical director of the Open Medicine Institute in Mountain View, California:
Simple diseases work like a chain of dominoes, with a clear cause setting off a series of possible symptoms, which hint at a diagnosis, and, usually, a standard treatment. Click, click, click, youre cured. Chronic fatigue is more like a pile of pick-up sticks: a giant mess in which no one can see a beginning or end. Most patients begin their history by saying something like, I was totally fine, and I got mono at 19 and Ive never been the same since, said Kaufman, who later treated Vastag .I want to find a single, neat, nice packaged cause. Every day I think Im less and less likely to find that.’
Some people who suffer from CFS are housebound or bedridden, long-term or for short periods of time. The majority of patients, however, are able to remain functional with a regime of different medications, therapies, exercise plans, or other interventions.
To learn more about what treatment options are available to you, click the link below. There, youll find a doctor who can review your chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms and provide options for finding relief.
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