Feeling very exhausted lately, no matter how much sleep you get? Do you wake feeling un-refreshed no matter how many hours of sleep you get? Are you having trouble thinking clearly, exercising or feel like you just don’t have energy for the life you wish to lead?

Have you seen loads of medical professionals, but still you do not have a clear diagnosis for what you are feeling? Are you feeling frustrated, hopeless and helpless. Well please know that your symptoms are real, and may well be those of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic condition that presents itself with a wide range of symptoms that can even vary from one person to another, making it very difficult to diagnose.

Symptoms

People with CFS might find the activities that they once enjoyed start taking a toll on their bodies. Exercise, taking a walk, or even going out with family and friends can be followed by exhaustion that takes longer than usual to recover from. They can feel extremely tired, all the time, with some still even feeling tired after resting or sleeping. Muscle and joint pain, headaches, flu-like symptoms, nausea, and palpitations. The severity of such symptoms can vary from person to person, day to day. It can feel very confusing.

These feelings negatively impact sleep, which only makes things way worse. Problems with thinking, memory, and concentration can also occur.

Causes

The cause of CFS is unknown, but there are theories.

Suggested causes or triggers of CFS include viral or bacterial infections (EBV/Lyme), compromised immune system, hormonal imbalance, and genetic connections.

Recent observations have identified two etiological subgroups for people suffering from CFS. One group consists of those with early, often undiagnosed, Parkinson’s disease and could possibly have further degenerative brain diseases. The other subgroup consists of those with various low-grade chronic diseases or inflammation, including infections with herpesvirus-6, Epstein-Barr virus and various other enteroviruses.

CFS can also occur from traumatic events both physical and emotional.

Lifestyle Changes

CFS affects multiple systems, and is very complex. The symptoms and exhaustion can all stack on top of one another. Lifestyle changes are a must, and should be thought of as a very long marathon to continually overcome, rather than a sprint that will only result in disappointing outcomes.

Energy management is one of the most important things for a person with CFS to maintain. Talk with your family, friends and important people about the condition, especially about any changes to your daily routine. It is recommended that planning ahead can be extremely useful, and being able to adapt to symptoms readily helps with the emotional aspect of CFS.

Attending an occasion should be planned ahead of schedule.

Pacing, or keeping the daily activities within your limits will help you establish a pattern.

If exercising, do not move to a next level of difficulty or intensity until you know that you have enough energy reserve not to cause a flare up. Try using a pedometers to log and assess the activity level to which you are comfortable in.

Mental and emotional balance must come with the preparations. Aim to make improvements, and know that a bad day within the preparation period doesn’t mean that you have failed. Reward yourself with any improvements. Slow and steady wins the CFS race.

Diet Improvements

This is a piece of good news – a study has shown that chocolates that are high in cocoa polyphenols reduced the overall burden of symptoms in CFS patients. This does not mean that you can over dose on chocolate eat in moderation only.

CFS as a condition, is very similar to Fibromyalgia and they could be classed as cousins. It does not respond well to red meat, refined sugars and alcohol.

It does however, respond extremely well to an anti-inflammatory dietary regime. Food intoleraces are also commonly seen in CFS patients. So omitting gluten, dairy and animal proteins is often the best diet. At Flourish we recommend patients using the anti-inflammatory blend 1 – 2 x per day. The Daily Detox blend 1 x per day at night after dinner and the daily greens blend either after breakfast or at lunchtime. Both these blends help with energy and help lift the daily ‘fog’ that so many CFS patients complain about.

Miscellaneous