What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
- Camille McClellan
- Oct 1, 2018
- 3 min read
Chronic fatigue is not a disease, it’s actually many symptoms that mimic other illnesses, and the causes are unknown, which is why it’s called a syndrome. It can leave you emotionally distressed, put a lot of strain on your relationships, cause anxiety and insomnia, depression and even lead to job loss. Sometimes your whole life can seem like it's caving in, with no hope in sight. However, chronic fatigue should not be confused with chronic stress or just being extremely overworked.
Chronic fatigue is often diagnosed if it reduces the sufferer’s physical activity by at least 50% and does not subside for a period of at least 6 months.
Symptoms can include joint pain, sore throat, impaired memory, refreshed sleep, severe headaches, profound exhaustion, brain fog, fever, irritability, skin problems, stomach pain, bloating and nausea, lymph node tenderness, loss of appetite, malaise, respiratory tract infections, candida, night sweats, mood swings, and environmental sensitivities, just to name a few! Chronic fatigue is often misdiagnosed as hypochondria, anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic illnesses as well.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is not well studied or understood in the medical field. It is very vague with an array of symptoms that mimic many other chronic conditions. It is also common for women to be diagnosed with emotional problems before realizing that it could be chronic fatigue syndrome.
Some experts believe that it’s linked to infections related to the EBV (Epstein-Barr virus), CMV (cytomegalovirus), herpes viruses, mononucleosis, and various other gastrointestinal infections.
Three simple steps to start improving your symptoms and living a more abundant life
1. Diet: Since chronic fatigue syndrome often increases allergic responses, it's important to remove certain types of foods in your diet. Elimination of the usual suspect foods such as gluten, dairy, nuts, soy, and sometimes shellfish can improve digestion, which is the key to your overall health and well-being. Your gut health is of the utmost importance when it comes to unexplained conditions, since leaky gut can trigger inflammatory responses. Leaky gut occurs when suspect foods cause an opening in the mucosal lining of the digestive system, allowing toxins to enter into the bloodstream, leading to all kinds of health problems. Since 70+% of your immune system is based on gut health, it's extremely important to only consume healthy, unprocessed, whole foods on a continuous basis. Other foods that you may want to avoid include alcohol, excessive carbohydrates, and processed sugars like cookies and candy. These foods feed various bacteria in the digestive system in the upper part of your gut, leading to SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). You may want to also increase your fiber intake, as this will help improve the motility of the digestive system, removing various toxins on a regular basis.
2. Fermented foods: By preliminarily breaking down the carbohydrates and proteins whole foods prior to consumption, fermented foods can be very palatable, and beneficial to the gut as a natural probiotic. Fermented foods should be started slowly, to prevent potential digestive aggravations as the good bacteria begin destroying and replacing the unhealthy bacteria in your digestive system.
3. Detoxification: This can play a big part in the improvement of chronic fatigue syndrome. It can be done through consumption of raw foods, green smoothies, supplementation, and natural therapies such as homeopathy and herbal medicine. Foods high in magnesium (such as leafy greens, avocado, fatty fish, yogurt, pumpkin and bananas) can improve chronic fatigue symptoms through detoxification because magnesium is crucial to over 300 metabolic processes in your body. In fact, it’s so important that we usually recommend supplementing with it daily. However, consult with your doctor before doing any type of supplementation, and make sure that any alternative medicine recommendations are provided by a certified homeopathic practitioner or herbalist, depending on the specifics of such recommendations.
Never give up! Natural foods, supplements and therapies can and will improve your chronic fatigue symptoms as long as you stay on track! Yo-yo dieting will never improve your symptoms, and cheating on your diet will drastically decrease your chances of improving your health. Stick to your health plan, listen to your health coach, and try not to dabble in too many things at once. Keep it simple, and, most of all, get the professional help that you need. You deserve to live a healthier, happier life!
Helping Busy Successful/Entrepreneur Women Live Healthier Lives through Natural Therapies
Camille McClellan, MD, PhD-IMD, MBS
Naturopathic Practitioner
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