Exhaustion | Health And Wellness Tips

Natural Remedies For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

To experience fatigue is a normal occurrence in one’s life. Most people experience fatigue especially after doing some strenuous activities. These instances of fatigue only happen when we overexert ourselves. The feeling of exhaustion is usually relieved after we get some much-needed rest. However, people with chronic fatigue syndrome suffer from fatigue, as well as a number of other symptoms, for a long period of time, usually over six months.

Although the exact cause of chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS is difficult to determine, it is believed that one of the factors that trigger it is viral infection. People suffering from CFS usually exhibit symptoms that also occur in viral infections such as flu: sore throat, headache, muscle and joint aches, etc.

There is no known cure for viruses, as drugs such as antibiotics cannot cure them. Consequently, there is also no known cure yet for chronic fatigue syndrome. But people suffering from viral infections can combat these viruses by boosting their immune system. Because chronic fatigue syndrome has a strong link to viral infection, boosting the immune system by using natural remedies is one of the best ways to at least relieve some of the symptoms if not overcome the condition.

The following natural remedies are highly recommended to patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome:

1.) Include more vegetables and fruits into your diet A nutritious and balanced diet is an excellent way to maintain health and combat illnesses. By eating more green leafy vegetables, whole grains and fruits, your body is nourished with vitamins and minerals that strengthen the immune system.

2.) Eat more high-quality protein Food such as fish, soy products, nuts and chicken are good sources of quality protein that are low in saturated fat and help maintain a good healthy body. Chicken and fish are also good sources of omega 3, 6 and 9.

3.) Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day Our body is 70% water and drinking 8-10 glasses of water helps cleanse the body and keep it hydrated.

4.) Add more garlic and onion into your diet Onion and garlic are known for their virus-inhibiting abilities. They can be taken either raw or cooked. Supplements that contain garlic and onion can also be taken as an alternative if you don’t like the taste of these two healthful bulbs.

5.) Exercise regularly Adding exercises and other physical activities into your daily routine can do wonders for you. Having CFS doesn’t mean all you need to do is rest all day. People with CFS are usually lethargic and easily tired. To fight the lethargy, keeping the body active is important. Doing 15-30 minutes of mild exercise and another 30 minutes of vigorous physical activities such as aerobics, tennis, swimming and brisk walking can help your body function better and your heart healthier and stronger.

Stretching and other relaxation exercises can also help you manage stress, which intensifies chronic fatigue. However, before you start any exercise routine, consult your doctor and ask for his advice.

6.) Take herbal supplements to fight CFS There are several herbal medicines you can take to help you manage chronic fatigue syndrome. Echinacea root is known as an immune system booster. It is available in tablet/capsule form and as tea. Ginseng root is believed to restore vitality and increase energy.

In Asian countries, it is even known as an aphrodisiac. Licorice, pokeroot and golden seal are also helpful in combating chronic fatigue syndrome.

How To Live A Healthy Life With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Imagine a lifetime of sickness, of perpetual headaches and of endless flu-like illness. Imagine being unable to walk from your bed to the couch because of too much exhaustion. Imagine being locked up in your house, unable to go to work to earn a living. Well, that sums up life for most sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS is a disorder both of the mind and the body. Apart from the symptoms mentioned above, CFS also afflicts the immune system which makes an individual become very sickly. It also affects one’s threshold to physical activities, thus making an individual feel worn out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Further, it limits a person to very minimal activities which make him incapable of holding a job.

With these realities, it is hard to imagine how one can live a normal, healthy life while suffering from chronic fatigue. But can a normal life materialize if you are continuously bothered by the symptoms of this disease? Most likely yes. Below are some of the things that one can do to limit the negative effects of the disease on yourself and on your life.

Remove the diets that spell disaster – It is easy to sabotage one’s health these days by just following the average American’s sense of food proportions, by consuming too much processed foods and by eating too many flour- and sugar-based foods. Sugar is notorious for killing the diets of Americans and so are flour, transfat, processed foods, etc. These types of foods are accounted for numerous diseases that upset health.

Since these foods take up so much space on the plate, nothing is left for foods with high nutritive values anymore. And for people suffering from CFS, it is crucial to maintain a certain level of nutrition in the body. So always try to eat healthy foods, this would lessen some of the biggest problems concerning your condition such as infection and weakened immune system.

Conquer Chronic Fatigue – If you are a sufferer of CFS, you understand that it is easier to stay in bed than to work around the house when you are seriously exhausted. However, it is important to maintain some form of physical activity. Try not to give in to exhaustion and incorporate activity to your daily life. Eventually, you would be able to exercise without getting too worn out.

Win over the illness mentality – In the face of chronic diseases, it is a lot more convenient to let negative thoughts defeat you. Try to picture a life free from chronic fatigue and try to make that picture your goal. Think that your condition is just a state of mind and changes in thinking would liberate you from the troubles of your disease. If you use this technique, which is actually a sound psychotherapeutic technique called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you would not only help alleviate the symptoms of your condition but you can also prevent these from bothering you again.

Discover techniques that can treat your condition – Since the cure for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is yet to be established, you might as well discover one for yourself. There are actually treatment techniques that you can formulate for yourself as bases of your self-care system.

These can be made from careful observation of activities and treatments that you respond well to.

How Does It Feel Like To Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has varying levels of severity. Some people only experience lack of peaceful sleep, intermittent headaches and overwhelming exhaustion while other people experience anywhere from 4 to 30 full-blown symptoms which occur simultaneously. While there are a lot of symptoms oftentimes associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, there are a few that are commonly reported by patients. Among them are the following:

Overwhelming fatigue People with this syndrome wake up like they just got hit by a truck and feel worn out all day. There are, however, periods which run from a few hours to several hours a day when they feel a bit better. What most of them try to do during these periods is to make up from the lost time they stayed rested in the bed. This backfires on them and they rebound to being exhausted. Whenever they try to do physical activities or exercises, they would get drained easily and would feel worse the next day.

Recurrent infections Among the major symptoms of CFS is infection which may manifest as sore throat, recurrent sinusitis, bladder infection, swollen glands and other respiratory infections. Some patients experience recurrent rash that may or may not go away with antibiotics. Digestive complaints such as bloating, diarrhea, constipation, cramps and gas are also very common which are caused basically by the build-up of yeast in the bowel, or by parasitic infection or by spastic colon.

Brain Fog While overwhelming fatigue is one of the most debilitating symptoms a patient of CFS can experience, the scariest, however, is brain fog. Not a few patients complain of this symptom which may affect their short term memory, their concentration, and their ability to substitute words with another. Some of them also experience brief disorientation which may last anywhere from half a minute to one minute.

Frequent Aches and Pains Muscle pain and multiple joint pains are very common among CFS patients. These are said to be products of lack of sufficient rest or disordered sleep, yeast infections, impaired thyroid glands and lack of nutrition in the body.

Increased thirst Patients of CFS drink two to three times more water than average individuals. This is caused by hormonal problems which lead to increased urine output.

Allergies Because of yeast overgrowth and other conditions occurring in the body of a fatigue patients, allergies and food sensitivities are very common. By removing the causes, of course, the allergies can be removed. However, these patients have histories of poor response towards allergy medications.

Weight gain With or without change in diet, fatigue patients experience 20 to 50 pounds weight gain. Apart from lack of activities, the packing up of pounds is also contributed by hormonal changes.

Depression and anxiety The development of these psychological problems push healthcare providers back to the classic chicken and egg question: does fatigue cause anxiety and depression or is it a product of these psychological conditions? As of yet, no one is certain. It is proposed, however, that some factors are instrumental in aggravating these conditions including poor nutrition and general sense of illness.

Reduced libido Because of hormonal deficiencies, pain and the general feeling of being sick, people affected by CFS have decreased libido. Fortunately, this improves through medication and therapy.

You probably have recognized yourself from reading the above list. If you think you are suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, it would be in your best interest to consult a healthcare provider who is knowledgeable in this disorder.

Chronic Fatigue Treatment Options

Patients of CFS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome respond differently to various treatments. Some of them recover after drastic changes in lifestyle, some of them are more responsive to pharmacological treatments. Here are the most common treatment modalities to which CFS patients are subjected and to which most of them respond well.

Self-Care/Management Techniques
Some patients can facilitate self-care treatments. This can be done by monitoring the level and pacing of activities such that prolonged and extreme levels of exhaustion are prevented. This can also be done by preventing the urge to rest. Since CFS is not relieved through rest, regardless of the duration, health care professionals do not advise the patients to rest excessively. Some form of physical activity must be maintained. This is oftentimes recommended by the physician. When trying to manage the symptoms of the disorder by yourself, it is best to keep the pacing and the level of the activities under control. Otherwise, symptoms may occur at a more debilitating rate.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a psychological therapy that delivers relief of symptoms but not necessarily cure. This helps the patients understand their conditions and can therefore better guide them in forming their beliefs, perception and attitudes towards the syndrome. It is believed that through a more accurate depiction of the condition, the patient can better respond to the symptoms and they can cause lesser inhibition of the recurrence of their symptoms.

Graded Exercise Therapy
This therapy involves the introduction of incremental changes in the patients’ levels of activity. While concrete evidence are yet to be established, many experts believe that integration of activities is very important in managing the disease. Under this therapy then, the patient will have to monitor his own activities and exercises. As the therapy progresses, he moves to higher intensities until he gets back to the doing activities he normally participated in prior to the onset of the condition.

Pharmacological Treatments
Managements of the conditions through pharmacological treatments can involve the following medications:

Antidepressants are primarily used to manage mood swings and secondary depression. Low dosage antidepressants, on the other hand, are helpful in managing sleep disturbance and pain.

Autonomic nervous system stimulants are used to help improve concentration and short-term memory which are greatly affected by the disorder.

NSAIDs or Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs are prescribed to CFS patients to relieve them from muscle and joint pains.

Anxiolyticagents are used to target symptoms of anxiety.

CAM or Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The use of dietary supplements in managing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is central in alleviating the symptoms of CFS. According to some pilot studies, supplements of Carnitine, essential fatty acids, Magnesium and polynutrient supplements have shown strong indications of symptom reduction among patients.

Because the origins of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are not yet fully understood, treatment options are more directed to managing the symptoms and not really in curing the disorder. The main objective in producing relief from symptoms is to reinstate the conditions of the person as well as his well-being prior to the onset of the disorder.

As a result, majority of sufferers do not fully recover and even if they do, they recover gradually. For people who expect better and faster recovery, frustrations often ensue which for most of the cases, worsen the condition. It is therefore recommended to undergo a treatment at a very slow but well-managed pace.