Exhaustion | Health And Wellness Tips

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.

How foods affect you to get better sleep

People who are busy with their work are usually the ones who are having problems in sleeping. This is because the exhaustion and their hectic schedule keeps them from getting better sleep on daily basis. If you are one of those who are having trouble sleeping due to too much work, it is now time to reflect what might be causing these and address it properly.

One of the things that hinder people from getting better sleep is the set of foods that they eat. This is because these foods might contain ingredients and other properties that can really affect the person’s chemical balance. If you think that the foods that you are eating affects you in getting better sleep, try assessing your food intake for one day.

What you can do is list down all the foodsincluding the drinksthat you have taken in for one day and make an assessment after that day. In this way, you can track down which are the foods and drinks you have taken affect your sleeping habits especially at night. The following are just some of the list of foods that might lead one to troublesome and uncomfortable sleeping at nighttime:

1. Too much food intake. This is considered as the major culprit why many peopleespecially those who dont have sleeping problems beforeare having a hard time sleeping all of a sudden. Experts say that if a person have overeaten, the tendency is that the stomach will have a hard time digesting it. Too much food may also affect the how the digestive system work and may even cause clinical conditions such as ulcer if done regularly.

2. Foods that contain too much fat. Experts say that people are eating foods that have too much fat are prone to not sleeping well at night because it creates a lot of digesting work for the stomach. If one wants to get better sleep, he or she should cut down on foods that are too rich or fatty so there will be lesser work for the stomach especially at nighttime.

3. Too much spicy or acidic foods. These sets of foods can very much affect one’s sleeping habits especially at nighttime. If one eats too many sets of spicy foods especially at night, it can lead to troubles in the stomach and even heartburn which makes it harder for you to lie down and get better sleep at night.

4. Too much alcohol intake. Some people say that alcohol may help one to get better sleep but on the contrary, it doesnt especially if he or she has taken too much of it.

5. Foods that contain caffeine. These are another set of culprits for people who are having trouble sleeping. If you are prone to not sleeping, it is best to avoid foods as well as drinks that have high caffeine content such as coffee, chocolates, sodas that are caffeinated as well as teas. To get better sleep, it is best to not consume these for a while. Or if you really cannot do without these, try minimizing your consumption even for a couple of days. Once you get your sleeping pattern back, you may go back to consuming these but only to limited content so you would not go back to having sleeping problems again.