Chronic fatigue syndrome
An Illness That Needs More Than Rest
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a condition that can greatly impact a person’s quality of life.
With the main symptom being extreme tiredness, CFS can lead to prolonged absences from work or school – because CFS is not limited to adults – and as a result, sufferers may battle increased feelings of isolation.
CFS Triggers
Also called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), CFS commonly starts with a short or sudden illness such as flu or glandular fever. Studies strongly implicate mitochondrial dysfunction, or mitochondriopathy, as the immediate cause of CFS symptoms, and this can be caused by:
- exposure to environmental factors – such as certain pharmaceutical drugs, occupational chemicals, mould, cigarette smoke, heavy metals, among others;
- unbalanced diet and nutritional deficiencies;
- digestive tract issues;
- high pathogenic load (viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, parasites);
- prolonged stress;
- hormonal imbalances;
- adrenal fatigue;
- genetic abnormalities.
CFS Symptoms
The debilitating effects of CFS can dog sufferers for years.
The main sign of CFS is extreme tiredness, which can last for three months or more. It’s a tiredness that can’t be explained by any other illness, and it can be worse after exercise. As well as feeling extremely tired, to the point of being unable to function or even walk, sufferers may also experience:
- headaches;
- aching muscles and joint pain;
- disruption of sleeping and eating patterns;
- brain fog;
- dizziness;
- nausea;
- a racing heart;
- pain;
- sore throat;
- and a general feeling of being unwell.
The knock-on effects of these symptoms can lead to depression, irritability and anxiety.
Treating CFS
CFS can be a difficult diagnosis to make as it shares symptoms with many other conditions. Doctors tend only to diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome when they’ve run out of other options. In some cases, sufferers have been told that their problem is psychiatric rather than physical.
CFS is a disorder that can seriously disrupt normal life, leaving sufferers unable to do very normal physical activities, to the point where they may be unable to even get out of bed because of muscle loss brought on by inactivity. All these factors make CFS a complicated and frustrating illness to deal with and psychological ramifications can make recovery more difficult.
There’s currently no specific cure for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but rather a long path to unravel all the factors and layers contributing to mitochondriopathies.
At Neomed, treatment packages for CFS sufferers are designed for the individual after consultation. The subsequent programmes are multi-faceted to cover all elements involved in a chronic disease using innovative therapies to support mitochondrial regeneration and reduce the infectious load. Traditional therapies are also employed to boost immune activity, both directly and indirectly, via enhancing the gut microbiome. Additionally, Neomed works to remove the environmental toxins and bio-toxins that play a role in mitochondrial damage and immune suppression.
For more details of our CFS treatment programmes, please fill in the form below.
