Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Pathways and Treatment
As mentioned in previous blog, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) usually arises from one of two pathways, or both:
- Post virally (also known as post viral fatigue) or following gut bug post travelling. Either way some sort of pathogen enters the system and places a huge load on the body – one, in the case of CFS or post viral fatigue, it never fully recovers from. The liver, particularly, struggles to completely metabolise or detoxify these pathogens and, as a result, it fails to keep up with its’ day to day functions required for homeostatsis – immune system function, detoxification, metabolism of protein/fats/carbohydrates etc. etc.). The system is left in a toxic state that compromises cellular function all over the body (including energy production), immune function and exacerbates inflammatory processes.
Gastro-intestinal function is commonly impaired and needs to be corrected as it affects nutrient absorption and assimilation. Up to 70-80% of our immune cells line our intestinal system, so dysbiosis in this system can wreak havoc on the body as a whole.
In addition the adrenals, which play a role in the stress response, end up fatigued (trying to keep the person going), resulting in overall fatigue.
The sufferer is left with a variety of chronic symptoms that rarely get better with rest alone. These include fatigue, immune system compromise, persistent colds, flus, respiratory tract infections, dizziness, lethargy, poor memory/concentration etc., night sweats, gastro-intestinal issues etc.
Treatment can be complicated but, briefly, involves eliminating any remnants of the original pathogen (virus, gut bug, fungi, parasite etc.) and facilitating the organs of metabolism (especially liver) and elimination back to functional levels. The treatment process can takes from 4 months to 1-2 years, and can involve major lifestyle changes – always for the good however.
- Post major and chronic stress; i.e. death of a family member or friend, divorce, extremely stressful work environments etc. Whilst symptoms are often similar to above, the process that leads to the pathology is very similar to post traumatic stress disorder – PTSD. This is a more complicated picture and simply involves the system being overloaded at an adrenal level and never being able to recover. Treatment involves many of the same foci as the above, as the metabolic impact of stress has a huge influence on the liver, digestive (anxiety or stress commonly go hand in hand with IBS) and immune systems, and the organs of elimination. But there is a strong emphasis on how the person responds to stress, the process itself and its’ impact on the system. Adjuncts to treatment often involve breathing retraining (to rebalance the nervous system and relax the person), meditation, counseling and other modalities aimed at identifying and releasing conscious and/or sub-conscious stressors or events that can debilitate a person long term.
A third pathway can include overtraining or overloading the system in terms of too much work and not enough recovery. This is what caused me personally to get Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). But this usually leads to one or both of the above pathways; i.e. the lack of rejuvenation or recovery time compromises the immune system leading to a virus or bug etc. etc.
I also often use Physiogenomic testing or genetic profiling in determining my treatment programs as it provides unique, individualised information about the client so that you can create a unique treatment strategy for them rather than a one size fits all approach. This testing has been described as ‘the future of preventative health care’ and, if used properly, I agree wholeheartedly.
I try to use pure extracts (from whole plants or organisms) rather than synthetic remedies as much as possible when treating CFS. I find that synthetic supplements, whilst often potentised, often represent a very small fraction, of the overall composition of an original plant or organism, and are therefore, poorly assimilated and utilized by the body. They are recognized as ‘new to nature’. Our digestive system, and in fact our whole body, after all, is still genetically programmed as though we were still wandering the bush!! As such, synthetic supplements, whilst good in theory, either make very little change to the pathology of CFS or place an even further load on the system as these take extra energy to be metabolized and utilized (or eliminated). In many cases, synthetic remedies are also over prescribed and place a huge dent on your bank balance – leading to further stress.
On the other hand, pure extracts are exactly as per the plants and organisms we have evolved to digest and utilize over a million or so years, and are therefore recognized as friendly and utilized beautifully by the system. For this reason, in my experience, I get far better results using pure extracts.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for CFS sufferers but it does take time, thorough investigation and lifestyle changes. My experience has been that these lifestyle changes can not only eliminate the pathology but, over time, deliver the person to a level of health far superior to that of the general ‘apparently not sick’ population.