Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is an extremely debilitating disease. It’s also known as myalgic encephalopathy, myalgic encephalomyelitis, or post-viral fatigue syndrome.

 

    Estimates suggest it affects up to 3% of the population. It is a disease that often comes on after a stressful event. Symptoms are severe fatigue of long duration, unrefreshing sleep, widespread muscle, and joint pain, brain fog, sore throat, post-exertional malaise, tender lymph nodes, digestive and abdominal complaints, and depression, among others. These symptoms can also occur with other diseases, so it’s important to have a qualified doctor assess you to determine if you have chronic fatigue or another condition.

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    One thing I hear time and time again from patients with Chronic Fatigue is that friends or family just can’t understand or accept that they’re sick because outwardly they look fine. Yet the reality is that CFS can ruin lives.

 

    The severe, crippling fatigue affects the ability to work, as well as the ability to maintain relationships with friends and family. The good news is that I’ve had good results with my chronic fatigue patients, and there is something more that can be done beyond psychotherapy and graded exercise (which was shown to not be very effective at all, by the way, in a critical review of a study which claimed benefit from these therapies).

 

Treating Chronic Fatigue
 

    Treatment for Chronic Fatigue is multifaceted. We have to address the underlying immune dysfunction, hormone imbalance, nutrition, stress, toxicities, and infections. Often there are chronic viral infections associated with CFS, such as EBV (Epstein-Barr virus), which we can identify via a simple blood test. Once we determine what the causative factors are in your specific case, we tailor treatment to help you feel your best as rapidly as possible.

 

    IV therapy is one of the mainstays of treatment, as we have seen some of the greatest results for Chronic Fatigue when using these treatments. This includes high dose vitamin C, ultraviolet blood irradiation, and artesunate. Restoring hormonal balance with supplements, or sometimes with hormone replacement, can also be an important part of the puzzle to getting you well.

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