A detailed guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), including its symptoms, causes, and effective treatment strategies to improve energy and well-being.
Are you feeling good about consistently going to your local CrossFit sessions but not so much about the lower back pain you’re feeling afterward? Well, you’re not alone. Plenty of CrossFit participants experience lower back pain, and we’re here to help you understand why and how you can relieve your back.
Reasons you could be experiencing lower back pain after CrossFit include:
You could be lifting weights heavier than your body is ready for. This leads to lumbar strain – stretching or tearing of the muscles used to stabilize your spine.
The urgency to max your rep count and weight during a CrossFit regimen lends itself to posture and form errors which can damage too much of your body, including the stability of your core.
Variety is characteristic of CrossFit workout regimens. But this also means an increased risk of excess nerve pressure and irritation, which can lead to sciatica.
Suppose you’re one to work all day in an office, sitting most of the time, and look forward to that afternoon or evening CrossFit session to stay in shape. In that case, you’re at risk of stiff iliopsoas if you’re not warming your body up beforehand. The iliopsoas is when your hip flexor muscles stiffen, leading to lower back pain.
Another risk factor involved in CrossFit’s rapid and sudden regimens; you may find yourself with a herniated disc. Excess pressure on your spinal discs from high–intensity exercise involving extreme squatting and deadlifts, coupled with improper form, will very well put your spine at risk of disc rupture.
If you’re experiencing consistent or growing back pain as you attend CrossFit, you should give your back time to rest. If it’s only a minor problem, it could grow into a long-term back condition if not given time to relieve itself.
You can take a few measures to protect yourself from long-term back pain and damage without professional medical treatment, especially when participating in CrossFit.
You probably focus more on your abs than your actual core strength. Unfortunately, this makes you more susceptible to back injury. Develop your lower spine muscles over time in your workout regimens, and you’ll strengthen your core and lower back muscles and work out your stomach muscles in many of your core exercises.
Hot or cold compresses both can help alleviate your back pain. Cold brings down the swelling of inflamed or bruised back muscles. Apply an ice pack three times daily to reduce inflammation in your back.
Hot compresses promote blood flow to your problem area. This can slow your healing, so avoid heating your back early on. Take care of any bruising and swelling with cold compresses, then wait a couple of days, and you should be ready to apply heat.
Misappropriated weight due to poor form can significantly damage your spine, especially if lifting heavier than your body should.
Make sure the bar begins close to your shins before lifting. Then, keep your spine straight for most of your life, never hunching the weight on your shoulders. And finally, your arms should never bend at your elbow.
This is a great way to build muscle without strain. You’ll be able to work out all your muscles, including your back, when swimming regularly. This is especially good if you’re in the process of pain recovery.
If you find yourself with back pain that isn’t healing on its own, then you likely have a serious condition that requires diagnosis by your medical professional and potential medical treatment to either fix your back problem or at least alleviate your pain.
Your doctor will diagnose the cause of your back pain by asking questions about your health and medical history and administering a physical examination. Other tests, including X-rays, MRI scans, CT scans, and blood tests, might also be involved.
Physical therapy is an effective way of treating chronic back pain. It is the most common and has the most clinical evidence of success when treating back pain. Although more successful for short-term pain problems, long-term chronic back pain conditions can go a long way.
Researchers have detected abnormalities in the brains of people with fibromyalgia, a complex, chronic condition characterized by muscle pain and fatigue.
“We showed in our study that the functional abnormalities observed were mainly related to disability,” and not to anxiety and depression status, said Dr. Eric Guedj, the study’s lead author and a researcher at Centre Hospitalier-Universitaire de la Timone in France.
While some researchers have suggested that the pain reported by fibromyalgia patients was the result of depression, the new study suggests otherwise. The abnormalities found on brain scans done by the study authors were independent of the women’s anxiety and depression levels, Guedj said.
The French researchers evaluated 20 women diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 10 healthy women without the condition who served as a control group. They asked all the women to respond to questionnaires to determine levels of pain, disability, anxiety and depression.
Then, the researchers performed brain imaging called single photon emission computed tomography, or SPECT.
The imaging showed that women with the syndrome had “brain perfusion” — or blood flow abnormalities — compared to the healthy women. The researchers then found that these abnormalities were directly correlated with the severity of disease symptoms.
An increase in blood flow was found in the brain region known to discriminate pain intensity, the researchers found.
The findings were published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
An estimated 10 million Americans are thought to have fibromyalgia, the majority of them women, according to the National Fibromyalgia Association. They report a history of widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least three months, and pain in at least 11 of 18 “tender points.”
Besides pain, fibromyalgia symptoms include fatigue; problems with cognitive functioning, memory and concentration; difficulty sleeping; and stiffness.
The cause of fibromyalgia remains a mystery, according to the association, but it may occur following physical trauma such as an injury, experts say. Treatments focus on relieving symptoms and helping patients function.
In previous research, Guedj and his team had found functional abnormalities in areas of the brain of fibromyalgia patients. The latest study goes a step further, demonstrating that the brain abnormalities are correlated with disease severity, he said.
Dr. Patrick Wood, senior medical adviser for the National Fibromyalgia Association, said the new study provides “further evidence of an objective difference between patients with fibromyalgia and those who don’t have the disorder.” Wood reviewed the study results but was not involved with the research.
Other studies have found a correlation between brain abnormalities and fibromyalgia symptoms, Wood said, adding that the new study adds more evidence and information on how the abnormalities affect patients.
Like many other things in life, pain discriminates by gender. Women, studies show, feel pain more intensely than men, suffer disproportionately from conditions like chronic pain and migraines, and are more likely to be undertreated for pain than men.
More than 70 percent of people who report suffering chronic pain are women, according to a 2003 report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America. Compared with men, women are more prone to a wide range of painful conditions, including migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, temporomandibular joint disorder, and fibromyalgia.
Women also appear to feel pain more intensely than men. Lab studies show that if you expose women and men to the same painful situation, such as being exposed to gradually increasing heat, women are usually the first to say ouch. On the plus side, other studies show that women handle pain better than men do. This might be because women have more experience coping with the predictable pains of menstruation and childbirth, and know how to prepare for painful episodes.
Ironically, the half of the population that feels the most pain is also the half that is least likely to get the treatment they need. The National Women’s Health Resource Center reports that women with chronic pain often have trouble convincing doctors of the severity of their pain. As a result, they’re also more likely than men to have their pain undertreated.
Some may be tempted to write off these differences as attributable to cultural influences. After all, there’s no doubt that boys and girls grow up with different outlooks on pain. Girls often feel free to cry over small injuries, while boys feel extra pressure to hold in tears. But the gender gap in pain goes far deeper than culture or upbringing. As recently reported by the American PainSociety, researchers are finding fundamental biological differences in the ways male and female bodies sense and respond to pain. Learning more about these differences can help shed light on the basic nature of pain and may lead to improved treatments for all patients.
Not surprisingly, hormones explain many gender differences in pain. The monthly ebb and flow of female hormones such as estrogen can clearly help fuel migraine headaches, a potentially disabling condition that is three times as common in women as in men. Women are especially vulnerable to migraines during their menstrual periods, when estrogen levels are low. Studies suggest that drops in estrogen can also interfere with the body’s ability to control pain. During menstruation, women produce only meager amounts of endorphins, the body’s natural pain relievers. When estrogen levels are high — near the time of ovulation — women can produce about as many endorphins as men, as reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The brain also plays a role in the gender gap. In a small study of patients with irritable bowel syndrome, researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles have found that men and women use different parts of their brain to respond to pain. Scan results showed that women tend to turn on their limbic system, the emotional center of the brain. Men, in contrast, respond to pain with the cognitive or analytical part of their brain. Researchers speculate that these brain differences may reflect ancient gender roles. In the old days, women in pain often needed to protect and comfort their young, a highly emotional job. Meanwhile, injured men were more likely to attack the source of the trouble — with a spear, if necessary.
Unfortunately for women, an emotional response can make an already painful situation even worse. As reported by the American Pain Society, women are more likely than men to develop anxiety or depression along with their pain. Both anxiety and depression can sharpen feelings of pain while raising the risk of disability.
Of course, the cool, calm approach often taken by men has its drawbacks, too. Men are less likely than women to take their pain seriously, according to the National Institutes of Health. Instead of getting treatment, men often just hope their pain will go away — at least for a while.
A study conducted over 36 months analyzing emergency room visits by more than 32,000 Baltimore men found that there was an increase in male visits immediately following televised sports events. The study, presented in October 2006 at the American College of Emergency Physicians conference, suggests that many men who visited the Baltimore VA Medical Center’s emergency room for various illnesses, including chest pain, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and headaches chose to ignore their pain until they’d finished watching their football, baseball or basketball game.
As doctors learn more about gender differences in pain, both men and women should get more of the relief they need. There’s certainly room for improvement. Until attitudes change, women may have to be especially aggressive in getting the right treatment for their pain. Men and women may be wired differently, but in the end, relief should be gender-blind.
Our nervous system uses electrical signals to communicate with muscles throughout our body. As electrical currents can be measured in areas like our homes, we can also measure electrical activity in our muscles and nerves.
Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies measure the electrical signals sent through our nerves and muscles. As you might anticipate, doctors can identify disruptions in these signals that may cause nerve or muscular pain and discomfort.
While an EMG test focuses on the electrical activity in your muscles, a nerve conduction study measures the speed and strength of electrical signals in your nerves. Both tests provide a broad picture of your body’s electrical traffic and whether any disruptors indicate a condition or disorder causing your pain.
Those who need EMG and nerve conduction tests are experiencing symptoms that may include muscle weakness, tingling or numbness, cramps, spasms, twitching, and even muscle paralysis.
Besides some minor pain, cramping, and even a tingling sensation, EMG and nerve conduction studies are minimally invasive. An EMG test will require inserting a needle electrode into your muscle. In contrast, nerve conduction studies simply tape or paste stimulating electrodes to your muscles and send a mild electrical pulse throughout your body.
An EMG detects damage to your nervous system by inserting a thin electrode needle into your muscle while monitoring electrical activity and proceeding with results on an oscilloscope (monitor). You will be asked to contract or relax your muscles throughout the procedure.
If your EMG reading is abnormal, your electrical activity will consist of odd wave shapes and patterns. Your body produces a baseline electrical current throughout, which becomes abnormal during muscle contraction.
Abnormal EMG results are usually signs of nerve dysfunction, muscle injury, and muscle disorders, including:
Considering doctors will need easy access to all your muscles in the test area, you should wear loose, comfortable clothing, especially if you need to switch to a hospital gown.
Since electrodes will also be attached to the surface of your skin for emitting electrical current, keep your skin clean and avoid using lotions, body creams, perfume, or cologne for a couple of days before your test.
Let your healthcare provider know if you have a pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator. There will need to be special accommodations made for your particular procedure.
An EMG test may take 30 to 60 minutes to complete, whereas a nerve conduction test may take 15 minutes to more than an hour, depending on the scope of your test.
With incredible advancements in medical technology, you now have more options to relieve back pain than ever before. Minimally invasive spine surgery offers effective treatment that relieves pressure and pain, proving a safer and quicker alternative to open-back surgery.
What is Considered Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery?
Minimally invasive spine surgery targets the spinal column (the backbone) and spinal cord with endoscopic methods using small incisions to provide quick relief for varying back issues.
Unlike traditional open spine surgery, where your surgeon typically makes a 5 to 6-inch incision, minimally invasive spine surgery only requires an incision that’s ½ an inch long.
It also requires less downtime compared to traditional spine surgery; Due to the surgery being less invasive, you’ll be able to get home sooner and have a less painful and much quicker recovery.
Endoscopic spinal surgery is one of the more common names for minimally invasive surgeries for back pain. It is common to use procedures to treat torn or herniated discs in the spinal canal and relieve leg pain and chronic lower back pain.
These procedures can also create minimally invasive variants of otherwise traditional spine surgeries. For example, a lumbar laminectomy involves less post-recovery pain and blood loss than its traditional form.
For those who suffer from spinal stenosis, this treatment offers relief from its consequent pain and pressure. Due to spinal column narrowing, there is increased pressure on the nerves inside. Spinal stenosis decompression releases this built-up pressure by opening the canals where the spinal cord and nerves pass through.
This procedure is also known as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. It is common in treating compression fractures caused by osteoporosis and other similar conditions.
A herniated disc causes compression on the nerve roots in the spinal column or on the actual spinal cord. This procedure removes the disc and gets rid of the painful pressure.
A damaged spinal disc causes pain, numbness, and weakness. Rather than just removing it, you can have it replaced with an artificial disc to restore your spinal cord’s strength, movement, and height.
Spinal canal enlargement relieves pain and pressure in the back by enlarging the hole where a disc is “bulging” and causing pain to the nerve root. This procedure may also be used for untreated compression, causing the spinal cord to become thicker, resulting in painful pressure.
Spinal fusion was originally a traditional surgery but now offers a minimally invasive procedure. With two small incisions, the procedure can be accomplished much quicker while taking less time to recover. Its primary focus is treating scoliosis symptoms: spinal deformity and instability.
If you suffer from one or more of these back problems and haven’t found a nonsurgical treatment that’s helped, you might be a candidate for minimally invasive spine surgery.
What are the Advantages of Minimally Invasive Surgery?
Minimally invasive spinal surgery offers a variety of advantages that make it a great option before considering traditional open-back surgery. Tools used in procedures like a tubular retractor gives surgeons access to areas of the spine without needing to make extra incisions in your muscle.
Less long and short-term health risks; due to the procedure making smaller incisions and not causing great ruptures to the muscle tissue, it offers fewer risk factors
How Long Does it Take to Recover from Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery?
Individuals who undergo minimally invasive spine surgery commonly return to regular activities and daily life within six weeks post-operation. Recovery time varies from patient to patient, but the general full recovery is within this six-week range. In comparison, invasive spine surgery can take up to three to four months (12-16 weeks) for a full recovery.
What is the Success Rate of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery?
Patient feedback, medical studies, and personal testimonies have provided evidence of a high success rate for minimally invasive spine surgery. Below are several pieces reflecting the overall positive response.
A Feedback report from the University of Utah found that approximately 80 to 90 percent of patients experienced less pain and better mobility after minimally invasive spine surgery.
Likewise, a National Library of Medicine study found that minimally invasive lumbar spine surgery is safe and highly effective in the elderly population.
According to the Newport Orthopedic Institute, out of 22 young athletes undergoing minimally invasive fusions for lumbar spondylolisthesis, 82% returned to active participation in football, soccer, cricket, and golf.
A summary of the SPORT study (Spinal Outcomes Research Trial) performed by the North American Spine Society showed that between 85% and 100% of athletes could return to their pre-surgery level in a professional sport after a minimally invasive lumbar discectomy.
At first, my illnesses would require a little more rest while away. Because I pushed through pain and fatigue in hopes of keeping up with my family, I always returned home feeling like death. It was not unusual for my body to need days, weeks, and a few times months to recover from a week away from home.
Through the years I have not only made changes to how I address and relieve my chronic pain, but I have made changes to how I vacation too!
Here are a few tips to help you better enjoy your summer vacation!
Do a little research. Locate pharmacies, hospitals, and urgent care facilities that are in close proximity to your hotel. Then verify that they accept your health insurance.
Speaking of health insurance, check with your provider to see what your coverage is while in a different state or country.
Have your most important medicalinformation handy in case of an emergency. Click here to download my free Emergency Wallet Card. Perfect for when you are not able to inform emergency personnel of your health history or allergies. Always inform your traveling companions of their whereabouts so they can access them easily in case of an emergency.
I do not have White Coat Syndrome, where patients experience a higher blood pressure reading when at the doctor’s office. My fear of doctors goes way beyond that.
My fears stem from incompetent care. Not from just one doctor or surgeon and I am talking double digits!!!
My medical PTSD is the result of being ignored, dismissed, having more than one surgeon make life-lasting errors, and many post-op errors that will haunt me for life.
In case that is not enough of an explanation, here is a list of some of the reasons I fear doctors, hospitals, and test results.
Not one test ran in the emergency room indicated that my appendix was about to burst. I spent 7 hours crying from pain and being told that they can’t see a reason to give me more pain medication. It wasn’t until a shift change that the real problem was discovered. The new doctor pressed on my appendix, my body bounced off the table, and he said it’s her appendix. He then prepped me for surgery. My appendix could have burst inside had I not made it through a shift change.
Not one scan showed the giant cyst that was pulling my uterus, left ovary and fallopian tube, and bladder to my sidewall. This too was discovered in surgery.
Not one scan gave the surgeons I begged to help me after my hysterectomy a clue to the horror show that was taking place in my abdomen. A large, infected piece of my fallopian tube was never seen, nor were the adhesions that were strangling my bowels.
I experienced something that I thought would never happen to me prior to the second surgery performed to fix my botched hysterectomy.
The surgeon was reading my test results when he mentioned that my appendix looked fantastic. I stopped him and said that there was something wrong because I had my appendix removed 3 years earlier!!
His response? He argued with me!!!! He insisted that the report was read correctly and that it was mine!
Thankfully, I had already adopted the policy of never seeing a doctor alone. Had my husband not been there to witness this conversation, I probably would have had a mental breakdown.
One would think he would have checked to see if the results were correct or even mine. Instead, he questioned whether I really had an appendectomy….. I told him he could call the hospital where it took place if he had any more questions.
Later after surgery, I asked the attending surgeon if he saw an appendix. He said NO! The validation joy didn’t last long. I soon began dealing with the fallout from the errors he made during surgery.
Think surgical errors aren’t common? Well, they appear to be with me!
Apparently, there is only one surgeon in Arizona and one in California who not only knows about but knows where to find the only sutures that I am either not allergic to or that are compatible with my body. Why? Because no matter how much detail I go into when explaining the type of sutures they need to use, I have had an issue with the sutures and my healing all because they chose not to listen to me or take me seriously.
My incisions became infected from staples and traditional sutures. The ones that look like regular sutures but are supposed to dissolve on their own don’t dissolve with my body’s makeup.
A surgeon was in a hurry one Friday afternoon and didn’t take the time to sew me up properly.
Even after I protested and screamed that something was wrong, (blood has never poured out of my incisions in the past) I was told that it was normal and sent home. Mind you, the nurses who told me this was normal refused to look under my gown to see what I was referring to.
The next day I called the hospital who told me no that it wasn’t normal and to get back there asap.
When I did, they discovered that he left a gaping hole where he had cut into my belly button. I have seen three-year-olds do a better job of sewing!!
It took two years for me to get a surgeon to listen to me.
I was told repeatedly that it wasn’t an OBGYN problem since I had the hysterectomy.
Some refused to look past my chronic illnesses on my chart. While others told me that I needed to see a psychiatrist. But the pain wasn’t in my head, it was real.
Finally, when surgeon number 21 agreed to go in and later shared his findings, I could finally breathe. I wasn’t crazy after all.
During the second surgery to address the errors of the hysterectomy, my surgeon severed a set of nerves between my vagina and left leg.
Later one of the top neurologists in Scottsdale, Arizona informed me that there are two sets of nerves in that area. One that is commonly nicked or severed and that had been researched and there were ways to fix it. The other is a set that is so rarely severed or nicked that there was no research on how to fix it.
Can you guess which one my surgeon severed? That is right! I have permanent nerve damage.
The sad part is that every single one of those surgeons is still practicing and has never been reprimanded by the state that the errors took place in. Why? Because my lawyers and the state attorneys were unable to find a peer to testify against them.
When I woke up from surgery without feeling in my left thigh, I quickly called over the recovery room nurse.
She said that it was normal considering that I had just had back surgery. Except that I didn’t have back surgery and there was nothing normal about my numb thigh or the blood pouring out of my belly.
This took place at a world-renown hospital in Arizona, the last place you’d ever expect to be treated so poorly, but yet it happened to me.
The recovery room staff refused to allow my husband into the recovery area, even though everyone else had someone with them.
My husband had my glasses, so I was blind, but I also couldn’t walk because of the nerve damage and was weak from losing more blood, otherwise, I would have left on my own.
I have had doctors scoff at my allergy list. One actually laughed out loud, that is until he ordered a liquid for me to consume before a test he was running and I had an allergic reaction in front of him after one sip.
Others just ignore my list, leaving it up to me to go through the ingredient list to make sure it doesn’t contain one of my allergens.
Nine times out of ten my prescriptions would have killed me had I not done the research.
Living with incurable chronic illnesses means often hearing the words, this is all we can do or there isn’t anything else we can do.
But that doesn’t make it easier knowing that there is only so much that can be done.
However, all we can do or we are going to blame it on one of your chronic conditions don’t cut it when vital organs are being attacked.
What’s really sad is that I am only taken seriously when I have been in a car or other type of accident. Anything that could remotely be blamed on fibromyalgia, psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, etc. is…….
I could seriously fill a book about how terribly I have been treated by the medical profession.
With just what I shared in this post, are you able to understand why I am so fearful?
Do you see why I do not run to them until I am sure they cannot blame it on something else?
Can you understand why knowing I need to see someone ASAP for my latest bout of abdominal pain fills me with anxiety?
In 2016 I was told by a handful of surgeons that they agreed that adhesions were attacking my bowels. But each and everyone one of them refused to fight for me after their request to schedule surgery was denied by the head of my HMO’s gynecology and GI department. Their reasoning? The adhesions will return…..
Yes, they will return, but I won’t… especially if they are permitted to destroy what is left inside of me. On the other hand, I also fear that a surgeon will make a fatal error.
I got lucky and was able to find temporary relief outside of normal healthcare practices after being completely shut down in 2016. I just pray that I can get lucky one more time…
Many experts agree that the symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are so similar that for all intents and purposes they could be the same illness.
Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome can both be chronic and long-term medical conditions – and they are both characterized by extreme levels of fatigue. In fact, both medical conditions are interwoven to the extent that it has sparked a series of opinions and differences among medical experts. Some in the medical community wonder whether CFS and fibromyalgia fatigue are two similar disorders with different forms of expression.
Clinical scientists have discovered that both conditions are common among middle-aged people. It also appears that both conditions affect more women than men. About 80-90 percent of those with fibromyalgia are females, while chronic fatigue syndrome is four times more likely to affect females than males.
Although fatigue and chronic pain are common symptoms of both chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, there are still differences. Some of these include:
Causative Factor: Most people with fibromyalgia report that symptoms manifested after a traumatic experience such as emotional stress/shock or physical injury. Symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome commonly occur due to a viral infection such as influenza or mononucleosis but in some cases it also starts after experiencing a physical trauma too or some combination of both.
Inflammation: While there is no evidence of inflammation in people with fibromyalgia, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome often report inflammatory signs such as swollen glands and fever.
Sleep: Although people with fibromyalgia are affected by REM sleep, recent medical research in Japan has reported differences in sleep disturbances for both conditions.
Tender Points/Distinct Pain Spots: Tenderness is an important sign of fibromyalgia. On the other hand, medical experts have found no evidence that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have any distinct pain sites or tender points. But, pain can affect chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers too to a usually lesser degree.
In the case of fibromyalgia vs chronic fatigue syndrome, although the symptoms overlap, there will be more emphasis on some symptoms than others depending on the illness.
Chronic fatigue sufferers mainly complain of debilitating fatigue as the main symptom, whilst those with fibromyalgia complain mostly of pain.
In my own case, I had chronic fatigue syndrome with the typical pain symptoms of fibromyalgia in the upper back, neck, and lower calves added in for good measure.
Using magnesiumoilto relax the muscles and reduce the pain was very helpful, particularly as at one stage due to my weakened gut health I was unable to take magnesium supplements orally. Using Epsom salts in baths and foot baths also helped release tight muscles and relieve pain.
On this site, you can read some of my many posts on chronic fatigue syndrome, but this particular post is all about fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is a complex pain disorder that affects the musculoskeletal system, causing widespread chronic pain, aches, and tenderness to touch. Fibromyalgia pain can be located in only one part of the body at a time, moving from one area to the next, or pain may be felt all over the body at the same time.
A chronic pain disorder, fibromyalgia heightens the sense of pain in an individual and is accompanied by sleep issues, fatigue, digestive symptoms as well as mental and social problems.
More women are at the risk of developing fibromyalgia than are men. In fact, of the approximately 10 million Americans suffering from this condition, women are affected more than men with a ratio of about 8 to 2.
Although fibromyalgia is literally translated to mean pain in the tendons, ligaments, and muscles, this condition presents as much more than just pain, with a wide range of symptoms that vary from one person to another.
Symptoms of fibromyalgia usually begin after a surgery, physical trauma, accumulation of stressful events, or infection. Physical and emotional factors such as emotional stress and infections, such as parvovirus, hepatitis C, Lyme disease, and Epstein-Barr virus have been identified as stressors that trigger fibromyalgia.
In other cases, symptoms may build up gradually over time with no distinct triggering cause. Chronic pain associated with conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other medical conditions could act as triggering events for fibromyalgia.
Patients with these conditions are said to have “secondary fibromyalgia” since the autoimmune disease may trigger the condition.
The brain and spinal cord process pain sensations differently in those suffering from fibromyalgia. A clinical trial has shown the pain threshold is lower in those with fibromyalgia. The abnormalities that occur in the central nervous system amplify the pain processing threshold, causing the pain sensation to be more intense.
As a result, events that should not cause any pain may be painful for those suffering from fibromyalgia. For instance, having a massage that is generally considered a pleasant and relaxing experience by someone without fibromyalgia may be painful for those with fibromyalgia. In some people with fibromyalgia, even the touch of bedclothes on limbs can cause painful sensations.
Medical research has continued to provide evidence that fibromyalgia is a hereditary condition. Parents and children of those with the condition are eight times more likely to have fibromyalgia than those who do not have any relatives with the medical condition. A number of genes have been suspected to contribute to the possibility of contracting this condition.
Body-wide tenderness and widespread chronic pain are the notable features of fibromyalgia. This pain affects several areas of the body, significantly affecting the tendons, joints, and muscles.
Stiffness is common in the joint, as well. Although the pain generally affects the areas below and above the waist, localized regions such as the neck, lower back, or shoulders may be affected. People with fibromyalgia often feel flu-like symptoms, as though they hurt all over.
It is common for some sufferers to experience ‘flare–ups’ – situations where the chronic pain and other symptoms last for prolonged periods of time.
Another symptom of fibromyalgia is fatigue. It especially manifests upon waking up in the morning, but it may also be noticeable mid-afternoon. It is common for people to be awakened with a “light” feeling, even after sleeping all night. This feeling may be combined with multiple disturbances during the night, with difficulty getting back to sleep.
Although body-wide pain, sleeping difficulty, and fatigue are hallmarks of fibromyalgia, the illness is also associated with other symptoms such as disordered thinking. Patients have reported cognitive disturbances, brain fog, and difficulty with enough focus to complete set tasks.
Other symptoms may include headaches, abdominalpain, pelvic pain, heart palpitations, diarrhea, dry eyes and mouth, tingling and numbness in extremities, nausea, and weight gain.
Widespread tenderness is a common symptom, particularly affecting anatomic regions such as the back of the neck at the connection between the muscle and the skull. There are 18 such specific regions in the body, and they are known as fibromyalgia tender points.
In the past, clinical studies were only carried out on patients who had 11 out of the 18 tender points, but this approach has changed in recent years.
The person’s symptoms are considered during the tests and diagnosis for fibromyalgia. Symptoms such as widespread pain affecting the joints and muscles, in combination with sleeping difficulty and fatigue, would require tests for the condition. A thorough physical examination will be conducted by a medical professional in order to exclude any other illnesses that may manifest similar symptoms.
There are no widely accepted diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia yet. Hence, any testing carried out is only done to exclude the possibility of other health conditions.
For instance, your doctor may want to exclude the possibility of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, sleep apnea, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. Although this may not make sense to you, fibromyalgia is known to mimic other medical conditions.
In most cases, the fibromyalgia tender points feel tender upon palpation. However, some patients are not tender at these soft-tissue regions (tender points). Generally, it is more likely that females would be tender at the fibromyalgia tender points than their male counterparts.
Aside from the presence of tender points, a doctor with knowledge about fibromyalgia will consider the history of widespread pain. If the pain is present below and above the waist and at the left and right sides of the body, the doctor will now consider the duration of the pain. Chronic pain lasting more than three months is an indicator of the presence of fibromyalgia.
There is no specialty that manages or treats the disorder, but there are both medication-based and non-medication-based treatment procedures for fibromyalgia.
Medication-based procedures are designed to manage sleeplessness and pain symptoms. However, non-medication treatments are the cornerstone of the treatment procedure for fibromyalgia, and it includes exercise, stress reduction procedures, and education.
Education is crucial to the management of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia affects the body and mind. Usually, patients may have suffered the symptoms for years, causing anxiety without knowledge of the underlying cause of the symptoms.
Therefore, it is important that patients are educated about the symptoms, treatment procedures, sleep management, and the importance of ensuring the underlying causes are treated.
For instance, when a patient suffering from rheumatoid arthritis also has fibromyalgia, poor management of rheumatoid arthritis may worsen the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
An exercise program is also important in treating fibromyalgia. This program should include strengthening, stretching, and aerobic exercises. However, many fibromyalgia sufferers find it difficult to establish a consistent exercise program because they think their pain may worsen with exercise.
But this is not necessarily the case as several scientific studies have proven that a consistent exercise program, particularly aerobic exercises, can help in pain management, improve physical functions, and enhance a sense of well-being in the affected individual. However, it seems that aerobic exercise does not help with feelings of fatigue.
Starting slowly with low-impact aerobic exercises such as walking, swimming and cycling can help fibromyalgia sufferers. Some people have also found combining yoga with aerobic activities helpful for pain management.
Stress management is also essential for handling fibromyalgia symptoms since some of the symptoms may be triggered by stressful events. However, with a wide range of stressors in our everyday life, reducing stress can be a challenge.
This may involve avoiding stress–causing activities and learning to reduce the body’s reaction to stressful events since some stressors cannot be avoided. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is another non-medication treatment procedure that has been proven to be effective in the management of fibromyalgia. This therapy can be carried out over the internet or even in an office setting.
Timed Exercises: Consistent exercises can improve your nighttime sleep, but avoid exercises 3 hours before bedtime, to ensure you do not experience any sleep breaks and interruptions at night due to overstimulation.
Avoid mid–day naps: Sleeping at mid-day could affect your nighttime sleep. If you must sleep, set your alarm for a limited period; say 1 hour only.
Night time is sleep time: Engaging in activities such as working with your laptop, seeing the late night news, or reading a novel can keep you awake long into the night.
Epsom salts baths: A warm bath before bed with a couple of handfuls of Epsom salts dissolved in the water can help ease sore muscles and ensure a restful sleep.
Other therapies: include massage, acupressure, acupuncture, myofascial release therapy, and light aerobic activities.
Although there is no specific diet plan for people with fibromyalgia, some who have this condition have noticed that making dietary changes can ease their symptoms.
Of course, following a balanced and nutritious diet plan is a great start towards achieving better health. A balanced diet should have high whole food content and avoiding gluten is recommended when treating fibromyalgia.
Often deficient in fibromyalgia sufferers, magnesium-rich foods such as leafy greens and dried beans should be included, plus antioxidant-rich vegetables and deep-colored fruits. However, some people may also find a good quality magnesium supplement an essential component in helping relieve pain.
Good protein sources like pasture-fed beef and lamb, wild-caught fish such as salmon as well as free-range eggs and poultry should form the basis of your diet.
In addition to following a healthy and balanced diet plan, some medical research suggests that avoiding foods that contain excitotoxins can help to improve the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Excitotoxins are chemicals that cause the brain’s neurons to be excited – and they are commonly found in food additives that act as enhancers or food sweeteners. An example of excitotoxin is monosodium glutamate. MSG and artificial sweeteners should be avoided.
Some nutritional deficiencies in fibromyalgia sufferers include Magnesium, Vitamins B12, Vitamin C and D, so it can be helpful to supplement with these nutrients as well as 5HTP to help with sleep.
I personally found 5HTP very helpful, and I started dreaming again when I took it which is a sign that I was in a deeper more restorative sleep.
As well as taking magnesium as supplements, I found it beneficial to use magnesium oil on sore and tight muscles, it can really help to relax these areas and ease the pain. There are many other natural ways you can relieve pain if like me you don’t want to be dependent on OTC or prescription anti-inflammatory meds which come with side effects.
Fibromyalgia symptoms can cause an individual to feel lonely and disconnected from the outside world, especially if you do not know anyone with the same condition. But with the increasing influence of the digital space and social media, connecting with others with this condition and identifying with support groups is now a lot easier.
Gentle exercise and stretching, changes to diet, taking appropriate supplements, and using some natural pain relief can go a long way to helping sufferers of fibromyalgia.
Anyone suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome is familiar with the term ‘crash’. It’s used to describe what happens when you push your body past its’ current energy production capabilities.
The technical term for a crash is ‘post-exertionalmalaise. How severely you are affected by chronic fatigue syndrome will dictate how badly you crash, how debilitating the crash is, and how long you take to recover from it. In astudy, PEM was found to worsen symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and reduce daily functioning.
When you push yourself physically, mentally or both, outside your energy envelope, your body systems will be unable to cope and force you to rest.
You may have had a good couple of days, been feeling better, gone out for the day, or worked longer hours than usual. Perhaps you went to a party or some other social gathering and stayed longer than you should have because you were having fun catching up with friends.
Whatever the activity, you know you’ve pushed it too far and arrive home from your outing feeling pretty tired. But the following day, it’s worse than just the normal fatigue you cope with each day, you can barely get out of bed and now you are paying for overdoing it the previous day.
Your muscles are painful and you feel like you have the flu, you are so fatigued you have no energy to do anything. Dragging yourself out of bed to use the toilet is a major feat.
But you have life to live and stuff that needs to be done, what are you going to do? You are desperately asking yourself ” How can I increase my energy level during a crash”?
When going through a crash, even the simple act of standing upright to take a shower was unthinkable for me. I started taking baths instead and tried to make them as relaxing and pleasant as possible. Even then, it took all of my diminished energy to push myself up and out of the bath, I felt like a ninety-year-old woman.
Unfortunately, the reality is that even when you are pretty tuned in to your own energy limits, there are going to be times when you push things too hard and you crash. So, what are you going to do?
Pushing yourself any further will only result in even more debilitating fatigue and worsening symptoms. So, give in to your crash and realize you must restfully and completely recover even a small amount of your diminished energy reserve again.
One of the most difficult things for me to get to grips with mentally was the realization that I had an illness. Once I acknowledged this, it made it easier for me to treat myself well and stop beating myself up for everything I could no longer do.
Going over and over in your mind all of the things you need to do, have to do, and should be doing whilst in the midst of a debilitating crash is pointless.
With this realization, I was able to give in to each crash, knowing that if I took it easy for a couple of days I’d recover sufficiently to return to leading what had become my new normal, a semi-normal life.
Luckily for me, I only had one period during my illness where I was pretty much bedridden for about a month. All other crashes I recovered from in a few days once I simply let go, gave in to it, and allowed my body the time it needed to recover some energy.
Experiencing a crash is scary because you feel as if you’ve lost control over your health and your life. It’s impossible to know how long each crash will last, will it be one day or two days, maybe a week, or perhaps even longer before you can crawl out of bed, get dressed, and function semi normally again?
My version of chronic fatigue syndrome was waking up every morning totally unrefreshed with a feeling of having the flu. The feeling that my bones had been filled with lead made every movement an effort. Tight and painful muscles and a never-ending array of symptoms that grew weekly added to my distress. This was my new normal life. But, when I experienced a crash, things got even worse.
Each crash put me flat on my back, incapable of doing anything, and all my varied and confusing symptoms worsened. Everything hurt, my arms, shoulders, neck, and back along with the extremely tight and painful Achilles area in my legs which also affected my balance somehow. My entire body seemed waterlogged as my fluid balance went haywire and night sweats were out of control.
The short answer is zip, zero………………absolutely nothing! Stay in bed, or camp out on the sofa, get comfortable and simply rest. You’ve used up all of the available energy your body is capable of producing right now and you’re in a deficit.
For me, what made dealing with each crash difficult was that my mind was still fully alert and active, it was my body that was letting me down. It was hard to relax my body for recovery when my mind was still humming along and raring to go.
Mentally, I had to continually remind myself of the benefit of just giving in to it and being confident that if I did, my recovery period would not become prolonged.
Whether it takes a day or a week to recover, acknowledging you have an illness that will inevitably result in having crashes means you can be prepared when they arrive.
On days when you feel better, do some cooking and food prep. Stock up the freezer with ready-prepared meals that can be easily re-heated during times when you’re experiencing a crash. This way, you’ll have nutritious and easily digestible food ready.
This should prevent the need to order fast food, or eat whatever junk is readily available when you don’t have the energy to cook. More than at any other time your body needs good, healthy, and nutritious food to provide nutrients to your cells for energy production.
Meals should ideally include a good balance of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. If the thought of eating solid food is even too much for you, having some nutritious soups on hand is a good idea. You can make them with some healthy chicken bone brothand vegetables and place them in the freezer.
The most important thing to remember is not to indulge any cravings for sugary, fatty, high-carb fast food and to understand the cravings are simply your body’s way of trying to get energy quickly whilst in such a depleted state.
Load up your Kindle with reading material to relieve boredom.
I found this a lifesaver for me, so simple and convenient to use a couple of clicks and a new book is downloaded immediately. However, you shouldn’t have long periods of screen time. So, break up your reading time with some audiobooks too.
As I mentioned, during my worst episodes with crashes I could not even summon up enough energy to stand upright in the shower, so I started taking baths instead.
Putting a couple of handfuls of Epsom salts and a few drops of essential oil in the bathwater turned it into a relaxing pleasant experience.
The Epsom salts help relax tight muscles and the essential oils can be uplifting or relaxing depending on which oils you choose.
Always sensitive to bright lights and loud noises, I became even more so during a crash. It’s helpful to pull the shades and keep the lighting subdued to alleviate over sensitivity.
During a crash, it’s important to stay positive, continue to work towards recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome using some of the tips on this website together with a protocol from your naturopath.
Meanwhile, make your bedroom as comfortable as possible and keep necessities close at hand to limit how much you need to move.
Crashes will become fewer and recovery from crashes will be faster as your body gets stronger. By keeping a positive attitude and slowly moving towards your goal of recovery, crashes will gradually become a thing of the past.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a debilitating illness that takes many forms, has numerous symptoms, and no known cure is available from the standard medical community.
You might have some skeptical friends who doubt you are actually ill, perhaps they think you are simply malingering. However, chronic fatigue syndrome is a very real disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. Yet often patients can be told ‘it’s all in your head’, or suffer comments from family and friends like ‘oh yes I get really tired too’, both of which show a complete lack of understanding that the illness is in fact very real.
Unfortunately, its common name, ‘chronic fatigue syndrome doesn’t help people’s perception that it’s not a real illness and it’s simply tiredness. The illness has two other names, Myalgic Encephalitis (ME) and Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease (SEID). Perhaps SEID helps describe the illness best as it does state a key feature of the illness i.e., the inability to tolerate exertion either mental or physical.
Fatigue is not the only symptom, although it is the one that most often typifies the disorder. And, this fatigue isn’t simply a feeling of being a bit tired or sluggish. A good night’s sleepdoesn’t help the fatigue which gets worse after mental exhaustion or physical activity and can take several days of bed rest to recover from.
There is no available test or biomarker for the illness. And, what makes this disorder baffling is the severity, type, and a number of symptoms individuals suffer from.
No single cause of chronicfatigue syndrome is known, and in fact, it can be caused by multiple things, but it is likely that trauma or several traumas of some description triggered it.
Because there is no test available, a diagnosis from your doctor is generally only arrived at by ruling out other illnesses such as hypothyroid, sleep disorders, kidney problems, etc. Additionally, a diagnosis can only be given after you have had the symptoms for at least 6 months.
Unfortunately from a naturopathic point of view, this is 6 months during which time you could have already started testing to find out what lies at the root cause(s) of your chronicfatiguesyndrome. It’s also 6 months during which time your symptoms and illness may be getting worse.
Some people mistakenly believe that they cannot recover from chronic fatigue syndrome because standard allopathic medicine has no ‘cure’, there’s no ‘pill’ they can be given to make chronic fatigue syndrome go away.
At the other end of the spectrum, others think if they just wait it out, chronic fatigue syndrome will disappear of its own accord. While this might happen, if you are lucky, it’s pretty unlikely. Without getting proper treatment, which gets to the root cause(s) of your particular form of chronic fatigue syndrome it can not only last for many years but during that time, gradually get worse.
Time can pass without your symptoms worsening, or new symptoms making an appearance. There can even be periods of time when you start to feel a little better. But there will be times too when you relapse and get worse. This is the point when your health declines even further.
You may be the type of person who is willing to wait it out to see if you can recover by yourself. However, I know from my experience that had I found the right naturopathic help and treatment sooner, my health would not have declined to the extent it did.
Chronic fatigue syndrome rarely develops overnight, but there is usually an event or series of events that lead up to it. The tricky thing is that it’s often not until you start getting treatment do you realize what those triggering events were.
During your journey with the illness, you’ll get many signs chronic fatigue syndrome isn’t going away. Most of the signs sneak up on you slowly. You adapt your life around your illness which can mask the reality of your worsening health condition.
The signs show themselves in various forms, some are physical, some mental, some behavioral, and some environmental. Many you may think do not relate to your illness at all. However, even the signs that show up in your home and work environment are rooted in your illness.
Additionally, there are a multitude of signs you should take careful note of to gauge if your chronic fatigue syndrome is not only hanging around but actually becoming worse.
It is foolish to ignore any of these signs as they are signals your illness is progressing and you need to seek out the right form of treatment if you want to have any chance of recovery.
Each individual has their own unique journey with chronic fatigue syndrome. Some have a particularly debilitating form of the illness leaving them completely bedridden. Others have a less severe form that gradually deteriorates as the illness progresses. Whatever form your chronic fatigue syndrome takes, there will be signs that it’s not going away…
1.You Don’t Feel Like Socializing – You may have been a bit of a social butterfly in the past. Always one of the first to eagerly accept invitations to enjoy lunches, family BBQs, nights out with the girls, gallery openings, shopping trips, dinner out with some fine dining, invitations to parties, etc. But now you realize you haven’t had an outing in months, you just declined an invitation to a close friend’s wedding too.
In fact when was the last time you enjoyed a social occasion. Come to think of it, the last time you went out you left early and couldn’t wait to get home, crawl under the covers, and sleep. And now, it just all seems like way too much effort to take part in any socializing at all.
It’s going to take too much energy to work out what to wear for starters. Then you need to get in the car and drive half an hour to get there. Don’t even mention how exhausting it is to have to make polite chitchat to people who, if you’re honest, just drain your energy. Nope…..all too hard, you just stay home.
2. You Can’t Cope With Even The Slightest Stress – Known for your calm demeanor and your ability to just get on with things now you find you’re flying off the handle with the least provocation.
You arrive at work feeling pretty exhausted, get settled at your desk with the first coffee of the day, and proceed to open your email. Scrolling through your emails, you ask yourself when did you start getting so many emails, how are you expected to reply to all these emails in a day?
Your stress level is already rising when your colleague walks up to you and asks a simple question about a project you are both working on and you not only don’t have the answer but you want to scream at him/her to just go away.
It’s only 9 am and already you feel completely overwhelmed and terrified that you’re going to drop the ball. Your workload hasn’t increased, in fact, it’s currently the quietest time of the year in the business but it’s all too much to deal with, you just don’t have the mental energy to deal with a normal workday in your normal efficient way.
3. You Can’t Stand Noise And Bright Lights – Summoning all of your energy, you pull an outfit together from the back of the wardrobe, slap on some makeup, and get in the car determined to enjoy a night out. The friends you are meeting up with are fun, you enjoy their company and you’re looking forward to a few laughs.
It’ll be great to enjoy a couple of hours of lighthearted chat and catch up with everyone. Something to take your mind off how lacking in energy you are is just what you need.
As you walk into the venue you’re hit with a wall of flashing lights above the band in the corner who is playing way too loudly. OMG, you didn’t realize there would be music and definitely didn’t expect the flashing lights. Your friends are there already, getting stuck into a few drinks, yelling to each other to be heard above the music.
They wave to you and you realize this was a BIG mistake, you just can’t do this. The music is pounding in your head and the bright lights flashing on and off are make you feel like you’re about to throw up.
Waving to your friends and shaking your head, you start backing towards the door. All you can see is the startled looks on their faces as they see you turn on your heel and get out of there as fast as you possibly can. And now you have another problem, how on earth are you going to explain you’re weird behavior to your friends who you just ran out on?
4. You Don’t Sleep Well At Night– You used to be such a great sleeper. Getting between 8 or 9 hours of sleep was easy for you. Now, however, getting a solid 8-hour sleep seems to be a thing of the past. In fact, you can’t remember when you slept soundly through one entire night.
Not only that but something seems to have happened to your body clock because you can’t fall asleep easily either. Sometimes you fall asleep, only to wake up again an hour later and you’re wide awake with no hope of dropping off to sleep again.
Lately, you’ve also developed a pattern of waking up at around 3.15 each morning and at that time you’re wide awake and there is absolutely no hope of getting back to sleep before the alarm goes off. And when you do wake up, you feel just as exhausted as you did before you finally got to sleep.
5. You Develop Feelings Of Isolation– You seem to have lost touch with family and friends. And, it seems as if nobody understands what you are going through with this illness.
It doesn’t help that you’ve been on the receiving end of comments that suggest ‘you’re just being lazy or that ‘everyone gets tired from time to time, after all, we all have such busy lives. Nobody seems to understand what you’re going through.
Your doctor can’t help you and you don’t know where to turn for help. It feels as if you are truly alone and nobody understands that you are actually ill.
6. You Are No Longer Able To Work Full Time– It hurts, you were at the top of your game, climbing the corporate ladder, doing great and the future was looking very bright indeed. Thinking you could recover you kept on pushing through, ignoring the signs your body was giving that it was all too much for you.
Now you’ve arrived at the heartbreaking realization that you no longer have the capability to continue on your present career path because you simply cannot work a full day. You are seriously considering giving up your full-time position and looking for a job that is less taxing. It seems that working a few hours a week is all you can manage with your current state of fatigue.
7. You Dread Being Asked To A Function – Once the life and soul of the party, you now cringe if someone asks you to a function as you simply don’t have enough energy to work AND socialize. Your well-meaning friend doesn’t understand you are ill, after all, you look OK on the outside, you definitely don’t look sick and you work full time in your career. So what could possibly be wrong with you?
Not only that, but you declined the last couple of invitations they gave you. It’s beginning to look as though you just don’t want to spend time with them and you know that pretty soon the invitations will stop arriving if you don’t attend something soon.
8. You Develop Intolerance For An Increasing Number Of Food Types – Lately, you’ve noticed everything you eat seems to set off a reaction and you start sneezing, your eyes water, and your nose runs uncontrollably. Only by taking an antihistamine can you get it to let up. And what’s with that strange blotchy rash on your chest?
But yesterday the glass of wine, latte, and cheese sandwich you had were all OK, today….. not so much. Now you need to work out which one of those items is causing you to react, or is it all of them, yikes? Eliminating several foods from your diet has already been carried out, but it seems the list of your food sensitivities just keeps getting longer. Soon it will be very difficult to choose food that you won’t react to.
9. You Feel Depressed– You feel utterly helpless, and don’t know where to turn for help with your illness. Everyone around you seems to be enjoying a happy and healthy fun-filled life.
But you are trapped and unable to move. Lately, you’ve started feeling angry that people seem oblivious to your condition. All you want to do is stay curled up in bed all day while your thoughts just keep dragging you down further and further. You are considering a visit to the doctor for some medication. Perhaps he can give you something to lift your mood, some ‘happy pills’. But you are not sure if you want to start medicating your feelings away, doesn’t seem right somehow.
10. You Suffer An Increasing Number Of Crashes– Lately it seems like the amount of activity you are able to carry out is becoming less and less before you crash. You used to be able to work part-time, carry out normal domestic chores and shop each day.
However, lately, you can’t do all the cleaning and shopping you used to do before you have to take to your bed to recover. Experiencing a crash used to happen maybe once a month when you overdid it with the cleaning and you’d spend the next two days in bed. Lately, you seem to spend more time in bed during the week and less time on chores and activities.
11. You Take Longer To Recover From A Crash– During the last month, you’ve spent more days in bed than out of bed. Recovering from a crash normally takes a couple of days, then you can get up and resume your semi-normal life.
Lately, though it seems each crash takes four or more days in bed before you recover sufficient energy to just get up and sit on the sofa. You feel scared that soon you will become completely bedridden if things keep on going this way. Your life is becoming increasingly abnormal with more of it spent in bed as you have no energy to do anything else.
12. Your Home Environment Is A Cluttered Mess – As you look around your home you realize it looks like a horrible mess. It hasn’t been cleaned properly for ages but, more than that there is clutter everywhere. The kitchen is full of dirty dishes and half-empty food containers and there’s a coating of dust over all the furniture. Dirty laundry has piled up, you’re running out of clean clothes to wear and the laundry basket is overflowing.
There are old newspapers, magazines, and garbage everywhere, and every surface is cluttered with ‘stuff’ everywhere. Your home used to be so orderly, you took pride in your organizational and housekeeping skills.
But now that you take a good look around, your home is in disorganized chaos reflecting the chores you haven’t managed to do due to your lack of mental and physical energy. Gazing around, you realize it’s pretty disgusting. You knew you were letting things slip as your energy disappeared. But how did it get this bad?
13. Your Brain Fog Is Getting Worse – This morning you can’t find your purse. Rushing to get breakfast ready, your mind is racing. How can you have lost your purse? Trying to frantically retrace yesterday’s steps you think about where you could have left it. Maybe it’s still in the car? You turn to get the milk from the fridge, open the door, and Bingo! There’s your purse, on the top shelf of the fridge. It’s been there all night so at least you didn’t lose it.
The only harm done seems to be that your lipstick is now a bit frozen and too solid to put on. But why on earth would you have put your purse in the fridge?
Oh well, all’s well that ends well, you go upstairs to get some documents you need for work and at the top of the stairs can’t remember what you came up for. Down you go again, then you remember…… the documents!
People at work are starting to notice you seem to be a bit forgetful and a couple of comments have been made about your lateness getting reports in on time. Actually, it’s starting to become a bit embarrassing, you used to be the one everyone could rely on.
14. You Are Unable To Exercise– Your weekly routine for years was always to exercise about 3 or 4 times each week. You didn’t go mad, just some cardio or weights and the odd class to break up the monotony, it’s always been a great way to keep your weight under control.
You’ve kept your exercise routine pretty steady for years and enjoy a good fitness level. So you know that motivation isn’t a problem for you.
But last time you did 20 minutes on the treadmill you spent 4 days in bed recovering. Always a regular exerciser, now it seems that even a gentle 10-minute walk in the park is too much for you. But you know if you push it beyond 10 minutes, you’ll end up in bed for days recovering.
15. You Seem To Be Suffering From Anxiety – Never normally an anxious type of person, you’ve noticed strange feelings surface that you realize could be symptoms of anxiety. That weird churning feeling in your stomach that you know is not indigestion.
Often you feel dizzy and light-headed, but sort of restless at the same time. The other day you couldn’t find a space to park the car and your heart started beating out of control and you felt as if you were going to pass out or vomit, or all three at the same time.
In situations, you can normally handle you now feel completely out of control. The slightest upset seems to trigger many of these weird symptoms and feelings.
16. Your Eating Habits Are Out Of Control – Having always been conscious of maintaining a healthy diet, why on earth are you craving french fries and sweets every single day? Come mid-afternoon the lure of all that fat and sugary wrapped goodness luring you from the vending machine becomes too hard to ignore.
Watching TV in the evening you’ve just eaten an entire container of ice cream on your own. Healthy salads, fresh lightly steamed vegetables, salmon, and free-range chicken have lost their appeal. All you want now is fatty oily pastries, deep-fried food, and chocolate.
17. Your Hair Starts Falling Out– People have always commented on your crowning glory, you’re gloriously shiny healthy looking lustrous hair. During your shower this morning the water stops draining away and on closer inspection, you find the reason.
No need to call the plumber, it’s just your fallen hair clogging the drain. As you start to dry your hair you notice lots of hair in the brush. Your once thick hair is thinning and the texture is wiry and it’s kind of frizzy too. Unfortunately, it can no longer be described as a crowning glory so thin and straggly has it become.
18. You Develop An Irritated Bladder– It seems you can no longer get a full night’s sleep as you are constantly awake with the need to pee. Not only that but when you pee it burns badly.
After checking with the doctor you find there is no infection, however, it seems you have developed an irritated bladder. Your stomach feels a little tender and you have the annoying need to go to the toilet several times a day. It’s not only annoying but makes many activities impossible. For example, going to see a movie is now completely out of the question as you’ll miss half the movie while you spend so much time in the toilet.
19. You Experience Balance Issues And Muscle Weakness – Realizing your normal exercise routine is out of the question you try some simple yoga. However, it seems that even the relatively simple tree pose is too much for you.
Normally your balance is pretty good, but doing tree pose you find it impossible to balance on one leg. When you try cobra pose you find your arm strength has deserted you too. You simply cannot push yourself up on your arms, they are too weak. All of the simple poses you normally do are also out of the question. Looks like you’ll need to start practicing restorative yogainstead.
20. You Try To Sit Down As Much As Possible – The thought of standing in the shower for even five minutes is too much for you. You’ve started taking a bath each morning instead.
You use a rolling stool to sit on while doing chores as much as possible. Cooking, ironing, and laundry tasks are all carried out whilst sitting. Shopping expeditions are now a thing of the past, it’s too difficult to stand in queues and walk around stores. Instead, you’ve started ordering your groceries online so that you no longer have to make a trip to the mall.
By taking note of new or worsening symptoms, and changes in your work and living environment you can recognize the signs your illness is giving you that it’s here to stay. It’s not going to disappear of its own accord. Now is the time to find a naturopath/ functional medicine practitioner experienced in treating chronic fatigue syndrome who can help you recover.
