Table of Contents
- Self Diagnosing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Treatment For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms:
- 1. Avoid Inflammatory Foods
- 2. Keep Hydrated
- 3. Watch that Sugar
- 4. Reduce Caffeine Intake
- 5. Ease Into Change
- 6. Avoid Napping & Create a Sleep Routine
- 7. Get Enough of Sleep
- 8. Detoxify
- 9. Try Some Light Exercise
- 10. Pace Yourself
- 11. Learn Relaxation Methods
- 12. Enhance Your Mental Energy & Clarity
Feel tired even after a full night’s sleep?
Have unexplainable muscle or joint pains?
Do you simply feel fatigued for more than 24 hours at a time?
If you answered “Yes” to all of these questions, you probably have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).
CFS, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or systematic exertion intolerance disease (SEID) is characterized by lingering extreme fatigue that’s unconnected to any underlying medical condition.
CFS has yet to be fully understood despite being a recognized condition. Theories as to its causes include viruses, psychological stressors, genetic predisposition, or a combination of factors. This disease can be hard to diagnose because it shares similar symptoms with other conditions [1, 2, 3, 4].
Self Diagnosing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Questions 1-5 below are based on criteria established by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) for evaluating a person’s possibility of having CFS.
After answering the above questions, and if you still believe you’re suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome symptoms consider contacting your doctor to discuss additional treatment options.
Otherwise, don’t worry, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Read on…
Treatment For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms:
There is no single cure for CFS. That said, this doesn’t mean that you can’t ease the symptoms you’re currently experiencing.
Here are 11 tips to help you treat CFS:
1. Avoid Inflammatory Foods
When it comes to CFS, you have to avoid foods that cause inflammation. This may be easier said than done especially since most of the good-tasting stuff is inflammatory.
We recommend you limit or avoid:
- Processed Junk Foods
- Processed Meat
- Heavily Processed Bread (Good bread should’t have more than 4 ingredients)
- Overly Starchy Foods
- Artificial Sweeteners
- Diet Food & Drinks
- Anything high in phytoestrogens)
- Fried Foods
You can instead add healthier choices to your diet, like:
- Cold Water Fish
- Fermented (sourdough bread)
- Olive, Walnut, Hempseed, Avocado oil
It’s get’s easier to incorporate healthier option into your routine after time. Eventually you may very well find yourself unable to eat, let alone crave the junk options.
Inflammatory foods don’t stop there, though. You should also avoid any food that you’re allergic to. This can include obvious ones like seafood, eggs, and chicken to less obvious ones like soy, tree nuts, and glutinous grains.
Unfortunately, you’re going to have to do a trial and error experiment if you’re not sure if you’re allergic to something [5, 6, 7].
2. Keep Hydrated
Remember to keep hydrated while you’re experiencing CFS symptoms.
No, keeping hydrated does not directly cure CFS. What it does, though, is to keep your symptoms from getting worse.
Research shows that dehydration does make fatigue worse. So, while you don’t need to drink more fluids, you still need to drink enough. It’s recommended that the average person drink at least two (2) liters of water per day, more if you’re in a hotter or more tropical climate [8, 9, 10].
3. Watch that Sugar
You may already know that refined sugar is bad for you, but it’s especially worse if you have CFS.
I know what you’re thinking: “Won’t sugar give me an energy boost?”
While you may get a temporary energy boost after eating sugar, it’s the following crash that makes it bad for CFS. This sugar crash only compounds the tiredness you’re already feeling due to CFS.
What’s more, sugar is also an inflammatory food, which you already know makes CFS worse.
The good news is you don’t have to avoid all sweet foods, just ones with added refined sugar. So you can still enjoy plain berries and unsweetened yogurt to satisfy your sugar cravings [11, 12, 13].
4. Reduce Caffeine Intake
Another “energy-boosting” substance you need to watch out for is caffeine.
I know this one may be harder to let go, so it’s good news that you don’t need to go cold turkey — just reduce your intake.
While caffeine helps you “wake up” and feel alert, this is actually just fake energy you’re feeling. This may lead you to drink too much coffee and become dependent on it.
Again, we’re not saying you should give it up completely, but you have to make sure that it’s not causing you to miss out on sleep [14, 15, 16].
5. Ease Into Change
It’s important to ease into the dietary restrictions we’re suggesting here. While it’s tempting to just try and go cold turkey immediately, you may be doing more harm than good.
This is because suddenly depriving yourself of the things that you’re used to may instead make you resist treatment or secretly violate your treatment protocols.
Furthermore, there isn’t actually evidence that highly restricting your diet can alleviate symptoms. So rather than suffer the sudden dietary restriction, we suggest a more gradual approach.
We also suggest you check out the 10 Surefire Ways to Instantly Improve Your Health.
6. Avoid Napping & Create a Sleep Routine
We tend to take more naps as we age. Taking a nap in the middle of the day may just be routine for some of us.
However, you may want to try and avoid napping if it prevents you from sleeping on time at night. This is because it’s crucial for you to keep a regular sleeping routine while you have CFS.
On the other hand, if you find that one mid-day nap still lets you sleep at or about your usual sleep time, go ahead and take that nap.
Creating a sleep routine ensures you wake up with the energy you need for the next day. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just go to bed around the same time every night and wake up around the same time every morning.
Eventually, you’ll get used to your routine and you’ll find yourself sleepy at around the same time every night and wake up at around the same time every morning.
7. Get Enough of Sleep
I know we just touched on sleep, but it needs to be drilled in.
This is one of the most important tips to remember out of this list.
Getting enough sleep is crucial for CFS treatment, sleep deprivation, and general exhaustion being two of the most common signs of CFS.
Getting enough sleep, however, doesn’t mean getting too much of it. Research shows that getting more than enough sleep actually leads to more health problems down the line.
The problem here is that different individuals require different amounts of sleep. With that said, try to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night and observe how you feel when you wake up [20].
If sleep is a struggle for you, learn how to cure insomnia forever.
8. Detoxify
Follow a 14-day Ultimate Herbal DETOX program. This program contains the herbs Golden Seal, Cloves and Black Walnut which help to control negative bacteria, protozoa, and viruses. Also included are the herbs Barley Grass, Milk Thistle and Globe Artichoke which are powerful liver protectors. Take the full 480 capsules over 14 days along with the recipes recommended below.
Use plenty of immune-boosting foods during your program including garlic, onions, chili, mushrooms and vitamin C rich fruits like orange and lemon. Try these recipes:
- Curry Thai Pumpkin Soup
- Mushroom Stroganoff
- Tomato Leek and Onion Soup
- Sweet and Sour Chinese
- Carrot, ginger and turmeric smoothie
- Kale and lemon smoothie
You can ask your local herbalist to make you up an antiviral, hormonal boosting herbal tonic or you could contact us by phone or email and we can arrange to get one made up for you. The herbs I suggest would be Golden Seal, St Johns Wort, Siberian ginseng, Astragalus and Licorice. These should be consumed over 2-3 months for best results [21, 22, 23, 24, 25].
9. Try Some Light Exercise
Exercise can do wonders for your health, which includes helping you treat CFS.
That said, avoid overexerting yourself, especially if you’re used to strenuous exercise in the past. Research suggests you choose lighter exercises like walking, biking, or swimming (if you’re fairly fit).
Remember to slowly ease into your exercise. Never go full throttle from the start even if it seems too easy. Aim for at least 30 minutes of your chosen light exercise each day [26, 27, 28].
10. Pace Yourself
Similar to easing into your exercises, always remember to pace yourself when doing your daily activities. Divide your daily activities into smaller, more manageable portions.
Try doing all your hardest or most important work when you have the most energy. Pacing yourself lets you finish your tasks without burning out.
If you feel like you’re burnt out, don’t try and finish the rest of your work. Set them aside for another day. Eventually, you’ll be able to finish more work in one day and even add more work.
Check out these 5 Critical Things That Increase Your Immune System Function.
11. Learn Relaxation Methods
Relaxation techniques can help you relax after particularly draining tasks. Try doing:
- Yoga
- Tai-chi
- Qigong
- Hiking
- Meditation
These and other active stretching and breathing exercises have been hugely beneficial to not just my team and I, but millions around the world, for many years. These gentle movements don’t only help you relax but can double as gentle exercise as well.
CFS is a recognized condition that has yet to be fully understood. Because of this fact, there is no single cure for it. If you’re currently experiencing CFS, try these tips to help you treat yourself naturally [29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34].
12. Enhance Your Mental Energy & Clarity
Mental fatigue impairs physical performance.
The power of the mind can not be overlooked. Your ability to access energy and initiate healing is massively influenced by your mental state. I invite you to identify a method of meditation that works for you. Learn to work with your own energy fields.
Many people have found that working through mental blocks and lack of energy with yoga has worked wonders for them [35, 36, 37, 38].
Health by choice, not by chance.
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