Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: “IT”

The thing that's always amazed me the most about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is its definition, which reads: One of several names given to a poorly understood variably debilitating disorder of uncertain cause/causes. Wow! That basically says "we’re not sure what to call it, we have a poor understanding of what the disease is and we're uncertain about its cause(s)". So if you are diagnosed with CFS it merely means you have the symptoms associated with CFS, such as chronic mental and physical exhaustion, myalgia, and cognitive difficulties to name a few. Being diagnosed with CFS tells us nothing of why we are experiencing those symptoms which for most of us means adding "frustration" to the list of symptoms. CFS is often misdiagnosed as Depression, MS, Epstein-Barr Virus, Anemia, Hypoglycemia, Allergies, Candidiasis and the list goes on.

I sometimes read/hear stories by people suffering with CFS who are describing their symptoms and think to myself “wow that’s exactly how CFS makes me feel”. But other times I hear other CFS patients describe their symptoms and they are nothing like my symptoms, which goes to the point that CFS is largely an exclusionary diagnosis and that your cause of CFS may be different from mine. Therefore your treatment(s) would have to be different from mine. So lets for a minute forget all the names and take the prevailing symptoms (chronic mental and physical exhaustion, muscle weakness, sleep disturbances etc.) and simply refer to them as "IT".

The "key" and, in my opinion, the first step to finding a cure to your "IT" is to go “back to the drawing board” by finding the cause of your illness. There are lots of remedies out there for treating the symptoms, but you will never resolve the problem completely until you find out what caused/is causing your “IT”. This can mean researching the alleged possible cause of "IT", trying any known treatment protocol for that cause and seeing if symptom resolution is experienced. Remembering, of course, not to undertake any medical treatments without the strict direction of your doctor. I am not sure which possible cause you should start with, my doctor and I ruled out at least 2 causes before finding a treatment protocol that was extremely successful for me. I suggest you start out by researching all the possible causes of your "IT" and making a determination of which one most likely pertains to you. For example if you live in an area that is known to have ticks, you would start by researching Lyme Disease and, more importantly, Post Lyme Disease. If you live in an estuaries area, loaded with agricultural chemicals, you should research Possible Estuary Associated Syndrome (PEAS). And if you live, work or go to school in a a building infected with mold (known as a sick building) you would research Sick Building Syndrome. These are just a few of the many possible causes of your “IT”.

Through my research and a doctor's guidance I was able to find the cause of my "IT" and finally follow a treatment protocol that was successful in decreasing all of my (major) symptoms, most of them to a 2 or 3 on a scale from 1- 10. Although I still cannot go to the gym and work out or participate in sports that require a high degree of physical activity, I no longer feel like I have to lift a "Mac Truck" off of myself just to get out of bed in the morning and I have been able to go back to full time work. The bad news is I often get re-infected and have to repeat the treatment. Thankfully research is ongoing and I am confident that in the future a cure for my "IT" will be found. I am happy to at least have been able to get to the bottom of the cause of my “IT”.

If you are experiencing the symptoms of "IT" I urge you to please contact me. There is a now a simple and inexpensive tool that assists in diagnosis by showing evidence of neurological deficit. It can help you determine what further action, if any, you should take. If you have any questions, would like additional information, or are interested in losing yourself please contact me peronally.

Yours truly,

Adriano

Lose yourself in a cause greater than yourself

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