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By
Diane Forrest, RN
I was talking with my aunt the other day and she was
telling me about her concern for her friend, a lady she has known since high
school. Several years ago her friend was
performing her normal routine tasks, when all of a sudden she had some sort of attack;
my aunt described it as a type of electric shock. Following this attack she began having
several problems such as muscle pain, insomnia weakness. She went to several doctors, and specialists
trying to determine what was going on with her body, and why she was feeling
the way she was. She was eventually
diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).
She finally had a name for her condition, but explaining it to friends and
family proved to be another difficult challenge. Many thought she was just too lazy to want to
do anything, while others thought that if she could do one thing, she should be
able to do other things too.
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Chronic fatigue syndrome refers to severe, continued
tiredness that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other
medical conditions. These symptoms must
last for over 6 months before a diagnosis is made.
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Symptoms of CFS include:
- Feeling extremely tired for more than 24 hours after exercise that would normally be considered easy
- Feeling unrefreshed after sleeping for a proper amount of time
- Forgetfulness
- Concentration problems
- Confusion
- Joint pain but no swelling or redness
- Headaches that differ from those you have had in the past
- Irritability
- Mild fever (101 degrees F or less)
- Muscle aches
- Muscle weakness, all over or multiple locations, not explained by any known disorder
- Sore throat
- Sore lymph nodes in the neck or under the arms
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Diagnosing CFS is not an easy task. There are no x-rays or blood tests that
confirm the diagnosis; the only way is to rule out other conditions with
similar symptoms. There is no treatment
for CFS, however there are treatments for the symptoms such as medication for
pain, depression and anxiety. Also a
healthy diet and sleep management actions are helpful. Patients may also benefit from working with
health care providers to determine a safe type of exercise regime as well as
trying to maintain social activities.
The expected outcome for this condition also varies. Some people may recover in 6 months to a
year, while some may never get back to their previous state before CFS. Long term effects include depression,
isolation, and side effects from medications.
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Today is National Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness
day. For more information about CFS, click
here: http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/
Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI have learned from experience that one of the best things one can do for chronic fatigue is to do a cleanse. Cleanse the body of all toxins especially leads with the help and guidance of a good natural practitioner. The negative effects of leads in our bodies can appear in ways that all seem rather similar so it is difficult to diagnose exactly what the problem is. The symptoms look like a number of different things and my experience was that prescribed medicines from a pharmacy just made things worse and created other physical problems. The natural root is better. A Kinesiology practitioner is the best root to managing this problem. Stay hopeful because once you feel your energy starting to come back you will have a whole new attitude, perspective on life!
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