Fibromyalgia and Me

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Cognitive behaviour therapy is effective in treating the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a recent systematic review carried out by Cochrane Researchers.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a potentially long-lasting illness that can cause considerable distress and disability. Some estimates suggest it may affect as many as 1 in 100 of the population globally. There is no widely accepted explanation for the disease and patients are currently offered a variety of different treatments.

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Reflexology is a form of alternative medicine that is very similar to acupressure therapy as it coordinates major organs of the body with specific pressure points on an individual’s feet as well as hands. This is a form of ancient medicine that got its start in Greek culture. The Greeks referred to the reflexology at that time as “pressure treatment.” Soon after the Greeks began practicing it, the ancient Indians caught onto the trend and began practicing it as well. In its early years, reflexology was also referred to as zone theory or zone therapy. Reflexology in the US first showed itself in the year 1913 when William H. Fitzgerald took the human body and proceeded to divide it into ten vertical zones. He noted that all of the organs of the body correspond to pressure points on the hands as well as the feet. Applying pressure to these points was supposed to bring relief to areas of the body that were in need of healing.

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An overview of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and how clinical nutrition can be used to address the problem. symptoms: difficulty with sleeping, muscle and/or joint pain at multiple sites without evidence of inflammation, headaches, painful lymph nodes

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When Shawn Burnette says, “Though chronic fatigue syndrome is not fatal …” (”Finding a way through the pain,” July 26), she alerts us to how crucial it is for us to distinguish between those who have been diagnosed with M.E. (myalgic encephalomyelitis), in which there is thought to be abnormal neurological pathology and inflammation of the spinal cord, and those who have been diagnosed with any one of a number of illnesses that have chronic fatigue as a principal symptom and fall under the umbrella term, chronic fatigue syndrome.

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Fatigue may be defined as a subjective state in which one feels tired or exhausted, and in which the capacity for normal work or activity is reduced. There is, however, no commonly accepted definition of fatigue when it is considered in the context of health and illness. This lack of definition results from the fact that a person’s experience of fatigue depends on a variety of factors. These factors include culture; personality; the physical environment (light, noise, vibration); availability of social support through networks of family members and friends; the nature of a particular fatiguing disease or disorder; and the type and duration of work or exercise. For example, the experience of fatigue associated with disease will be different for someone who is clinically depressed, is socially isolated, and is out of shape, as compared to another person who is not depressed, has many friends, and is aerobically fit.

Fatigue is sometimes characterized as normal or abnormal. For example, the feeling of tiredness or even exhaustion after exercising is a normal response and is relieved by resting; many people report that the experience of ordinary tiredness after exercise is pleasant. Moreover, this type of fatigue is called acute.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate between 1 million and 4 million Americans have chronic fatigue syndrome. It is a condition marked by extreme fatigue that cannot be remedied with rest. At least 25 percent percent of those are unemployed as a result of the disease. Less than 20 percent of people with chronic fatigue syndrome in the U.S. have been diagnosed, according to the CDC. As with other autoimmune disorders, the cause is unknown. This is the story of one woman’s struggle with the condition.

When Virginia Mold of Pawling could not seem to get enough sleep, her husband thought that maybe caring for their three young children was just wearing her down.

But a doctor’s visit and a subsequent blood test revealed the real culprit behind her lethargy and weight loss: chronic fatigue syndrome and mononucleosis.

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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling disorder, characterized by persistent or relapsing fatigue. Recent studies have detected a decrease in cortical grey matter volume in patients with CFS, but it is unclear whether this cerebral atrophy constitutes a cause or a consequence of the disease. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective behavioural intervention for CFS, which combines a rehabilitative approach of a graded increase in physical activity with a psychological approach that addresses thoughts and beliefs about CFS which may impair recovery. Here, we test the hypothesis that cerebral atrophy may be a reversible state that can ameliorate with successful CBT.

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It took two years and a whole load of anxiety, for the Doctors to finally agree that I was suffering from CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) and another couple more years to free myself from this extremely debilitating condition

The reason why it took so long to diagnose the illness in the first place was because so little is known about the disorder and what causes it. Even now there are skeptics that still argue that CFS is only in the mind!

In my case it was very real, only I didn’t know that I was suffering from CFS at the time. It began slowly, as persistent flu-like feeling, and even after a nights rest, would wake to a feeling of complete exhaustion. Finally headaches that got progressively worse over time, and a general feeling lethargy.

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HOW do you go from a high-flyer to a bed-ridden zombie who finds even speech a soul-destroying struggle?

To find out, you need look no further than Joe Green, a once hard-working financial director who reached the pinnacle of his profession only to plummet to unimaginable depths.

Joe had been a divisional director and experienced independent financial adviser employed by the Clarke Roxburgh broking group in Malvern, where he worked on behalf of 1,500 clients for 30 years.

It was during this time that Joe, of Colwall, near Malvern, was struck by a deeply misunderstood condition that turned his life upside-down.

He soon found it difficult to get out of bed, let alone go to work, and the harder he fought against it, the weaker and more helpless he became.

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I guess like most normal people, I became accustomed to good health and fitness and took both for granted over my working life

I only mention this because it took me a little time to realise that the persistent headaches and sluggish feeling that I was experiencing at the time could perhaps more than “overdoing it” with the current workload

The tiredness was different than what I ever experienced before and the loss of motivation was something I could never have been accused of in the past.

I had attempted to ‘work the feeling off’ but this only seemed to exasperate the condition even more and increase other difficulties such poor concentration, reduced attention span, poor short term memory, difficulty to plan or organise my thoughts, difficulty ‘finding the right words’ to say, and feeling disorientated on occasions

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