Hi I was just recently reading up on CFS and I realize now that I may very well have it. I have a lot of the symptoms… Fatigue all the time, horrible insomnia, waking up feeling awful and unrested, chronically depressed, muscle pains, flu sick feelings. I was wondering how are you being treated for it because right now im on Prozac for severe depression, social anxiety disorder, and OCD. I’ve heard that anti-depressants are supposed to help with this disorder so I was wondering what treatment are any of you on for this?
Hi David. The key to effective treatment of CFS is to find and fix the underlying cause(s). Here is a list of some of the more common CAUSES to look for:
1) Heavy metal toxicity (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc.)
2) Pesticide poisoning (e.g. organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides: note: these appear to contribute to the CFS symptoms in Gulf War Syndrome patients.)
3) Chronic infections (e.g. Lyme disease, Fungal infections such as Candida, chronic tooth infections from dental work like root canals, etc.)
4) Intestinal dysbiosis
5) Leaky Gut Syndrome
6) Vitamin and mineral deficiencies – vit. D, folate, B12, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, etc.
7) Food allergies – including severe conditions such as Celiac Disease (Note: the number 1 presenting symptom of Celiac Disease is Fatigue of an unknown origin).
Adrenal insufficiency/deficiency.
Hopefully, you can find a health care professional who is willing to do the hard work of evaluating you for the many potential causes of your symptoms. This type of care is very different than the much more common "name and blame" game you are experiencing. Name the "disease" based on your symptoms (CFS), then BLAME the disease (CFS) for those symptoms! Then, give drugs that cure nothing, have serious long-term side-effects, and act like ‘that is the best that we can do’!
Find and fix the CAUSE.
Best wishes and good luck.
I don’t actually have CFS, but I couldn’t help but notice the question…
All of those symptoms you mentioned are possible with depression. Unfortunately CFS is a diagnosis of exclusion for the most part because there is no definitive test. Symptoms vary from case to case… but I am inclined to think that it is still just depression because of the absence of joint and muscle aches.
Treatments are more to manage symptoms than to actually cure it. I would think that in addition to your anti-depressants, you may want to try some non-habit forming sleep supplements, as well as, a review of your nutrition.
References :
Hi David. The key to effective treatment of CFS is to find and fix the underlying cause(s). Here is a list of some of the more common CAUSES to look for:
1) Heavy metal toxicity (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc.)
2) Pesticide poisoning (e.g. organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides: note: these appear to contribute to the CFS symptoms in Gulf War Syndrome patients.)
3) Chronic infections (e.g. Lyme disease, Fungal infections such as Candida, chronic tooth infections from dental work like root canals, etc.)
4) Intestinal dysbiosis
5) Leaky Gut Syndrome
6) Vitamin and mineral deficiencies – vit. D, folate, B12, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, etc.
7) Food allergies – including severe conditions such as Celiac Disease (Note: the number 1 presenting symptom of Celiac Disease is Fatigue of an unknown origin).
Hopefully, you can find a health care professional who is willing to do the hard work of evaluating you for the many potential causes of your symptoms. This type of care is very different than the much more common "name and blame" game you are experiencing. Name the "disease" based on your symptoms (CFS), then BLAME the disease (CFS) for those symptoms! Then, give drugs that cure nothing, have serious long-term side-effects, and act like ‘that is the best that we can do’!
Find and fix the CAUSE.
Best wishes and good luck.
References :