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Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrom & Fibromyalgia

“Are you sick and tired of feeling sick and tired?”

Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (CFIDS) and Fibromyalgia are related and complex disorders that affect multiple systems of the body.  They are also some of my favorite conditions to work with.  I offer an un-biased, compassionate ear, comprehensive testing, and comprehensive treatment plans.  Treatments may include MTHFR repletion, diet, exercise, nutritional supplements, prescription drugs, cleansing (detoxification), IV therapies, and more.    

More About CFIDS and Fibromyalgia:

The main symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is just what you would expect:  severe, chronic, intractable fatigue.  Fatigue is often accompanied by severe “brain fog” (poor concentration), poor memory, insomnia or non-restful sleep, malaise, muscle or joint aches, headaches, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and most notably severely impaired stamina (small exertions require extended recovery time). 

Fibromyalgia is a related syndrome that involves chronic pain in addition to many of the symptoms above.  This pain may be focused in one area of the body, but may also be “everywhere”.  There is a particular pattern of “fibromyalgia points” that are characteristically tender, and are used to diagnose this condition.  Fibromyalgia often begins with localized pain from an injury (repetitive motion or trauma).  There is often also an emotional component (which sometimes evolves in response to the chronic pain, and sometimes pre-dates the pain). 

Both syndromes are more common in women, and often occur in individuals who are/were extremely driven, productive people.   Many people with these conditions (though not all) have been thru a single stressful event, trauma, or a prolonged stressful time in their life. 

Unfortunately, CFIDS and Fibromyalgia are both still suffering from the “if there is no lab test to prove it, and no pill to treat it, then it does not exist” syndrome in the conventional medical world.  Happily, this is beginning to change as CFIDS and Fibromyalgia gain recognition as legitimate and diagnosable disorders.  However, many medical doctors continue to insist that it is “all in your head” and prescribe anti-depressant medications for these conditions (which does offer some help in about 35% of cases). 

There are many theories about the cause of these syndromes.  I suspect that they are all true for at least some cases.  In my experience these syndromes are caused by a unique combination of factors for each person.  It is, if you will, “the perfect storm” of underlying factors and events that are unique to each individual, but result in a similar constellation of symptoms. 

If you have been reading about other conditions on my website, you have probably noticed a few conditions (fatigue, chronic pain, insomnia, brain fog) coming up on a lot of different lists.  There are lots and lots of things that can cause these symptoms. 

For instance, Fatigue can be commonly caused by:

• Insomnia
• Allergies (airborne, food intolerances)
• Anemia 
• Due to blood loss, iron deficiency, B vitamin deficiencies, genetic disorders, heavy metal toxicity
• Hypothyroidism/ iodine deficiency / Wilson’s Temperature syndrome
• Asthma
• Sleep Apnea
• Chronic  infections
• Epstine Barr, Mono, Enterovirus, Lymes, Malaria, Hepatitis, etc
• Candida
• Poor nutrition
• Dehydration
• Depression
• Lack of Exercise
• Low Blood pressure
• Cardiovascular disease
• Elevated toxic burden
• heavy metals, solvents, pesticides, etc
• these contribute to many of the above

As you can see, there is a significant amount of detective work involved in unraveling these conditions. For most patients with these conditions, there is a combination of thyroid or metabolism issues, toxic burden, and a chronic infection, compounded with psycho-spiritual issues that have become intertwined with the process of being unwell.  A significant subset of these patients also carry a gene variant called "MTHFR" which can be a major contributor to all of the above, and is correctable with supplemenation. All of the causes must be addressed, which is often quite a process.   There are no quick fixes for these conditions; however, there are lots and lots of possibilities for healing. As I said before, I love working with these conditions. If you are suffering from being "sick and tired" I would love to work with you on your healing journey!