3 Tips For Coping With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Practicing healthy habits can support the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. We share in detail 3 recommendations that are key to coping with it.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by a wide variety of symptoms. However, the most common is intense and prolonged exhaustion that greatly affects the quality of life of those who suffer from it. How to cope with it?
There is no single cure; however, there are some treatment options that help relieve symptoms. Therefore, in this article we focus on some effective tips to help you cope with this disease.
Causes and symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome
For starters, chronic fatigue syndrome has no known cause. However, it is related to possible viral infections or to prolonged periods of great psychological stress.
What is known are its symptoms, which are very varied and can affect each person very differently. The most frequent are the following:
- Dizziness
- Throat pain.
- Low mood.
- Gastrointestinal disorders.
- Enlarged lymph nodes.
- Difficulties resting at night.
- Memory problems and trouble concentrating.
- Muscle or joint pain, and other pain such as headache or throat.
- Intense and constant fatigue and exhaustion, especially after any physical or mental effort.
3 tips for coping with chronic fatigue syndrome
As the MSD Manual indicates, the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome addresses “specific symptoms such as pain, depression and lack of sleep. Cognitive behavioral therapy and gradual exercise, which have helped some people, are worth a try. “
As a complement, it is worth following the following tips. These can help improve the quality of life significantly.
1. Improve diet
First, we can focus on diet to improve the health of those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. A complete and balanced diet can help overcome some common nutritional deficiencies in this disease, which would lead to an improvement in symptoms.
In addition, studies show that a good diet leads us to improve the intestinal microbiota. And this would have a positive impact on inflammation, neurocognitive function and anxiety. For this, a good option is the consumption of fermented foods (kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, etc.).
In addition, the consumption of foods rich in antioxidants is recommended, such as cocoa and pollen. Instead, you should do without others that could be harmful, such as alcohol, caffeine, some types of fats, dairy or gluten. The doctor will be in charge of detecting possible food intolerances.
Read: How does diet influence the microbiota?
2. Go to support therapies
There are different types of therapy that can be a great physical and emotional support in coping with chronic fatigue syndrome. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy or gradual exercise therapy.
The therapies cover three areas:
- Cognitive: proposes strategies to deal with the symptoms of the syndrome.
- Physical therapy: A physical therapist can help you increase physical activity in a personalized and gradual way.
- Psychological therapy: The psychologist provides emotional support to combat anxiety and depression.
3. Use nutritional supplements
Lastly, some nutritional supplements have been shown to be effective in relieving symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. These help to counteract some common deficiencies in those who suffer from this disease.
The best thing to do is go to the doctor for routine tests. In this way we can see what nutrients we are missing, which could help us define a personalized complementary treatment.
The most suitable supplements for chronic fatigue syndrome are the following:
- Acetyl-L-carnitine : This amino acid could improve cognitive status and also physical function.
- Essential fatty acids: could be beneficial in alleviating some symptoms such as tiredness, muscle pain, poor concentration and depression.
- Magnesium : This mineral is an effective supplement for multiple disorders and can improve pain, muscle health and the nervous system.
- Vitamin B12 : this vitamin could be useful for chronic fatigue but requires some preliminary analysis. Its deficiency is related to fatigue, neurological changes and gastrointestinal disorders, among others.
- Antioxidants : for example lipoic acid, vitamin C and vitamin E, which help protect cells from oxidative stress damage and also improve mitochondrial function.
- Coenzyme Q10: people with chronic fatigue often have deficiencies in this nutrient.
In conclusion, these three tips are strategies that can be very useful to help in case of chronic fatigue syndrome. With proper medical follow-up, we can see how diet, therapy, and supplements can help us to relieve symptoms.
