About chronic fatigue syndrome as a diagnosis
There is no such diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases. This is a general concept that each doctor interprets differently.
There is an infectious (viral) theory of the development of chronic fatigue syndrome. Some doctors believe that its cause may be cytomegalovirus, herpes virus type 6, hepatitis C, enterovirus, or retrovirus.
According to another version, this condition may be caused by dysfunction of the immune system. However, no one can name the exact reasons for the development of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Sometimes a person is constantly tired due to some disease that he does not know about. Chronic sinusitis, for example. It causes headaches, periodically leads to fever, and interferes with concentration. In this case, you just need to make a correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
Symptoms
The signs of CFS represent a whole symptom complex that is difficult to differentiate from other diseases due to its similarity with them:
- Temperature. Often patients pay attention to an unmotivated increase in body temperature to 37-37.2 for a long time. Of course, first of all, a person should think about the inflammatory reaction in the body, but if after a medical examination and tests the results of the pathology were not revealed, devote more time to yourself and rest, you have CFS due to overexertion or existing neurosis;
- Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome occur together quite often. Constant muscle weakness and soreness in the muscles literally drives you crazy, and the pain can occur in different parts of the body. And if this symptom is noted along with a temperature, it becomes very easy to confuse it with a cold or flu;
- Hormonal imbalance due to stress;
- Sleep disturbance. Insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, nightmares, daytime sleepiness;
- Headache of unspecified nature. Most often, aching, pressing or pulsating in the temples;
- Lethargy, lack of energy;
- Irritability, aggressiveness or apathy. Sometimes these conditions correlate with each other;
- Frequent colds;
- Paradoxically, a frequent companion of a person with CFS is...skin rashes. They can simulate eczema, hives. Sometimes the rashes are of a mixed nature, which confuses practicing doctors. In fact, everything is simple, this symptom is a combination of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, urinary and nervous systems. Due to stress, the absorption and removal of digested food from the body worsens, which leads to intoxication (this can also cause body aches and fever). Due to frequent urination, the skin becomes drier, and all these processes are controlled by the nervous system;
- Disorders of all organs and systems (palpitations, lump in the throat, frequent urination, feeling of heaviness in the head, etc.);
- Decreased cognitive function (deterioration of memory and attention).
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On the importance of distinguishing between the concepts of “fatigue” and “chronic fatigue”
It is important to distinguish between concepts. Chronic fatigue syndrome is a pathological condition accompanied by certain symptoms. This is a disease (even if it is still not included in the ICD), with symptoms such as: muscle weakness, causeless anger, apathy, drowsiness and others.
There is fatigue as an independent phenomenon: physical, caused by muscle fatigue, and psychological from overload of neurons and the central nervous system.
Ordinary fatigue is a natural physiological process that can be aggravated by impaired motivation. A little clarification. Impaired motivation is a condition that develops when you spend a long time doing what you need, and not what you want. It is often confused with depression - a condition with decreased mood, motor retardation, impaired thinking, decreased self-esteem and other symptoms. Depression requires complex treatment, including medication. A lack of motivation is simply a reluctance to do something that doesn’t give you pleasure.
Fatigue tends to accumulate. If the rhythm of life does not allow for proper rest, it develops into a chronic condition. For workaholics, the only “valid” reason to rest is some kind of illness. Therefore, when the body cannot cope with the load, a person begins to get sick.
How to help your body get rid of fatigue
Everyone knows the feeling when work goes wrong, you don’t want to go to training except to lie on a soft rug, and even the most urgent household chores are tempting to be put off for a day on the couch. Vacation fantasies boil down to a sun lounger on the shore of a warm sea, preferably in splendid isolation. Fatigue and lack of sleep tend to accumulate.
Why does performance decrease?
In most cases, accumulated fatigue is seasonal and is caused by work pressure, bad weather, lack of vitamins in the body, intense training process, and so on. A temporary decrease in performance can affect representatives of any profession: athletes and middle managers, salespeople and hairdressers, postmen and museum workers, and even housewives. The key word is temporary. It can occur for a variety of reasons - due to an incorrect work and rest schedule, due to insufficient motivation, when a person does not understand what he is working for, and also due to various external factors such as the weather.
To each his own
The choice of a way to get rid of fatigue will largely depend on its causes. For example, with sedentary monotonous work, dancing can help, with increased physical activity - on the contrary, a quiet rest on the couch or a meeting in a quiet, cozy cafe, and with emotional overload - silence and a good book. But sometimes there are several factors that lead to a feeling of overload. And then you should pay attention to more universal methods. For example, a tired athlete who has a stressful job may not be pleased with a gift certificate for a parachute jump - it is better to give her a visit to the spa.
What to do if your body is tired?
If your energy is running low and vacation is not soon, you can turn to proven ways to recharge your energy:
Water treatments
Contact with water helps you calm down, “wash away” negativity and improve sleep. Evening exercises in the pool, a warm bath, and even ordinary washing of dishes are very useful - this meditative activity helps many people sort out their thoughts.
Massage
The services of a spa salon can be especially useful when there are deadlines at work, the boss requires an urgent report, and children at home demand help with preparing for the school concert. Even if these plans seem incompatible, it is precisely at such moments that you need to stop and spend a couple of hours on yourself. Kneading muscles, removing tension, and heat-related procedures promote relaxation and help you remember that there is still something pleasant in life. After such procedures, fresh strength usually appears to move mountains.
Coffee, alcohol and cigarettes are not the answer
Cigarettes replace the oxygen needed by the brain with destructive carbon monoxide, alcohol is a depressant, and caffeine gives only temporary vigor, which soon gives way to even greater fatigue. Sweets have a similar property.
Physical activity
When playing sports, the body produces the joy hormone endorphin. But for good sleep, it is better to train long before bedtime.
Less fat
Processing fats takes a long time, so fatty foods reduce activity.
Staying Active with L-Carnitine
If the body ceases to cope with intense psycho-emotional and physical stress, if a loss of strength occurs, you can resort to additional recharging from the inside. The vitamin-like substance L-carnitine has the ability to increase energy production in the body's cells, reduce fatigue and speed up metabolism. L-carnitine also helps strengthen the immune system.
The L-carnitine drug Elkar® is used to treat decreased performance, increased fatigue, to increase endurance and accelerate the body’s recovery after physical activity.
Elkar® can also help fight excess weight due to the positive effect of L-carnitine on protein and fat metabolism in the body.
When it’s cold and slush outside, and there are a lot of unsettled tasks on the agenda, but accumulated fatigue greatly affects productivity, you can resort to the help of Elkar®, a source of energy for an active life.
THERE ARE CONTRAINDICATIONS TO APPLICATION AND USE, YOU MUST READ THE INSTRUCTIONS OR SEEK A SPECIALIST'S CONSULTATION.
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How does chronic fatigue syndrome develop?
In my opinion, the main reason is failure to maintain the load/rest balance. If you look at it, this balance has always been disturbed. Most of our ancestors worked long and hard - it was a struggle for survival. There wasn’t even a question about needing to rest. If he coped, he survived; if he didn’t, he didn’t. What matters to us now is not survival, but quality of life.
Today, people often postpone vacation, explaining their decision by the presence of a large number of things to do and obligations. This is especially true for family people: giving children the best education is necessary, getting a promotion is necessary. Serious psychological pressure aggravates the situation.
About the consequences of chronic fatigue
There are two important indicators of health that are taken into account in all medical research: life expectancy and quality of life.
I can tell you a lot about the unpleasant physiological consequences of chronic fatigue and the diseases it leads to. But this is not so important compared to the constant feeling of dissatisfaction with life, a decrease in interest in everything that happens in it and the feeling that you are unhappy.
A poor quality of life means that a person is dissatisfied with it and is unable to experience positive emotions even if there are reasons for this. This can be very individual.
Some may become aggressive: they will be angry with themselves, with others, and react sharply to violation of personal boundaries. Some, on the contrary, will take the position of a victim.
CFS is an unfavorable factor. If it is not eliminated, it will “hit” the most vulnerable place at the physiological level (weak immune system - problems will begin there, cardiovascular system - here).
How to deal with chronic fatigue
The main recipe is to restore the normal load-rest cycle. Moreover, every day. It’s impossible to rest on vacation after a year of hard work - that’s physiology. The same strange idea to relax on the weekend after five intense working days at the limit.
It is impossible to get enough sleep for the week ahead. Even if you sleep 24 hours on the weekend, but two or three on a weekday, this is not an option. I repeat: the only option is daily proper rest. It can be different: massage, relaxing treatments, sleeping in the fresh air, hobbies.
The main indicator that everything is fine: you have lived through the day and are happy with it.
In order for this to happen, you will have to give up something. If you can’t determine what is unnecessary on your own, it is better to go to psychotherapy and identify unnecessary things with a specialist. It is impossible to have time and do everything: this is time management, which is worth learning for the sake of your own health. Text: Natalia Kapitsa
Recipes for getting rid of fatigue
And finally, the best recipes based on foods, herbs and decoctions that will help get rid of overwork:
- Grape juice. It is enough to take 2 tbsp. l. fresh grape juice 30 minutes before meals.
- A product based on honey, walnuts and lemon. Prepare 1 cup of walnuts (pre-clean), add honey to taste and chop 1 lemon. Take the product 3 times. per day 1 tbsp. l.
- Decoction of pine needles. Take 2 tbsp. l. pine needles (chopped), add water (300 ml), boil the composition (15-20 minutes on fire), strain the broth. When the product has cooled, do not forget to add 3 tbsp. l. honey The remedy for fatigue is taken 3 times a day, 1 tbsp. l.
You can also think about other products and decoctions, for example, oats, rose hips, which help get rid of fatigue. The main thing is to normalize your daily routine, spend more time outside and preferably give up bad habits (alcohol, smoking, etc.).
AllaAuthor of the article
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