Laura, how long have you had the chronic fatigue? Have you ever found anything that helped? Any treatments at all or supplements that help?
This is going to be long, sorry!
I believe I've had it for at least 6 years but it never impacted my life enough to seek a diagnosis until three years ago. Then it took almost a year to be diagnosed as it's a rule out everything else situation.
The things I do to help are:
•Have one day of complete rest every week (no visitors, no phone calls, no bra, minimal housework, etc), a self care day.
•SMALL amounts of exercise. Exercise definitely helps but with CFS it has to be introduced a certain way and slowly. Too much and I flare and that's it.
•Losing a bunch of weight helped. I gained a heap when my son was unwell and I've since lost about 15kg. I have another 8kg or so to go but it's a real struggle as I have an eating disorder from that time too. (My son was suicidal, CFS hit me and I herniated a disc in my back all at about the same time. I lost my life so food was the only enjoyment I had.)
•I don't smoke, I rarely drink alcohol, I try to eat as well as possible. I completely gave up caffeine (except in chocolate). Caffeine will boost you up for a while but the crash afterwards is horrible. There was a small general improvement overall after giving it up but the not crashing is a huge improvement.
•Regular sleep is SUPER important. Not everyone with CFS sleeps well (often me included) so having a very regimented sleep routine helps. CFS is not always about being sleepy tired, often it's just exhaustion but not needing to sleep. So proper sleep and decent rests when not sleeping are important.
•The biggest improvement was when I dropped one day of work. I started with Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri and dropped the Friday so I could get a decent rest. For others, doing half days for five might work, or doing Mon, Wed, Fri. For most people with CFS, they can't work at all. I'm blessed to have it super mild.
•I have to juggle my energy levels. Imagine a bucket with all your energy in it. On a good day, mine starts about 2/3 full. Every interaction, everything I do takes a little out of that bucket. If my bucket gets to empty, I flare and can't do much of anything for days. (Hence why I'm working about working so much.) So I monitor my "bucket" all day, everyday to make sure it doesn't go to empty and if it gets close, I rest more. The more rest I get, the more it fills back up.
I haven't really tried medications or supplements as there's no proof that anything really helps. Fibromyalgia is a different story there. I have tried some supplements just to get into my body what it may not have been getting from food but none made any difference. I even tried Kyani (did nothing) and Juice+ (did nothing)!
I already regularly see an Osteopath and massage therapist, and I do clinical pilates weekly for my back. I don't think any of these would make much of a difference either.
I do know others that have fully recovered from CFS which can happen naturally. One referred me to The Lightning Technique as it's what worked for her but I haven't tried it.
