I refused the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome when I actually had it. In hindsight I can admit to it, but I just couldn’t swallow it at the time.
I was at the doctor’s office, and she said, “Here are the markers you have to have in order to be diagnosed with CFS: 1) the presence of Epstein Barr virus, 2) definite onset of fatigue, 3) fatigue not alleviated by rest, 4) post exertion fatigue lasting more than 24 hours, 5) memory and concentration problems, 6) tender lymph nodes. You have all of these.” I said, “I do not have chronic fatigue syndrome.” She said, “Well, you have all the markers.” (actually I think the markers are a little different right now than they were then. See this link: http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/cfsdiagnosis.htm ) Me: “Yes, but I don’t have that.” We batted this back and forth a few more minutes before she gave up and said, “Okay, fine, you don’t have it.” This felt like a small but significant victory at a time when there wasn’t much to celebrate about. I’m glad she never flat out said, “You have chronic fatigue syndrome.” That would have been harder to ignore.
I’d never really stood up to a doctor like that before and just totally disagreed. She was right, of course, but somehow I had a gut sense that I needed to refuse this thing that had happened to me rather than accept and embrace it. I didn’t want to join a CFS support group. I figured it would be all too easy for me to start to identify myself as a CFS sufferer rather than as someone who had some health problems that she was going to get rid of one way or another. Support groups give me the willies. I’ve never actually been to one, but just the thought of connecting with other people around an illness strikes me as something that is not healthy. Let’s connect with other people around positive, life giving things. Sharing information is helpful, but I can get loads more information doing one good google search than I can talking to someone else who’s as foggy headed and memory compromised as I was.
I also didn’t want to admit to having a chronic problem with no treatment protocol. I figured there had to be some underlying problem that was at the root of all these symptoms I was experiencing, and that giving the symptoms names was not going to help or change anything. What I need was real, profound change, not a set of words describing what was wrong with me.
So what did I do to get rid of the chronic fatigue? In general, I’d say it went away, just like many of my other symptoms, as I started to address the most fundamental health problems I was facing: malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies, toxicity, and bad bugs. Personally, I believe that those are the three underlying factors of all disease, and there’s plenty of research out there that would support that statement. I hope to be doing some posts on each of those things.
So the best thing I can say about CFS is that it will go away when the rest of your body is cleaned out and getting the nutrient it needs. That sounds simple and ultimately it is. The question then becomes how do you do it for your body. What do you need to be able to detoxify without making yourself feel horrible? I have lots of thoughts about that which I’ll write more about at some time.
My chronic fatigue didn’t go away overnight, but it has gone away. I am still amazed each day that I don’t even think about taking a nap. I have more energy right now than I’ve had in years. It is a wonderful gift to get your life back. You can get yours back, too. Persist to the end. Fight the good fight. You’re in a battle for your life. The quality of your life from here on out is in your hands and depends on the choices you will make day to day, hour by hour. Tackle one piece of the problem at a time and never give up until you are as healthy as you want to be.
Tags: bad bugs, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, diagnosis, malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies, support group, toxicity
