If you have chronic fatigue (CFS), discussed in the last article, practitioners at CAM can help. One of the most important questions to ask is what is causing your particular case of chronic fatigue.
Why does the cause matter?
What difference does it matter what caused your fatigue? You’ve got it, so let’s move forward, right? Actually, whatever caused your fatigue is still causing it, or you’d be over it by now. Once the root causes are identified and addressed, then healing can begin.
How do you figure out the cause?
It can take some detective work to figure out the cause or causes. A good place to start is to search your memory for what preceded the fatigue, usually within a few weeks of its onset. Did you have your house tented for termites, or have dental work done, or have a whiplash injury in a car accident? Did it start with what seemed like the flu? Did you travel to a foreign country and possibly drink the water? Did you start having problems after moving to a new home? Any of these can be, or indicate, a cause.
Also, take a look at any patterns of fatigue. It may be worse on weekdays or weekends, pointing to some sort of work or home toxin exposure or work stress. It may be worse after eating sugar or other foods, or you can have a regular mid-afternoon energy crash, which can indicate a food allergy or blood sugar problem.
This initial detective work can allow your practitioner to have the most relevant testing done and get you started on your road back to health.
What are some of the causes of chronic fatigue?
Causes, or triggers, of chronic fatigue include:
- Chemical toxicity
- Dental work
- Structural misalignments
- Infection
- Illness such as autoimmune disease
- Sugar and blood sugar swings
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Electromagnetic radiation (EMFs)
- Hypothyroidism
- Allergies
- Energy-sapping emotions
Let’s look at some of these.
Chemical toxicity
Chemicals such as solvents or pesticides are one of the most common causes of CFS. Dr. Dworkin, coauthor of the book Ending Fatigue, Pain, and Reactivity, developed severe chronic fatigue after years of working as a chemist, but even one heavy exposure such as pesticide spraying can do it. Your body is so busy trying to detoxify and eliminate the chemicals that it doesn’t have energy for much else.
Many medications and drugs, including alcohol, have fatigue as a side effect. Metals, especially mercury, are also toxins, which leads us to our next topic…
Dental work
Dental work, especially mercury-containing (metal) fillings, is a major player in chronic fatigue. If your symptoms came on within a month of having any dental work done, this is probably a big one for you. In fact, if you had your metal fillings removed by a dentist who wasn’t especially trained to do so safely, you could have had a massive exposure to mercury and be worse off. New metal dental work of any kind, including crowns and posts, can set up electrical currents in your mouth that can zap your energy.
Structural misalignments
If your back, neck, head, and/or jaw are out of alignment, this can lead to fatigue. If, for example, your head is too far forward – your ears and shoulders should line up in side view – this can cause you to constantly be correcting for this extra weight in front, which fatigues the muscles. Or if a misaligned neck, as with whiplash, pinches off blood or nerve supply to the brain or presses against the thyroid gland in the neck, this can lead to sluggishness.
Infection
Any kind of cold or flu can lead to temporary fatigue; in the same way, a chronic infection can lead to chronic fatigue. This infection can be from the Epstein-Barr virus which causes mononucleosis, or from giardia from contaminated water, or from pretty much any microorganism such as the bacteria that cause Lyme Disease.
Nutrition
Nutritional problems can be grouped into several categories:
- You might not be taking in sufficient nutrients.
- You might be taking in the nutrients but not digesting or absorbing them.
- You might have allergies or sensitivities to certain foods that are giving you trouble.
- You might be eating toxic (non)foods such as sugar or chemical additives.
Hypothyroidism
Your thyroid gland regulates your energy level among other things, and having a low-functioning thyroid, or hypothyroidism, is common. A series of simple blood tests can determine whether this is a problem for you.
What can be done?
Okay, you’ve had testing done, and now you know the most likely causes of your chronic fatigue. What now? The treatment depends on the cause. Usually there is more than one cause, and the biggest player is typically addressed first.
If your main problem is chemical, a specially equipped sauna such as the one at CAM can help you detoxify and eliminate the chemicals. If dental work is the issue, a visit to a specially trained dentist – CAM can give you recommendations – would be in order. If nutritional, your nutritional status can be assessed by CAM nutritionists such as Dr. David Nelson, and supplements plus a healthy diet would be recommended. Dr. Nelson also works with food and other allergies. If your problem is structural, this can be both assessed and treated by Dr. Adam Fogelman at CAM.
For more information
There’s an excellent book on the subject of chronic fatigue, Ending Fatigue, Pain, and Reactivity, written by Dr. Andrea S. Dworkin and Dr. Bill Kellas. This book is available at CAM and through this website. Dr. Kellas has had decades of experience in helping those with chronic fatigue and other chronic illnesses, and Dr. Dworkin has herself experienced severe ongoing fatigue over twenty years ago, regaining her health through following the protocols used at CAM and detailed in this book.
