Myalgic Encephalitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
Myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex and debilitating multisystem condition that can strike at any age and which can decimate lives. The following features are characteristic:
There are often other symptoms including
The traditional medical narrative is that there is no known cause for the condition and therefore there is no effective treatment.
Patients are given advice on how to “pace” their activities to avoid PEM along with other guidance about coping with the illness and are sent on their way with little if any hope for their future.
From an ecological medicine perspective, it is hard to imagine that the ancient physiological system that has evolved over millennia in the form we inhabit today can develop a severe, persisting and debilitating set of multisystem symptoms without any cause. So, when I start working with a patient with ME/CFS, the question going through my mind is “what is the diagnosis?” “what are the root causes?”
ME/CFS is a destination to which there are many routes
A constellation of physiological “hits” that stack up and reach a tipping point - the illness we call ME/CFS.
As we start exploring your history, various possible contributory causes start to emerge. Once have identified these, we can plan diagnostic tests and then treatments based on test results. There are often layers of diagnosis which we peel away over time as we move nearer to homeostasis and health. We often need to address the issues that contributed to the development of the illness, plus physiological and psychological consequences of the illness.
The diagnoses I see most often in my clinic with patients ME/CFS include:
There is an overlap between ME/CFS, MCAS, fibromyalgia and my approach for all these conditions is similar: I use supportive treatments where I can, to help with symptoms in the short term, while we explore and work through the root causes to bring about meaningful change in the long term.
