Possible Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) affects up to 2.5 million Americans and for most
is a very debilitating illness. Conventional medicine is just now coming around to recognizing CFS as a real syndrome, and it is generally only as a diagnosis of of exclusion, meaning they ruled out other diseases and did not find any reason for the fatigue.  Symptoms of CFS can be very broad and vague and often include extreme exhaustion, memory loss, headache, muscle fatigue, weakness, and pain lasting at least six months. But don't be discouraged, there are solutions using functional medicine protocols (and we will get to them in this article), but first we need to take a look at some of the possible causes.


Possible Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Leaky Gut – When your gut is leaky, your immune system is on constant high alert. The toxins, microbes, and undigested food particles that escape your gastrointestinal tract and enter your bloodstream set off a cycle of inflammation that causes symptoms throughout your body. Leaky gut can cause fatigue, brain fog, muscle aches, joint pain, and virtually any other symptoms associated with CFS. If you have CFS or any other inflammatory condition such an autoimmune disease, it’s safe to say you likely have a leaky gut.
Diet – At the root of disease is chronic inflammation, and a diet high in inflammatory foods can be a major challenge for your immune system. Gluten, grains, legumes, foods that are not easily broken down, and foods you are sensitive to put a strain on your digestive tract, contributing to leaky gut and provoking a constant immune response from your body. Gluten in particular has actually been linked to more than 55 diseases, and that’s because most symptoms of gluten sensitivity are not digestive in nature, but can include pain, sleep disturbances, brain fog,  fatigue, depression, cognitive impairment, and behavioral issues.
Toxins – When you think of toxins, you probably think of heavy metals, pesticides in conventionally grown food, and chemicals in household cleaning products. You should certainly lessen your exposure to each of those (see my tips for a toxin-free home), but there is another type of toxin I suspect when I am treating a patient for CFS: mycotoxins, which are the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) given off by certain types of mold that can have very harmful side effects.
Only 25% of the population has the genes that make them susceptible to the effects of mycotoxins, so many doctors (even functional medicine doctors) overlook mold as a potential cause of CFS. Mycotoxin exposure can lead to cognitive impairment, fatigue, muscle weakness, neurological issues, brain fog, memory loss, and mood imbalances, which can be symptoms of CFS.
I begin to suspect mold when a patient a) isn’t getting better after following our Protocols, b) quickly succumbed to their disease out of the blue, or c) has recurrent fungal infections, like Candida overgrowth. Living or working in a damp environment or an older building with known leaks is also a big red flag that tells me that mold may be a problem. You can find more information about mold exposure in The Autoimmune Solution.
Infections and stress – I put these two together because they go hand-in-hand. Emotional, mental, and physical stress lower your body’s ability to fight infections, and infections put more stress on your body. Stress can also trigger and retrigger certain viral infections that might be lying dormant in your body.
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is the virus that causes mononucleosis, or mono. It’s extremely common–95% of Americans have been exposed to EBV (whether they developed mono or not) by the time they reach 40. Once you’ve been exposed to EBV, it does not leave your body. It becomes latent, but always has the potential of being retriggered if your immune system becomes compromised–for example, during periods of high stress. In most healthy people, EBV never reactivates, but studies have shown that CFS is associated with a reactivation of the virus.
If I have ruled out other causes, I will then turn to Lyme disease. Lyme disease shares many similarities to both autoimmune disease and CFS. In fact, many people are often misdiagnosed with one or both of those when really, the underlying issue is Lyme. It’s estimated that 50% of those who test negative to Lyme on conventional testing are false negatives, meaning they have actually been infected with Lyme.
Conventional medicine’s only treatment for CFS is prescription drugs to manage symptoms, including pain medications, sleep aids, and antidepressants.
At Space Coast Advanced Health we use a 4 part program to get you back to the health you deserve. We eliminate the triggers and toxins, replace the good bacteria, heal your gut and feed the cells practitioner exclusive, pharmaceutical grade nutrients, all to reprogram the bodies natural systems. Every patient is different and their conditions may vary in progression but with the right guidance and proper nutrition the body has the ability to heal itself.

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Cocoa Beach's Chiropractic & Functional Medicine
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