I was diagnosed with CFS a few months ago and was refered to a chronic fatigue clinic where im currently waiting for an appointment.
Three years ago i had a thyroid that was too high and i took suppressant to bring it down. It whent too low and over time came back up again to a normal range. Thuroid issue whent on for a year and a half and i was very nasious and remained nasious for the next year.
My energy levels never really returned and i remained faigued and had brain fog and struggled through simple tasks and studying.
Ive taken up yoga when i have the energy and has found it help a bit, especially with any pain. It can help a bit with energy or atleast feeling better becasue ive moved, it also lessens anxiety. Walking and yoga are just about all i can do at the moment.
I wanted to ask if there was anythjng you have found that helps your Chronic fatigue or anything your doctors told you to do? Also interested in if your have tried yoga and has it helped?
Your feeling of being "fatigued and had brain fog and struggled through simple tasks and studying" could well be a Vitamin B12 Deficiency which is often associated with CFS/ME and thyroid problems as well as with other autoimmune diseases and is often misdiagnosed
An OT came to my home and taught me how to do gentle Yoga on my bed but it's hard to keep it up because the fatigue causes such a lack of energy and motivation.
I take herbs and they help, such as Valerian to sleep at night and herbs for energy and to lift my moods such as Ginseng, Damiana, St John's Wort, Gingko biloba.
Yoga definitely helps me. I think that is what saves me. I try to go wellness retreats once a year, where I practice yoga at least once a day. I arrive to the retreat feeling dead in my body. And after one week I can function again. The fatigue comes back eventually. But just having that one week of being active is very important to me. The key is not to push yourself during practice, especially initially. I rest frequently, I know my body.
Have you by chance been tested for celiac disease as well? Or have you tried eating a whole food, strict gluten free diet to see if it helps.
It was suggested to me years ago that i had cfs, but it ended up being CD. They are very much alike but docs don't think to test for it. I tired yoga, walking, biking, everything I did made me MORE tired. I am still not a ball of fire, but I am doing much better (it take 5 years for complete healing in older folks).
I might have to start trying more of these things you mentioned (Ginseng, Damiana, St John's Wort, Gingko biloba, Valerian). My sleep is terrible most of the time, almost never feeling rested.
G, you always have the best (imo) alternative medicines, THAT YOU!
No - it's more that if you have one autoimmune disease it's likely you'll have another.
B12 deficiency: an invisible epidemic
B12 deficiency isn’t a bizarre, mysterious disease. It’s written about in every medical textbook and its causes and effects are well-established in the scientific literature.
However, B12 deficiency is far more common than most health care practitioners and the general public realize. Data from the Tufts University Framingham Offspring Study suggest that 40 percent of people between the ages of 26 and 83 have plasma B12 levels in the low normal range – a range at which many experience neurological symptoms. 9 percent had outright deficiency, and 16 percent exhibited “near deficiency”. Most surprising to the researchers was the fact that low B12 levels were as common in younger people as they were in the elderly.
That said, B12 deficiency has been estimated to affect about 40% of people over 60 years of age. It’s entirely possible that at least some of the symptoms we attribute to “normal” ageing – such as memory loss, cognitive decline, decreased mobility, etc. – are at least in part caused by B12 deficiency.Ask your doctor to test your serum B12 and Serum Folate levels checked if for nothing else but to eliminate them as being a cause of your symptoms.
I've just started doing yoga again and it definitely helps me. I do a combination of exercises I learnt at a remedial yoga class and ones out a book. You can get the same effects of some yoga poses by doing them in an easier way. For example instead of the downward dog, you can bend forward and hold onto the back of a chair and get a similar bend. Same with the triangle you can do this seated instead of standing. I like the seated forward stretch and butterfly which are done sitting on the floor. Spinal twists are good for revitalizing your adrenal glands. There is also a good one called pot stirring where you sit on the ground with legs apart, clasp your hands together, lean forward and move your hands in a big circle as if you were stirring a huge pot of soup. Try some breathing exercises and make sure you do the yoga nidra at the end the relax. Have also just started trying a bit Qi Gong. There is a great 'energy ball' movement you can do where you get a tingling in your fingers and feel like your hands have a magnetic force between them. Walking helps too. Just don't overdo it with anything - little steps at a time!!!
You have an extrodinary amount of knowledge on B12 so I have a Q for you. When I take b12, my levels triple. My doc told me not to take it or it could effect my liver. I stopped taking it and the pain in my liver area is gone.
My family has a stong history of pernicious anemia. Is it possible the b12 is not obsorbing? Would that cause the numbers to be that high?
I stopped taking b12 and am going in for another b12 test to see if it is low. I will lelt you know how it turns out, but I wanted your imput.
How much do you know about pernicious anemia? Anything? I have read everything and of course all the women in my family take injections.
Because I have several diseases, I don't know where one starts and the other ends.
I can't say I do yoga daily, I am working up to it, but now, I do it when I feel the need (3 days a week?) I took some TSY (trauma sencitive yoga) classes a few times. It got me started, but I admit, but I am not consistant. When I do take the time to do it, it relaxes me very much.
It changed me. After a while, I noticed that it made me start loving my body; I stop being ashamed of it, I accept it as it is. I learned to love my new body~my sick body. It helped that I have a good therapist too, where I could talk about my deepest pains.
She taught me to respect and love every bit of me, the healthy and the sick part, to treat me like I would treat someone else. When I did that, my life changed.
Self talk, yoga, it is all about healing the trinity (whole body, mind, and spirit) without judgment.
When I stop doing the practices for a couple days or more I start feeling out of balance and angry. Feeling this triggers me to move; I have been known to start doing yoga in the grocery store because I suddeling HAD to. If I didn't i'd likely snap at someone.
I like to do my yoga on days that i will have to be around people a lot, like in grocery stores. It gives me more peace of mind.