by Patty Donovan
(Health Secrets) In part one of this series we explained what chronic fatigue syndrome really is. Now it’s time for information that can be helpful in determining whether you have chronic fatigue syndrome or some other disease that mimics some of the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.
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It is of prime importance to be your own advocate and not to accept a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome until you feel confident that your health provider looked for and excluded all other possibilities and did not rely solely on test results. Often if you correct hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue and other problems, and you suddenly get better, you did not have chronic fatigue syndrome to begin with.
One key in determining whether you have true chronic fatigue syndrome or some other illness is the prolonged recovery time after exertion. Other diseases can cause extreme, debilitating fatigue too, but in chronic fatigue syndrome it takes much longer to recover from fatigue resulting from exertion – typically 24 hours or longer. A person with chronic fatigue syndrome may go grocery shopping and need to spend the next few days being very sedentary or even in bed, just to recover from the experience. Persons with other illnesses, even cancer, can rest a few hours and be back to their baseline.
Things that can go wrong in the diagnostic process:
* Improper reliance on, and interpretation of normal ranges of lab work. Lab ranges are designed to pick up people already acutely ill with whatever is being checked. 94 to 96% of the general population will fall into “normal ranges” regardless of symptoms. Few doctors give credence to a patient’s symptoms anymore. They have become completely reliant on lab tests, X-rays etc. The other problem with lab work is that most tests are a snapshot of that moment in time and could have been vastly different earlier or later in the same day or week. There is a huge difference between normal and optimal.
Never blindly accept that the doctor is right when you are told everything is normal. You are the one living in your body, not the doctor and certainly not the piece of paper with the lab report. Sadly, in light of “normal” lab work, most doctors are going to throw prescription medications at you to deal with symptoms. Worse yet, it is very possible you will get a diagnosis of depression and have anti-depressants and other mood-altering drugs prescribed for you. All any of these will do is cause further damage to your body. It is in your best interest to find a good alternative health care provider. Your chiropractor can help you get and interpret many tests.
* Hypothyroidism. The vast majority of health care providers test no more than TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and Free T4 when looking for thyroid problems. This probably misses 50% or more of those who have hypothyroidism. Although the American Endocrine Society changed the upper limit of TSH to 3 (from 5.5 to 6) back in 2003 for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, few labs and doctors have adopted the new ranges. To completely rule out thyroid problems you need several other thyroid tests and a knowledgeable provider to interpret them for you.
* Adrenal Fatigue (cortisol insufficiency/excess). Cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal glands, is called the stress hormone. It is vitally important in the body’s response to stress, regulating the immune system, and protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Both too little and too much cortisol are detrimental. Near total lack of cortisol will kill a person quickly. More and more studies are proving that in CFIDS, the hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal (HPA) axis is not functioning appropriately. Basically, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary to tell the adrenal glands to make cortisol.