Chronic Fatigue
A Functional Medicine Approach to Chronic Fatigue
Chronic fatigue Syndrome can severely affect day-to-day life. The condition is characterised by persistent fatigue and comes with many potential contributing factors. The fatigue is not specifically due to exertion and is not caused by other medical conditions. Unfortunately, people are often left going around the conventional health system without getting better.
The causes of chronic fatigue are incredibly diverse, from sleep issues, toxin exposures, hormonal imbalance, key nutrient deficiencies, gut issues, hidden infections, auto immune disease, psychological, genetic, and food intolerance.
Sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can see their symptoms appear gradually after a period of sustained physical or emotional stress, or they can appear very suddenly. It can seem like a bout of the flu that just won’t go away.
Chronic Fatigue Causes
Our Functional Medicine practitioners seek to address the main underlying causes of the symptoms of chronic fatigue so we can treat them effectively and get our patients back to an improved quality of life. We fully understand how this condition can affect activities at work, and with family and friends.
Considerations for our practitioners can include
→ Heavy Metal Toxcity
→ Neurotransmitter depletion
→ Hormone imbalance
→ Inflammation
→ Emotional distress
→ Gut infections
→ Environmental toxicity
→ Food sensitivities/allergies
We also take an in-depth look into the history of our patients to see whether other factors may be contributing to symptoms, so that we can piece together information that can help determine imbalances.
Common Symptoms
- Insomnia
- Chronic Fatigue
- Persistent Cough
- Sleep Disturbances
- Reoccurring Infections
- Congnitive Diffciulties
- Weight Gain
- Urefreshed sleep
- Muscle Weakness
- Depression
Chronic Fatigue Treatment
At the London Centre for Functional Medicine, our treatment protocols vary with each patient based on the core imbalances that are interfering with the body’s ability to function correctly. A typical approach to treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) can include identifying and addressing underlying factors in your lifestyle that can be contributing to the condition e.g. stress, poor sleep hygiene, and sedentary lifestyle.
One of the first places we start to investigate is the gut. Even if there are no gut symptoms, a person may be harbouring a chronic yeast, bacteria, virus or parasite infection that can be detected using PCR testing. Dysbiosis (more bad bacteria than good bacteria) can also be a contributory factor. Typically, depending on what we find, we will look to remove any pathogens, replace the nutrients and enzymes, repair the gut lining and repopulate the microbiome. Undiagnosed oral and chronic viral infections can also be a major factor that we look to investigate with reactivated viral infections a major consideration. Hormone health impacts everything that happens in your body. To overcome fatigue and achieve true health, you need your hormones appropriately balanced. We will look to test your hormone levels and if we discover any abnormalities we can readdress the balance through various protocols which have nutrition and lifestyle at their core.
If you have fatigue, some forms of exercise have shown to be helpful but exercise can also make things worse. The way to fix your fatigue therefore often involves a range of targeted physical, biochemical, nutritional, and psychological treatments.
Chronic Fatigue Approach
Optimal Nutrition and Absorption
Imbalances in our digestive system can contribute to absorption issues. If we are not absorbing correctly, it means we are not getting the fuel we need for cells to function and generate energy from food.
Supplement Support
Depending on test results, your practitioner can recommend some targeted supplements to help support the powerhouses of our cells, the mitochondria.
Testing
We work on the motto of testing rather than guessing. Our practitioners can recommend specific testing related to chronic fatigue, such as urinary hormone testing (Dutch test), a comprehensive microbiome and stool analysis along with any other testing that can help with our investigations.
Targeted Treatments
Our functional practitioners can recommend additional treatment or lifestyle interventions that can be extremely beneficial in overcoming chronic fatigue such as IV treatment or ozone therapy.
Our Client's Feedback
Why Choose the London Centre for Functional Medicine?
Support
Once you reach out to us, the team will guide you through the collaborative process with a practitioner, We will gather the information we need to understand you better and help support and motivate you along your health journey.
Experience
We take the complex and try to make it simple. Many patients have gone to multiple doctors before they reach us. By taking a functional medicine approach, we can focus on the core imbalance and what needs to be addressed to improve your health picture.
Custom Approach
There is no one size fits approach as each patient is unique. Thus, no plan or protocol is the same. Everything about you including symptoms, lifestyle, diet, genetics and capacity to heal is different and will require a personalized approach.
london center for functional medicine