Chronic fatigue: symptoms and treatment

Until the last century, mankind coped with the flow of information without significant harm to health. The last century has made a breakthrough in most areas, and now, in order to keep pace with the times, a person simply needs to process a large amount of information every day in different spheres of life. It takes more time for mental stress, less and less for physical exertion, rest and sleep. And so every day. In the end, this leads to a breakdown in the adaptive reactions of the body, and results in health problems of a different nature. One of these problems is chronic fatigue syndrome.

Chronic fatigue. Today, this is not just a word combination that denotes the limit of the physical and mental capabilities of an ordinary person, but a pathological condition requiring medical intervention. The modern international classification of diseases even contains the formulation of a disease called chronic fatigue syndrome. It turns out that chronic fatigue is a disease, which means that it requires treatment. About what exactly is manifested chronic fatigue and how to deal with it, we'll talk in this article.

The human body is characterized by a feeling of fatigue, fatigue after a period of mental or physical stress. This is a normal phenomenon that signals the need for rest. Rest is necessary for the body to restore its abilities to the previous level. The correct alternation of the mode of work and rest ensures the state of relative human health. However, sometimes there comes a time when rest does not help to restore strength, and the feeling of fatigue persists. It is preserved today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. And so - for at least 6 months. And no rest (even a complete "fooling around") can not change this. Fatigue persists constantly, interferes with work, eating, sleeping, enjoying life, after all. This condition is called chronic fatigue.

The causes of chronic fatigue are not fully established. It is assumed that this state arises when a whole series of conditions coincide. More often this disease affects residents of large cities, doing business or other, very responsible and hard work, living in adverse environmental conditions, with unhealthy ambitions, constantly under stress, malnourished and not engaged in sports. Based on the above, it becomes clear why chronic fatigue is taking on the epidemic in developed countries in recent times. In the US, Australia, Canada, Western Europe, the incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome is between 10 and 40 cases per 100 000 population.

Not the last role in the development of chronic fatigue is played by dysfunction of the immune sphere and the violation of the regulation of nervous activity from the brain.

Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue

So, chronic fatigue is a feeling of maximum fatigue, accompanying a person for at least 6 months, or even more. As a rule, the disease begins gradually, unnoticed for the patient. At usual fatigability the person can precisely designate time of occurrence of this status (after delivery of session, after the termination of repair in the house and so on). Chronic fatigue has no timing, a person can not specify when exactly the disease began.

Often, the deterioration of health begins with the symptoms of acute respiratory disease. A slight malaise, a runny nose, a sore throat, a subfebrile temperature - that's how it can debut the chronic fatigue syndrome. After such symptoms, in most cases carried on legs, without detachment, so to speak, from production, there remains a feeling of general weakness. Normally, after a few weeks it passes, and in case of chronic fatigue - as it drags on and becomes permanent.

In addition to a pronounced feeling of fatigue, chronic fatigue can manifest itself with one or more of the following symptoms:

• pain in joints (more often in large, in the spine);
• pain in the muscles with stiffness;
• sore throat (pharyngitis);
• the increase and soreness of the lymph nodes (often cervical and axillary);
• first arising headaches or recurring headaches with new characteristics;
• emotional disorders (irritability, tearfulness, depressed mood);
• violation of the sleep-wake cycle (insomnia at night, daytime sleepiness);
• weight loss or weight gain;
• loss of efficiency (decreased attention, ability to concentrate);
• many-sided vegetative symptomatology (without the organic pathology of the relevant organs, that is, no abnormalities are detected during the examination). This includes raising or lowering body temperature, periods of chills, excessive sweating, discomfort in the chest, sensation palpitations, dizziness, blood pressure changes, stool discomfort by type of itching, bloating, dry mouth, dryness eyes, a feeling of a coma in the throat, minor violations of the menstrual cycle, aversion to certain smells and tastes, trembling of hands, chilliness limbs;
• frequent colds.

As you can see, the signs of chronic fatigue are very diverse and nonspecific. The disease is characterized by the migration of symptoms, their inconstancy and complete absence of a real damage to the relevant organs and systems. Patients turn to various specialists, receive treatment, but do not notice any effect - well-being does not improve. And so it can last for years.

Another clinical criterion of chronic fatigue is the lack of relief from rest. In order to somehow restore working capacity, patients take leave, completely eliminate any loads, but on returning to work it becomes clear that fatigue has not gone anywhere. All symptoms return again (and sometimes they do not leave the patient during rest).

Treatment

The treatment of chronic fatigue is a very difficult task. The main principle is the complexity, that is, the simultaneous and versatile influence on the disease in all possible ways.

All facets of the healing process can be divided into three groups:

• recommendations for lifestyle changes;
• physiotherapy;
• medicamentous methods of influence.

Clinical practice has proved that to date the effectiveness of only one of the above proposed groups is very doubtful. With chronic fatigue, you can achieve recovery only by applying them all at the same time. Let us dwell in more detail on each group.

Recommendations for lifestyle changes

Daily walks in the fresh air and playing sports help to cope with chronic fatigue.

First of all, the patient needs to radically revise his entire schedule:

• reduce the workload by at least 20% (and, if possible, even more), regardless of the physical or mental it is. The daily decrease in the volume of activity is nothing more than a rest for the organism;
• to rebuild the working day. This includes frequent breaks, stay in the open air (a walk on a lunch break is desirable), change of activities during the working day;
• training stress resistance. Ability to fight with psycho-emotional overstrain, to switch at the right time to something good is a very important point in the fight against chronic fatigue. Achieve this in various ways: auto-training, sessions of psychotherapy, relaxing techniques.

From the side, these recommendations may seem a little ridiculous, because it turns out that one must shirk from the performance of their functional duties, have more rest and work less. However, do not forget that these recommendations are, in fact, curative in case of chronic fatigue. When a person has a high fever, because no one doubts the need to take antipyretics? So in the case of chronic fatigue, the above measures are curative, without which it is difficult to defeat the disease.

Another important point is the feasible daily physical load. Especially it is important for people leading a sedentary lifestyle and engaged in mental work. The type of exercise can be chosen by the patient himself (swimming, aerobics, yoga and so on). It is important that a person likes the chosen sport.

The next thing is the normalization of sleep. It is necessary to ensure a retirement to sleep at the same time, create a favorable environment for this period (silence, comfortable bed, sufficient time - at least 8 hours). This will help relieve the overstrain of the central nervous system.

Special attention should be paid to nutrition. The diet should be qualitative, diverse, cover the need for vitamins, trace elements and nutrients. It is important to distribute the food intake in such a way that there are no big breaks between meals. In this case, continuous supplies of energy to the brain will be ensured.

Another recommendation is to provide positive emotions. Going to the cinema or theater, playing games with children and pets, meeting with friends can be a turning point in the treatment of chronic fatigue.

It is also recommended to abandon bad habits. Smoking and alcohol only mask real problems, for a short period of time create an imaginary sense of comfort, without completely stopping the problems at the root. If possible, it is worth refraining from eating products containing caffeine (strong tea, energy drinks, natural coffee), which stimulate an already "tired" nervous system.

Physiotherapy

Relaxing massage positively affects the health of such patients.

Physiotherapy methods are widely used in a complex of therapeutic effects in chronic fatigue. The most common methods in this case are:

• magnetotherapy;
• massage (collar zone, relaxing massage);
• hydrotherapy (water procedures): circular and contrast shower, oxygen bath;
• physiotherapy;
• laser therapy;
• acupuncture;
• electroprocedures (electrosleep);
• aromatherapy.

Physiotherapy is well combined with physical activity. Naturally, everything is good in moderation, therefore, procedures are not appointed all at once, but they choose the most expedient in each particular case. This helps physician-physiotherapist.

Medication

To date, there is still no pill or shot from chronic fatigue. Among the drugs used by various groups, trying to influence the possible mechanisms of chronic fatigue. Often, medicamental drugs are symptomatic, that is, their use has a clearly stated goal: the elimination of a specific symptom of chronic fatigue. The most common drugs for chronic fatigue are:

• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, Paracetamol and so on). They are used, first of all, with pain syndrome, sometimes - with an increase in body temperature;
• nootropic drugs (Piracetam, Ginkgo Biloba extract, Pikamilon, Encephabol, Fentropil, Phenibut and many others). These drugs improve the activity of neurons in the brain, facilitating mental activity;
• multivitamin complexes (Complivit, Alphabet, Supradin, Undevit and so on);
• immunomodulators (including plant origin: echinacea extract, ginseng, eleutherococcus, rosewood pink tincture, licorice root);
• antiviral drugs (Cycloferon, Anaferon, Arbidol, Proteflazide, Amiksin, Kagocel and others);
• psychotropic drugs (antidepressants - Sellyft, Simbalta, Fluoxetine and others, tranquilizers - Gidazepam, Grandaxin, Afobazol, Adaptol; anxiolytics - Coaxil, Tenoten, complex herbal preparations - Novo-Passit, Neuroplant, Persen, Phytosened and others);
• sleeping pills (Doxylamine, Zopiclone, Melatonin, Dormiplant).

Most recently, chronic fatigue was attempted to fight with intravenous immunoglobulin. However, this method of treatment did not justify itself: the results were very doubtful, but there were a lot of side effects. Therefore, the use of this drug for chronic fatigue is now abandoned.

Summarizing the above, I would like to place the accents correctly. So, chronic fatigue is a disease, not just a state of fatigue. Symptoms are diverse and nonspecific, require careful examination of the patient. Chronic fatigue should be treated. To hope for its spontaneous disappearance is not worth it. The methods of struggle must necessarily be used in a complex. Saying "one in the field is not a warrior" can not be more accurately suited to the situation with the treatment of this disease. A competent selection of a whole arsenal of drug and non-pharmacological methods allows you to get rid of chronic fatigue forever.

TVC, the program "Doctor I" on the topic "Chronic fatigue syndrome

Elena Belenko in the program "Doctor and" on TVC. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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