How Can Functional Medicine Help You with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

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If you are dealing with chronic and disruptive tiredness but no amount of medical introspection has managed to detect a definite, underlying disease or condition that could be held responsible, you could be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In case that tiredness is also accompanied by other common symptoms of CFS such as medically unexplainable joint and muscle pain, headaches, reduced cognition, and sore throat, then the chances are significantly higher.

Since mainstream medicine has not been able to detect or relieve the symptoms so far, it might also be time to consider alternative options. Function medicine specialises in effectively treating chronic fatigue syndrome at its core, so it might be the best option in that regard. As to exactly how a functional medicine practitioner can help with CFS, let’s find out.

Identifying and Meeting Deficits in Daily Nutritional Intake

The most well-known symptom of malnutrition is weight loss, but that’s only applicable in extreme situations where the patient is suffering from a clear caloric deficit. Acute malnutrition like that is a result of eating less than the individual’s minimum daily caloric requirement. On the other hand, someone could be suffering from malnutrition even if they are eating more than their daily fill of calories and gaining weight at the same time.

Since overweightness or obesity is not immediately seen as a sign of malnutrition, their nutritional deficiencies could go unnoticed indefinitely. If someone is within the healthy weight bracket, their malnutrition is even less likely to be detected or even suspected. The kind of malnutrition that such individuals may suffer from is usually borne of a regular diet that has enough calories but lacks in essential nutrients.

Next, let’s look at some of the usual symptoms of malnutrition to help readers understand the connection.

• Chronic physical fatigue
• Chronic muscle weakness
• Reduced cognitive capabilities
• Irritability, mood swings, depression, and low mental energy

If the above seem very similar to some of the main symptoms of CFS, then the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and nutritional deficiencies should start to make a lot more sense now. This is why a functional nutritionist can be instrumental in managing and treating CFS at its origin. Visit Urban Wellness for more information on how practitioners of functional medicine UK treat chronic fatigue syndrome with nutritional adjustments, stress management, and function medicine. You can also search for ‘functional medicine near me’ with your GPS/location turned on to find a functional clinic close to you.

Treating Hormonal Imbalances

From stress, anxiety, and depression to loss of appetite and energy, they can all be attributed to various types of hormonal imbalances. For example, over secretion of cortisol is responsible for stress and anxiety, while an imbalance in ghrelin can lead to malnutrition. Inadequate serotonin and dopamine regulation, on the other hand, is what leads to clinical depression. Functional nutritionists and practitioners work together to successfully manage most hormonal imbalances by taking a holistic, nutritional approach.

Treating Each Patient as an Individual

What makes functional medicine so effective in treating chronic fatigue syndrome has a lot to do with the core philosophy behind the functional approach itself. Practitioners of functional medicine treat each of their patients holistically and individually. What this means is that instead of just focusing on trying to find out the immediate origins of CFS symptoms, they will also look for indirect connections to other physical, mental, and situational factors that might be exclusive to you.

For example, stress and nutritional deficits are often common contributing factors that can both cause and exacerbate the intensity of your CFS. Based on the fact that functional medicine is quite effective in treating both stress and nutritional deficiencies, it is particularly suited for complicated conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome.

Your functional medical practitioner will take factors into account that are exclusive to your situation and design a treatment plan accordingly. This is an effective practice which ensures that any treatment prescribed to you by a functional practitioner will never be generic but always personalised to specifically treat you.