My personal belief is that the body's response to being overused and abused by stress, is the have Chronic Fatigue. This disease is linked to the immune system and is considered to be a viral issue in much of the research. Stress lowers immune system functioning tremendously, so it wouldn't be hard to understand why a virus could invade and succeed in a body that has been weakened with stress. There may be some folks out there with this problem who lived with a very relaxed lifestyle, but I haven't found one of them yet.

Personally, I seemed to have been a "driven" person. There was always something else to be done and only I could do it the way it needed to be done. When you find yourself suffering from CFS you either become "bitter" or you become "better". You quickly discover that most of the tasks that seemed so urgent are able to wait after all. You will find yourself bitter and angry with life and everybody around you, if you don't change the way you look at life.

Your first step towards healing has to be to find out who you are apart from what you get done or accomplish on a daily basis. I think I know how most of you think because I spent many years of my life believing my value was determined by what I accomplished each day. You would think that with this basis of evaluation, that when I laid down at night after a very 'accomplished' day, I would feel terrific about myself. However, being an invalid way of identifying who we are as human beings, this didn't work. It seemed the more I did, the more I resented doing it! I would have very negative conversations my mind about how "nobody did anything but me" and yet I spent the day preventing anybody from helping since I knew nobody could do it right (or the way I wanted it done - which is the only right way, right?). This whole pattern doesn't build healthy relationships with family members either. It tends to drive people away from you. They find that they never meet up to your expectations and eventually give up trying and generally become lazy around the house. In actuality, we 'busy do-it-right people" are keeping the rest of our household in that position. We've pretty much convinced them by our super-ability attitudes that they just don't measure up in the real world. And so, this scenario goes on and on....unless your health prevents it, as mine did.

That's where you get to make the 'bitter' or 'better' choice. I decided to adjust my way of thinking and find out who God truly created me to be. There was something inside of me that just knew there was a better way of living life. A book you can purchase through our Book Shop area that will help you get from where you are now to a different view of things is: Codependent No More : How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melody Beattie.

As for building the physical part of your life back, I can share with you what has worked for me. I can't prescribe, but I can share what I take and what others at our store have used with success. I generally tell people to begin with VS-C and Licorice Root (as long as there is no high blood pressure -- which is unusual since CFS is usually associated with the opposite).

VS-C is a formula specifically for viruses and the immune system. It begins to build the immune system so that the body can fight off and kill any type of infection or virus in the body. It also aids in providing energy to the body.

Licorice Root feeds and builds the adrenals which helps a lot with energy, and keeps you from craving sweets and caffeine foods that you don't need to be eating with CFS. My adrenals (the organ of the body that handles stress - like a shock absorber) ran out of energy to give and couldn't keep up with the continual 'shocks' to my body.

Some people need more than the above two products from what we see at the shop, but for many these two things eliminate so much of the symptoms that they're happy. If you choose to try this program and notice some relief, but it doesn't do all that you want it to, please get back in touch with us. Each body is individual and unique.....so there is not ONE program for everybody with CFS.

I've found that diet is really key to rebuilding health! I was a sugar-holic, and can easily drift back into that, but it's essential to my energy factor not to have it. When I'm taking my herb program faithfully, I don't crave it because my adrenals are being supported with the Licorice Root.

Some folks do the same thing with caffeine. You can drink Herbal Beverage for the flavor and aroma of coffee without the detrimental effects of it.

Both of these are enemies to health! They both deplete magnesium which has over 300 enzymatic functions in the body. I slip back into achy muscles and less strength and energy after a sugar binge. We can't eat whatever we want and expect our bodies to make do. We were created to eat fruits and vegetables, and there's no way to have lasting health without them. It just doesn't happen. They also give you so much in the way of prevention of other health problems. My favorite book on fruits and vegetables is Heinerman's New Encyclopedia of Fruits and Vegetables by John Heinerman. After reading only a small portion of it, you'll want to run out for a long list of fresh produce. You can also look up specific health problems and find the foods to eat that will help the problem.

Chronic fatigue has been linked with a Candida overgrowth problem. You can read more about this in an enlightening book, Yeast Connection Handbook by Dr. William Crook. Getting to the root of this disease will do you more good and take much less time to battle.

Update May 2000
I have read a life-changing book, "A More Excellent Way," which helped me to address the emotional/spiritual root of the reasons I was driven. This book has changed my life and removed all symptoms of Chronic Fatigue (and Fibromyalgia) early this month. I still love to accomplish things and I get joy by getting things done, but I don't value myself for those things any more. I chose to get 'better' and get rid of the bitterness. I never knew life could be so peaceful....I only thought it was designed to be one crises after another.

Read more on the content of the above book on topic of Chronic Fatigue.

Update January 2003
Just to encourage you, I come back to answer the question many people have been asking me for over two years: Has the chronic fatigue (and fibromyalgia) remained gone? The answer is YES!

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