Chronic Fatigue
Updated Jul. 06th, 2026 | Read Time: 2 Minutes | What You Will Learn:
- What Causes Chronic Fatigue?
- Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue
- Treatments For CFS Symptoms
- Nutritional Information
- Reader Comments (10)
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is not a disease in itself. It is a combination of symptoms that can mimic many other diseases, making it very difficult to diagnose. The causes of chronic fatigue syndrome are not well understood.
What Causes Chronic Fatigue?
Some researchers believe chronic fatigue is an infection with a viral agent in the same family as the herpes virus.
Others believe it may be due to an unidentified problem with the immune system, defective blood pressure regulation, anemia, arthritis, mercury poisoning, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, candidiasis, fibromyalgia or a sleep disorder.
What Are Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue?
Common symptoms among those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are:
- Muscle and joint pain
- Depression and anxiety
- Poor memory and headaches
- Low blood pressure
- Digestive disturbances
- Environmental sensitivities
- Loss of appetite
- Mood swings
- Fever
- Intestinal pain
- Light and heat sensitivity
- Sleep disturbances
- Swollen glands
To be diagnosed with CFS, an individual must meet 2 criteria. The first is persistent fatigue of which rest does not alleviate and limits the activity of an individual by 50% over 6 months or more, and the second is that all other diseases have been ruled out.
How Can I Treat CFS Symptoms?
Conventional treatment of CFS varies widely. Some sufferers are prescribed antidepressants. The success rate varies widely and, sometimes, unusual side effects occur due to the prescription drugs. Others undergo transfusions of a blood product, gamma-globulin. This substance aids in the immune response.
Natural therapies aim to correct several factors that can contribute to CFS. These include nutritional deficiencies, allergies, thyroid dysfunction, candida, anemia and stress.
Decrease your stress level with regular, moderate exercise. Set aside time each day to do something that you enjoy. Hydrotherapy, using alternating hot and cold water at the end of your shower, boosts the immune system.
Treat food allergies with elimination or rotation diets (see food allergy article). Avoid mercury exposure, which is most commonly due to silver dental fillings. Undergo regular detoxification to rid the body of heavy metals. Drink steam-distilled water to help remove toxins from the body. Be sure to take a mineral supplement if you use steam-distilled water. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, corticosteroids, fried foods, pork products, red meat, processed foods, sugar and white flour. Increase foods containing high amounts of vitamins and minerals, like green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, garlic, onions and olive oil. The essential fatty acids found in wild-caught ocean-going fish also support the body.
It is a horrible condition to have. CFS is so very debilitating that even getting out of bed is a chore. I have taken the supplement approach as indicated in this article as well as dietary.
Hello Al,
Indeed it is debilitating and difficult to do daily tasks when feeling tired. We're happy this article could help you and that these suggestions are helping you feel more energized and healthy. If you have any questions, please reach out, our team is always happy to help.
Stay healthy & well!
As a result of a virus, I've had ME/CFS since 1998 but have had periods in which I've been fairly healthy and active. Unfortunately, a fall and the injuries it caused a few years ago made my ME/CFS much worse. It's a difficult condition to manage, and unfortunately, few medical doctors have much to suggest, so it's up to you to be proactive and find your own solutions. Doctors also don't understand how sensitive people with CFS are to medications and don't seem to believe you when you describe the unusual/extreme side effects you're having. Many of the self-help suggestions here are useful, like keeping blood sugar balanced, taking green food and other supplements, eating a healthy, "clean" diet, keeping stress levels down as much as possible, as finding the time and energy each day for something you enjoy. Daily meditation is helpful, I find. I would caution against "regular, moderate exercise," however. You have to listen to your body all the time and decide whether on any given day you can handle exercise, and how much you can do. Then do no more than half of what you think you are capable of. A bit of walking is mostly what I do, and not necessarily every day. Overexertion will only cause crashing, meaning you are left worse off than you were before and will need lots of recovery time to return to your baseline functioning.
Hello Caroline,
Thank you for sharing. Chronic fatigue is difficult to live with and manage, we're glad these tips have helped you find more ways to manage and others will enjoy the tips you've shared as well. Walking is great because it also exposes you to fresh air and sunlight. You may enjoy this article too in times where you're feeling more stressed than usual to help find ways to manage and cope with that as well:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/stress/
Have a healthy day!
Thank you for providing the link to the stress article! I look forward to reading it.
I am looking forward to trying out a few of the supplements mentioned in here. Its so tough to figure out if what i am dealing with is CFS or a symptom of my body struggling to fight something else. I hope I can continue to find ways to assist my body in feeling its best.
Should any of the supplements or remedies be taken alone? or is it okay to try and double up on a few of them to get more noticeable results.
Grateful to have found a catalog of articles about many different issues
Hello Liz,
Thank you for your comment and inquiry. We're glad you're enjoying our articles and learning about your health, naturally. We would suggest speaking with your healthcare practitioner and perhaps getting a blood panel done to see if you have any deficiencies. As for the nutrients outlined in this article, probiotics are often beneficial to most people, if your gut health is running well, your body's better able to absorb other nutrients from supplements and food. CoQ10 or supplements that support oxygen flow to your cells is beneficial, as is exercise and movement, adaptogens are also interesting if you often feel stressed as they can help balance the stress response and support your adrenal glands which could be fatigued from an increase of stress (you can learn more about the adrenals here, https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/adrenal-disorders/, https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/adrenal-support/). Vitamin B12 is also an important nutrient to look at when experiencing fatigue. Lastly, it's worth noting that you should spread out how you take your supplements as your body can only absorb so much at one time; however some supplements work better when taken together as they increase the nutrients bioavailability (like vitamin c with iron). You can read about each supplement in our article section to see if any of them have other nutrients they go well with. Lastly, read the product's label to see if they should be taken with or without food.
Have a healthy day
I had a general sense of chronic fatigue and was interested in what exactly it was, and I got this information from your article so thank you! On that note, I did not know that like IBS, while chronic fatigue is "real" it is a disease of exclusion, eg all other (or at least the major) diseases which might produce the core symptomology must be ruled out before a diagnosis is made. The first, main symptom, eg persistent fatigue not fixed by resting and which limits the activity of an individual by a full 50% over 6 months or more- sounds absolutley horrible; I am so glad that none of my friends or family suffers chronic fatigue!!
Hello Rachel,
Chronic fatigue is a difficult condition, finding its underlying cause can be frustrating as everything else must be ruled out, but it is important in order to know how to best treat it to bring back vitality and well being. Insomnia is something that causes fatigue in many people, learn more about it here: https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/insomnia/
IT is interesting, what is considered a disease or not. Sometimes I wonder about that. I thought that chronic fatigue syndrome was a disease. But apparently, you mention that fatigue is not a disease. I thought it would be a disease because of how horrible it is to have. And, I thought for some reason that there was in most cases some underlying unified cause which also is something that makes it more "disease-ish". It sounds even worse, actually with cause being hard to find. It is both a frustrating condition to deal with as well as one that affects quality of life a lot. I am glad I do not know of this in my family or friends.