This post originally appeared on John’s website, The Progressing Pilgrim, in October 2017. He has since been on a ketogenic diet for over a year. Read our story here. His weight has stabilized at 160 pounds and his waist is 32 inches. At 62 years old, he can still pull a 300-pound deadlift.

I’ve now been on a low-carbohydrate healthy-fat (LCHF) diet for about nine months. My daily net carbs are about 50 grams/day and my daily fat intake is between 60% – 70% of total macronutrient intake.

Outwardly, the results have been amazing. I’ve lost about 25 pounds (currently 168 lbs.), my BMI is 23.43, and my waistline is down to 35”. Also, my energy levels and weightlifting totals haven’t suffered.

However, since my diet is higher in healthy fats than that recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA), I wanted to know how my LCHF diet was affecting the inside of my body.

Was my increased intake of healthy fat like extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, pastured butter, organic coconut oil, wild salmon, aged cheese, and grass-fed meat putting me at high risk for cardiac disease as the AHA said it would?

To find out, I decided to see my M.D. for some baseline blood tests. The tests I was most curious about were my cholesterol levels, especially my LDL-C.

Even though I believe the AHA to be wrong in their negative assessment of saturated fat, I was still eager to see how an LCHF diet affected my cholesterol.

My Doctor Reviews My Cholesterol Numbers

As my M.D. reviewed my numbers, I noticed his eyebrows starting to rise slightly. This was followed by a very concerned sounding, “Your cholesterol numbers are a little high.”

Before he could give me my numbers, I responded, “Is my LDL high?” He nodded.

Prior to my test, I had a feeling some of my lipid levels might be high. Often when individuals go on an LCHF diet, their total cholesterol and LDL can become elevated.

These were my numbers in mg/dl units:

As you can see, my TC and LDL levels are high.

My doctor proceeded to preach a sermon on the dangers of high cholesterol. His main point was that high cholesterol can cause heart disease.

I knew what the climax of the sermon would be so before he could mention the”S” word, I stopped him right in his tracks.

I Reject Statin Therapy

“Don’t even say the word statin.” That was my response to my M.D.’s sermon of gloom and doom.

He immediately looked stunned. I’m probably one of the few patients who has ever rejected his advice to take statins.

He quickly recovered his composure and summoned one last warning, “But you’re at risk for heart disease.”

Slowly, I explained to him that I don’t need statins because current research shows that when my LDL and TC numbers are considered in context with my other lipid levels (which are good), I’m not at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Obviously, he realized he was dealing with an informed patient so he didn’t pursue the issue. He simply said, “Let’s review the matter in three months.”

In my next post, I’ll explain why my cholesterol numbers don’t indicate I’m at risk for CVD.

Today, though, I’d like to explore why my doctor was so quick to suggest I go on statins.

Why Do Doctors Rush To Prescribe Statins?

Here’s the thing. Whenever mainstream medical doctors see high cholesterol levels and an LDL level over 190, their first reaction is to suggest that their patients take a statin drug. Statins lower cholesterol by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol.

This practice appears to be motivated by recommendations from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

These recommendations have resulted in millions of Americans taking statins and perhaps millions taking them needlessly.

We’ve Become A Statin Nation

As of 2012, 28 percent of Americans over the age of 40 are taking a statin drug. According to the 2010 census, there are about 163.5 million people over the age of 44.

That would mean that there are at least 45.6 million people taking statins.

While that number seems outrageously high, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in 2015 stated that even more Americans should be on cholesterol-lowering drugs.

They believe that 44 percent of people ages 40 to 64 along with 80 percent of those 65 and older should be on statins. Did you get that? Eighty percent of everyone over 65 should be on a statin!

That’s a staggering number. To say that we’re becoming a statin nation isn’t an understatement. We are a statin nation.

The CDC’s reason for the widespread use of statins is that they believe a large percentage of the American population is at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including the possibility of a heart attack.

Are the CDC, the ACC, and the AHA, however, correct in their assessment of this risk?

How Does Mainstream Medicine Determine Who Needs Statins?

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association suggests that individuals be treated with statins if they are at high risk for CVD.

It appears that these guidelines are what prompted the CDC to recommend that over 60% of all Americans over 45 be placed on statin therapy.

Before I explore whether the above guidelines are indeed indicative of a higher risk of CVD, I think it’s vital to first consider the efficacy and safety of statin use.

It doesn’t matter what the guidelines are if the cure creates more harm than good.

Are Statins Really Effective And Safe?

Statins have often been called a miracle drug. This is because it’s claimed that they lower an individual’s risk of a first-time heart attack and reduce that person’s chance of developing CVD, while at the same time possessing no significant adverse side effects.

But are those claims true?

Not according to a 2015 report in the journal of Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology authored by David M. Diamond and Uffe Ravnskov. Diamond and Ravnskov examined several clinical trials that reportedly confirmed the effectiveness and safety of statins.

After an in-depth review of the literature, they found that while,

…statins are effective at reducing cholesterol levels, they have failed to substantially improve cardiovascular outcomes.

In other words, the health claims that drug companies make about statins are false.

How Drug Companies Manipulate Statistics

Diamond and Ravnskov show that statin advocates often use a statistical sleight of hand in order to make statins appear to be successful in reducing heart disease.

This is done by reporting the relative risk reduction (RRR) of a particular statin, rather than its absolute risk reduction (ARR).

Let me illustrate the difference between RRR and ARR.  Suppose we want to do a 5-year trial to see if a statin can prevent heart disease. In this trial, we include 2,000 healthy, middle-aged men. We then administer a statin to half the participants and to the other half we give them a placebo.

At the end of our hypothetical trial, we find that 2% of the placebo-treated men (a normal occurrence in most trials) and 1% of the statin-treated men suffered a heart attack. We can thus conclude that statin treatment has benefitted 1% of the treated participants. This is the ARR.

So we could construct a headline that reads,

“News Alert: New Miracle Drug Reduces The Risk Of CVD By 1% In At Risk Individuals!”

That’s not a very impressive headline, is it? Would it convince you to take a statin drug? Probably not.

Let’s, however, take a look at relative risk reduction. RRR is determined by dividing the ARR by the control event rate (the placebo group).

For example, the ARR is 1 and the control group contains 2 people who suffered a heart attack. To find the RRR we divide 1 by two and come up with 50%.

We can now write a new headline that says,

“New Flash: New Miracle Drug Cuts CVD Risk By 50%!”

Now that’s a lot more impressive sounding, right? That kind of headline could generate a lot of sales for statin drug manufacturers.

Interpreting Statin Research Correctly

Diamond and Ravnskov’s study in Expert Review analyzed 3 major statin drug trials. These trials included over 48,000 participants.

The results of the trials led researchers to ecstatically declare that statins can significantly reduce the chance of a heart attack and CVD.

The makers of the popular statin Lipitor even advertised that it could lower the risk of heart attack in at-risk populations by 36 percent.

However, Diamond and Ravnskov discovered that when ARR data was used instead of RRR data, the risk of a heart attack was reduced by only 1.1 percent.

Notice the caveat at the bottom of the Lipitor advertisement. The drug maker acknowledges that there was only a 1% benefit from taking Lipitor!

In the trial concerning the statin Crestor, Diamond and Ravnskov noted that,

“public and healthcare workers were informed of a 54 percent reduction in heart attacks when the actual effect in reduction of coronary events was less than 1 percentage point…”

Overall, Diamond and Ravnskov found that when the three major statin trials were analyzed from the perspective of ARR, only a 1-2 percent reduction of heart attack or CVD risk was achieved.

So when your doctor suggests you take statins because your cholesterol is a little high, he should remind you that your chance to avoid a nonfatal heart attack during the next 2 years is about 97 percent without treatment, but you can increase it to about 98 percent by taking a statin every day.

Not very impressive, is it?

If you want to see Dr. Diamond explain his findings, watch the video below.

Now, what all good doctors should do is remind you that with that 1 percent benefit you may get, you might also suffer some severe adverse reactions from statins.

Adverse Reactions From Statins

While many doctors downplay the adverse reactions of statins, this 2008 review in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs analyzed almost 900 studies and found that adverse effects from statin drugs are “neither vanishingly rare nor of trivial impact.”

The post My Cholesterol Levels Part 1: Why I Rejected Statins appeared first on Gluten Free Homestead.

For part one of this chronic fatigue syndrome series click here.

I’m writing this post from my new home office in Raleigh, North Carolina. My family and I are almost finished moving in, and so far we’re absolutely loving Raleigh.

The new home we’re renting is magnificent, the area is beautiful, and Raleigh has so many activities to enjoy.

Over the weekend I finished setting up my home gym. That meant I was finally able to get back to pulling some decent weight. I deadlifted 250 lbs x 4 at 158 lbs body weight. Since I hadn’t deadlifted since August 4, that wasn’t too bad.

And more importantly, following my workout I experienced no signs of severe fatigue associated with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Hopefully, I’ll be back to my personal record (PR) within a few months. Here is the video of my 300 lbs PR I set in June. Not too shabby for an almost 62-year-old.

Okay, let’s get right to it. Last week I presented the first three strategies I used to heal from ME/CFS. Here are the next seven:

Strategy 4: Juicing

About 7 years ago in my search for healing for my ME/CFS symptoms, I came across the Gerson juicing protocol. The Gerson Therapy, as it’s called, was developed in the 1930s by Dr. Max Gerson to treat his own migraines.

Eventually, it became a treatment for degenerative diseases such as skin tuberculosis, diabetes, and cancer. Individuals who rigidly adhered to the protocol supposedly obtained excellent results.

The protocol requires the consumption of 15- 20 pounds of organically-grown fruits and vegetables daily. Most of this is consumed as a juice.

The idea behind the therapy is that the abundance of nutrients from the organic juices provides your body with high doses of enzymes, minerals, and nutrients that will restore the body’s ability to heal itself.

The protocol theoretically made sense, but I just couldn’t consume 15 pounds of veggies a day.

But I needed help, so I decided to give it a try in a modified form. I juiced (technically I blended in a Vitamix) enough produce to make about 40 ounces of juice daily. This drink consisted of kale, carrots, spinach, avocado, and a green apple. After consuming this amount of juice for about 3 months, I noticed a slight improvement in my energy but nothing substantial.

While I didn’t have the enormous boost in energy that some people get from juicing, I was helping my body. By juicing, I was increasing my nutrient levels significantly, detoxifying my body, and helping to restore the good bacteria in my gut.

Strategy 5: A Paleo Diet

As I said, after about 3 months of juicing, I experienced some improvement in my fatigue levels but not a lot. But that was about to change. At this time a friend of mine sent me some information on the paleo diet and suggested I take a look at Mark Sissons’ site: Mark’s Daily Apple.

Once on the site, I was captivated. After spending hours and hours reading about the paleo diet and all the success stories attributed to it, I was convinced of its efficacy. This wasn’t because of its reliance on evolutionary theory. It was the science that convinced me.

Paleo Basics

1. Nutrient Dense Foods

The paleo diet stresses the importance of consuming nutrient-dense whole foods such as antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruits, fermented vegetables, pastured eggs, extra-virgin olive oil, spices like turmeric and cinnamon, bone broth, foods high in omega-3 fatty acids (like wild caught salmon, sardines, and herring), and meats from pasture-raised animals. The nutrients from these foods are vital for healing and preventing chronic inflammatory conditions.

2. Elimination of Anti-nutrients

The paleo diet also stresses the elimination of anti-nutrients. One of these is gluten. As we saw in my last post, gluten (a wheat protein) causes intestinal permeability and possibly systemic inflammatory reactions.

Many plants and grains also contain lectins, phytates, and saponins (see my post 5 Important Differences Between A Gluten Free Diet And A Paleo Diet here). These compounds are naturally occurring in plants and are part of their defense mechanism against pests. Unfortunately, they are also disruptive to our digestive systems. Someone on a paleo diet seeks to limit foods high in these compounds. The biggest culprits here are legumes and grains.

Since a paleo diet eliminates most grains, it is a naturally low carb diet. Many hardcore paleo adherents will eliminate potatoes, but I didn’t except for the skins (saponins). I also didn’t eliminate white rice. See my post on rice.

3. Elimination of Processed Foods

The paleo diet eliminates processed foods because the chemicals used in processing could be inflammatory. The saying goes that if it comes in a package, stay away from it. It also eliminates processed vegetable oils, refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, synthetic sweeteners, artificial additives, and foods high in omega-6 fatty acids. These also can be highly inflammatory.

4. Avoidance of Dairy Products

The paleo diet discourages the consumption of dairy products. The idea here is that lactose is an intestinal irritant. However, since aged cheese and probiotic yogurt have very low to no lactose, some paleo experts have no problem with these foods in moderation. I personally continue to eat both. For more on the nuances of the paleo diet see here, here, and here.

As you can see, the general idea behind the diet is that it encourages the consumption of nutrient-dense foods that aid in fighting inflammation and discourages those that can cause it. But it also does another important thing.

5. Gut Healing

The paleo diet also promotes the healing of a damaged gastrointestinal tract. It does this by eliminating anti-nutrients and introducing fermented vegetables (sauerkraut and kimchi) that help restore the gut microbiota.

As I said, some strict paleo followers frown on yogurt but homemade probiotic yogurt can be a big help for those who have had their microbiome destroyed by years of antibiotic use. See here for how we make our own probiotic yogurt. See here for our post on how to make homemade sauerkraut.

Bone broth is also extremely important in a paleo diet. It’s packed with nutrients and will aid in gut healing. See here. See Barbara’s recipe for bone broth here.

I jumped into this diet head first. The only deviation I took was consuming a moderate amount of potatoes, white rice, and probiotic yogurt. Within a few months, my health transformation was remarkable.

I regained about 20% of my lost energy levels to where I was about 80% – 90% of normal. I rarely fell below 70%. Healthwise, things were really starting to look up. However, there were a few more tweaks that I needed to make.

Note: I continued to juice throughout my time on the paleo diet.

Strategy 6: Cutting Back on Work Stress

About the same time that I went paleo, I finally began to realize that a big part of my problem stemmed from the stress that accompanied my work. Apart from the psychological toll resulting from stress, researchers now know that prolonged stress can induce a chronic inflammatory state in the body and thus become a key risk factor in numerous diseases.

Our reaction to stress is not a bad thing. When we perceive a threat, our bodies will react so that we either avoid or eliminate the stress. Think of encountering a violent bear in the woods. That’s a stressful situation. To avoid this stress, our bodies will react. Our body will either prepare us to fight the bear a la Daniel Boone, or it will put us into flight mode so we can run for our lives.

So our body’s reaction to stress keeps us alive.

The Dangers Of Constant Stress

Constant stress, though, is dangerous. This is why. Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. These systems are activated when our bodies perceive a threat. They prepare us for the fight or flight situation. When the threat passes, they return to a resting state.

However, chronic stress may keep these systems overly activated. When this happens, pathophysiology results. This sets the stage for chronic inflammation and subsequently disease. See my post on adrenal fatigue. See also my series of posts on chronic stress and belly fat.

Also, a constantly activated SNS means that there will be an imbalance between it and the parasympathetic nervous system. This chronic imbalance can cause further dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Remember that a dysfunctional ANS is associated with ME/CFS.

Though I intuitively sensed from the beginning of my illness that chronic stress played a part in its genesis and continuance, it took 26 years for me to finally deal with it properly.

Some Stress Solutions

The Gallup Poll found that most people hate their jobs. Not only did I dislike my job, but it was also often a source of extreme stress. If I was going to heal, I knew I had to do something about it. About seven years ago, instead of making the daily drive into Manhattan, I was able to structure things so that I could work 3 days a week from home. This helped immensely. It’s something I should’ve done a lot earlier.

By working from home, I then had the opportunity to engage in projects that allowed me to achieve more significance than simply making money to pay the bills. I led a debate club for home educated children, taught co-op classes on apologetics and history, produced history videos on youtube, did a lot more writing, and continued to research health and wellness strategies.

Here’s the amazing thing. Often, when I was in the midst of doing these activities, the fatigue would simply vanish!

Why did the fatigue temporarily vanish?

Standing up for an hour while teaching a group of 15 and16-year-olds can be physically taxing. But I never became fatigued while doing it. Why? Obviously, I was doing something I loved and that meant no negative stress. My body wasn’t being worn down by stress but was actually gaining energy.

Finally, the light switch turned on. Maybe I should find a “day job” that I loved and get paid for doing it. It wasn’t an easy task, but after 5 years I did exactly that. Is there still some stress involved? Yes. But not nearly as much as I had in the previous 35 years.

Bottom line: A key to improving from ME/CFS is reducing stress. For me, I did this by walking, changing my diet, reducing work stress, and by engaging in deep breathing. 

Strategy 7: Deep Breathing

As I have mentioned in previous strategies, I believe that in my particular case of ME/CFS an imbalance in my autonomic nervous system played a major role. This accompanied by chronic stress also contributed to that imbalance.

One of the strategies I used to realign my ANS was to employ deep breathing techniques. Researchers have found that slow diaphragmatic breathing has the ability to slow down SNS activity and enhance PNS activity. See here. This is why physicians and psychologists prescribe deep breathing as a way to reduce stress.

When I first came across this strategy about 5 years ago, I thought it was ridiculous. How could simply breathing deeply help me? Well, I thought the same thing about walking and was I wrong! After doing some research on the autonomic benefits of deep breathing, I decided to give it a try.

Learning To Do Diaphragmatic Breathing

I generally like to keep things simple so I started with this very simple tutorial on diaphragmatic breathing from the Cleveland Clinic. The cue of placing my hand on my stomach and causing it to raise as I inhaled allowed me to quickly learn how to breath using my diaphragm.

I practiced this technique for about a day, and then I decided to try it at bedtime. At the time, I was under a lot of stress and suffering some relapses of fatigue. This was causing me to have trouble falling asleep at night.

Well, I tried it, and it worked. Within a few minutes, I dozed off and slept through the whole night. Since that time, I use it every night before I go to sleep and also throughout the day.

Paul Chek has an in-depth youtube series on deep breathing. See here.

Strategy 8: Improve Sleep

Sleep disturbances, particularly non-restorative sleep, are a common symptom of ME/CFS. Non-restorative sleep is where you’ve had at least 8 hours of sleep but wake up feeling totally unrefreshed. Researchers are not exactly sure why this happens in ME/CFS, but again some clues may be found in a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system.

photl.com

I’ve experienced non-restorative sleep for most of the time I’ve had ME/CFS. At times, I also experienced apnea and insomnia.

The problem with sleep disturbances is that not only do you wake up tired, but they also have other damaging effects on our bodies (not to mention damage to other peoples bodies by keeping them from enjoying refreshing sleep).

Research has shown that sleep deprivation leads to inflammation. So whatever inflammation is already taking place in ME/CFS, it will be compounded by a lack of sleep.

Also, it’s during sleep that the body restores and repairs itself. This occurs during specific cycles of sleep. If these cycles are disrupted, the body’s ability to repair itself may be severely impaired. See here.

Optimizing Sleep

Here are 15 techniques I use to optimize conditions so that I get a better night’s sleep.

1. Avoid blue light 2-3 hours before bedtime (I use these blue light blocker glasses)
2. Keep your bedroom temperature at 60 – 65 degrees
3. Wake up in a completed sleep cycle (See here)
4. Wake up with a calming, not startling alarm
5. Use deep breathing techniques to fall asleep (see above)
6. Go to the bathroom before you go to sleep
7. Use a comfortable mattress and pillow
8. Create a bedtime habit such as reading or writing
9. Find an activity that helps you wind down
10. Make sure your bedroom is completely dark at night, but remember you need light in the morning to wake you up
11. Try to get regular exposure to outdoor light during the day
12. Stick to a sleep schedule even on weekends
13. Exercise daily but not 6 hours before bedtime (For severe ME/CFS sufferers, exercise may be a problem).
14. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and heavy meals in the evening.
15. If you sleep with your electronic devices near, put them on airplane mode.

See my post for an in-depth look at sleep optimization and the importance of sleep cycles.

Afternoon Naps

For the last 4 years, I’ve made it a daily habit to try and take an afternoon nap. This has helped me tremendously in taking a break from the stress of the day. Sometimes I may not even fall asleep but quiet rest time really helps.

I know a lot of you can’t do that with work and all. But you can take a few minutes to just tune out, close your eyes, and do some deep breathing and meditating.

Incidentally, since going paleo, I rarely suffer from severe apnea. Infrequently, I have periods of mild insomnia. However, when I find it happening, I quickly resort to deep breathing. This always gets me to sleep.

Strategy 9: Supplements

Prior to going on a paleo diet, I experimented with all kinds of supplements. These included high dose vitamin C, other vitamins, minerals, colostrum, botanicals, herbs, and probiotics. They may have been doing me some good, but I didn’t experience any significant relief.

I did continue to take vitamin D3 and magnesium because of their importance for overall health.

I Discover Lauricidin

About the time I went paleo, I came across a product called Lauricidin. Lauricidin is the trade name for monolaurin. Monolaurin is a chemical derived from lauric acid and glycerin and is a byproduct of coconut fat. It reportedly has immune-boosting, antibacterial, and antiviral effects. See here.

If my ME/CFS did have a viral component to it, then perhaps Lauricidin would help. I took it on and off for about 2 years. It’s hard to say if it helped a lot since I was also paleo. But it was during this time that I was making significant health gains, so I would say that it was important to my overall protocol.

Current Supplements

I’m still currently taking vitamin D3 and magnesium. Along with these, I take
Thorne Research – Meriva (Curcumin) as an anti-inflammatory and vitamin K2 (see the link on vitamin D3 above). This is the vitamin K2 that I use.

Since I’m on a ketogenic diet now, I also supplement with at least 2 teaspoons of Himalayan Pink salt daily and one tablespoon of MCT oil daily.

Also, because I lift heavy weights 4 times a week, I take collagen daily. Collagen helps to keep my tendons, cartilage, ligaments, and bones healthy.

That’s about it for supplements.

Strategy 10: Low-Carbohydrate (Keto) Diet

By August of 2017, I had been on a paleo diet, which was relatively low-carbohydrate (<100 grams of carbs per day), for approximately 5 years. My energy levels were at between 80% – 90% of normal with some days at 100%. I had healed enough that I could lift heavy weights for the previous 2 years without a severe relapse.

It was now time to take my diet to the next level.

I had read stories of how a ketogenic (ultra low-carb: <25 net grams/day, healthy fat, moderate protein) diet was helpful in healing people from all sorts of illnesses (type 2 diabetes, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, etc.). It also appears that a ketogenic diet has powerful anti-inflammatory effects. So I decided to give it a try.

Amazing Health Gains

Within a few months, my health gains were amazing. My energy levels were consistently between 90% – 100% every day. A year later, I am even starting to do some high-intensity interval training on my treadmill. That’s something that would not have been possible even 2 years ago.

Check out the series of posts Barbara and I wrote on how we went keto and how we are continuing on the diet.

Many people on a keto diet do extended fasting (> 1 day). Since I’ve found that prolonged fasting puts a lot of stress on my body, I avoid it. I do practice delayed eating though. In this instance, I generally eat within an 8-hour window, usually between 12 PM to 8 PM.

The Bottom Line

I suffered from ME/CFS for over 20 years before I started to make significant gains in my health. The strategies I used to get well didn’t come to me overnight. It took years of trial and error to determine what worked and what didn’t.

I am not recommending these strategies to anyone suffering from ME/CFS. I can’t do that. But they worked for me and they do have the science behind them that proves that they can reduce inflammation and promote healing.

ME/CFS is a serious disease. Please don’t try any of these strategies without consulting with your physician.

Click here for a free PDF of the products I mentioned in these posts.

Read this next

My Experience With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome And Strength Training – This is my experience with chronic fatigue syndrome and strength training. Strength training and cardio can provide a respite from stress of the day.

Why We Bought a Sleep EZ 100% Natural Latex Mattress [Review] – This is the ultimate unbiased mattress review comparing coil spring mattresses, memory foam, and latex mattresses.

How to Set Up a Home Gym: A Look at Our Garage Gym – Here’s a peek into our garage gym and how you can set one up in your home so you can workout when and how you want.

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The post The 10 Most Important Strategies I Used To Beat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Part 2 appeared first on Gluten Free Homestead.

However, for a year now, I haven’t experienced the debilitating fatigue peculiar to CFS, and I haven’t suffered from any of the many symptoms associated with it. During the last year, I’ve strength trained 5 days a week, power walked most days, engaged in some high-intensity training, and moved my family to another state while experiencing no downtime because of fatigue.

Yes, I think that qualifies as being finally healed from CFS. But, again, I have to be careful.

A review of 14 studies found that only 5% of people diagnosed with CFS ever fully recover. That means that even though I feel great, I have to continue to be disciplined to adhere to all the strategies that got me this far.

In this post and the next, I’d like to highlight for you the 10 most important strategies I used to beat this debilitating disease.

Caveat To Healing

Will these strategies work for everyone who has CFS? I don’t know. Since no one knows what causes CFS, there is no single proven treatment protocol. But I do know this, every one of the strategies I used is scientifically proven to make my body stronger and better able to heal itself from the disease.

Here’s something I also know. I suffered from this disease for 20 years before I began to make significant progress towards recovery. It wasn’t until I started using these strategies that I turned the corner away from sickness and toward wellness.

No Help From Mainstream Medicine

When I first developed CFS in 1986, very few physicians were aware of CFS. All of the doctors I visited were completely clueless as to what was wrong with me. My blood tests were always normal. I tested negative for Epstein-Barr, Lyme, Hep C, you name it.

Yet no one could figure out why I was not only chronically fatigued but also suffering from a slew of seemingly unrelated symptoms. Some doctors even raised an eyebrow when I mentioned how many different symptoms I had. Meaning, they thought I was some sort of a hypochondriac.

As time went on, mainstream physicians began to recognize CFS as an actual condition. However, they still had no idea what caused it or how to cure it. Their standard reply to me was, “Yes, you probably have CFS. You should rest more and see what happens.”

Of course, that’s not what I wanted to hear. I wanted someone to tell me that I would eventually get better! But that promise never came.

No Help From My Naturopath

About 10 years ago, I traveled out of state to see a naturopathic physician. He was very thoughtful and understanding and convinced me that I was not a hypochondriac. However, he also couldn’t give me a comprehensive plan for combating the syndrome. His primary suggestion was to take the numerous supplements he recommended.  After many months of doing that and spending no little amount of money, I still had little relief from the fatigue.

A Lack Of Information

When I developed CFS in 1986, there was no such thing as the internet. That meant that we had little access to important medical information. Unless you had access to a medical library, it was virtually impossible to find information on CFS.

So, for the first 20 years of having CFS, mainstream medicine couldn’t help me at all. The best I could do was to reduce my fatigue by relying on trial and error. In other words, I learned which activities caused me the most fatigue, and I tried not to do them.

After about 20 years living with the disease, I regained about 20% of my former energy level. This allowed me to function at about 60% of normal. Some days I did reach 80%. But that generally lasted for only a short time. And even when I was at 80%, some aspect of the disease was always with me whether it was muscle aches, IBS, or headaches.

However, there would also be days when I would regress to about 40% of my energy levels. This could last for weeks at a time. For 20 years, I can honestly say that I didn’t have one single day where I felt perfectly healthy. I was beginning to forget what it was like to feel good.

Pathway To Healing

My healing didn’t really begin in earnest until about 8 years ago when I began searching out health and wellness websites that suggested alternative paths to healing. These sites emphasized strategies that stressed the elimination of toxicity, the reduction of chronic inflammation, strengthening the immune system, and optimizing cellular metabolism.

The idea was that by following specific practices my body would strengthen and eventually heal itself.

It took me about 7 years to put all these strategies into a comprehensive protocol for getting well and staying well.

I will be very specific concerning what I did to be healed, but first I want it to be clear that I didn’t just have a general fatigue or malaise. I had full-blown CFS. For those unfamiliar with CFS, let me tell you how bad it really is.

What Is CFS?

There is no confirmed diagnostic test for CFS or it’s lesser known name, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (from now on I’ll use the abbreviation ME/CFS for CFS). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, suggests that the three following core symptoms are required to make a diagnosis.

1. Greatly lowered ability to do activities that were usual before the illness. This drop in activity level occurs along with fatigue and must last six months or longer. Fatigue is usually severe and is of a different type than one experiences after hard physical work or exercise. It is not relieved by rest and has not been present for someone’s lifetime.
2. Worsening of ME/CFS symptoms after physical or mental activity that would not have caused a problem before the illness. This is known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). ME/CFS sufferers often improve to a point where they think they’re healed. They then resume their normal activities only to experience a severe relapse of fatigue and other symptoms.
3. Sleep problems. Individuals with ME/CFS often experience sleep disturbances. That includes falling asleep and staying asleep. Often, a good night’s sleep will not alleviate fatigue.

Additional Symptoms

In addition to these core symptoms, one of the following two symptoms is required for diagnosis:

• Problems with thinking and memory. This is commonly known as brain fog.
• Worsening of symptoms while standing or sitting upright. This is known as orthostatic intolerance and is caused by a dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system. In my case, I suffered from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). With this syndrome, one’s heart rate will raise at least 30 bpm in at least 10 minutes after standing from a sitting position. See here.

Those are some bad symptoms, right? Well, it gets worse. Many ME/CFS sufferers also can experience the following symptoms in varying degrees:

• Muscle pain and aches (For years it felt as if I had clamps affixed to my arms and legs)
• Joint pain without swelling or redness (Several of my finger joints were inflamed for years)
• Headaches, either new or worsening
• Tender lymph nodes in the neck or armpits
• A sore throat that happens often
• Digestive issues, like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Chills and night sweats
• Allergies and sensitivities to foods, odors, chemicals, or noise

In my case, I hit the jackpot. Over the span of 28 years I experienced every single one of these symptoms to a greater or lesser degree. My worse symptoms were extreme fatigue, PEM, muscle aches, joint pain, headaches, and POTS. I also had an endoscopy done because of IBS.

Note that ME/CFS is considered only after everything else that could cause chronic fatigue is ruled out.

One question still remains unanswered: Why did I get ME/CFS?

Developing ME/CFS?

It was a beautiful autumn day in October 1986. A perfect day for a run. The air was fresh and the trees in New York were exploding with color. My 3-mile jog was uneventful except that I experienced a slight cold feeling in my chest which lasted for about an hour.

I went to sleep that night feeling fine. However, upon waking the next morning I didn’t feel quite right. As I attempted to get out of the bed, I realized that something was really wrong with my body.

My legs felt like they were made out of concrete. I had to literally struggle to get them to move. Eventually, I got out of the bed, but I found that I couldn’t stand for more than about 30 seconds. I had no other symptoms except extreme fatigue when standing and walking.

After a few hours, I gained some ability to walk around for a few minutes at a time, but that was it. I was bedridden for the next 3 days. After about 3 weeks, I did regain some energy, but on the whole, I’d lost on average 40% – 50% of my normal energy levels.

Subsequently, I was forced to give up my podiatry practice and find work that would allow me to rest often. As the years went on, I would at times improve slightly. But, then, thinking I was better, I would engage in some strenuous activity only to eventually relapse back into a state of severe fatigue.

As I mentioned, the only answer I got from doctors was that I probably had chronic fatigue syndrome and suggestions that I should try and rest more. They didn’t know why I had gotten it or if I would ever heal 100%.

That wasn’t something a 30-something husband and father of 4 young children who was now running his own business wanted to hear. Fortunately, my business allowed me to take off and rest whenever I wanted. That helped a lot. But you can never take time off from your family, can you?

Why Do People Get ME/CFS?

To date, no one knows why people get ME/CFS. Researchers have suggested that there is an underlying viral component to the disease. In my case, I didn’t experience any acute flu-like symptoms prior to getting sick.

As the years went by, several physicians stated that I probably had some underlying inflammation going on. This belief was prompted by a slightly elevated liver enzyme. That was the only blood test that showed an abnormality. My sed rate (ESR) and CRP were always normal.

A Psychological Component To CFS

Other researchers believe “that physiological and psychological factors work together to predispose an individual to the illness and to precipitate and perpetuate the illness.” They are, however, unsure of what exactly these are.

From my experience, I concur that there is a psychological component to ME/CFS. I was under extreme stress for about 10 years prior to the onset of the disease. As I found out much later, my cortisol levels were completely out of whack. This meant that my adrenal glands were also in very bad shape.

Why did it take 22 years for a physician to finally check their status? Sheesh!

The Dysautonomia Angle

As I mentioned before, some researchers believe that a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a part in ME/CFS. This is the part of the nervous system that controls internal organs. One part of the ANS (parasympathetic) helps the body rest, relax, and digest food and another part (sympathetic) helps a person fight or take flight in an emergency.

What researchers are not sure of is whether dysautonomia causes or simply exacerbates the symptoms of ME/CFS.

After mentioning to one doctor that my pulse seemed to race at night especially after rising, he had me wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours. The data revealed that my heartbeat varied wildly during the night. The cardiologist who examined the data suspected that there was some type of dysautonomia involved.

My doctor told me that there was basically nothing you can do for dysautonomias (Not true! More on that later).

I Have POTS

I figured out later that the dysautonomia was POTS! It’s highly associated with ME/CFS. While there’s no cure for POTS, it is manageable.

As you can see, ME/CFS is a disease that involves many physiological systems. Not only does it cause extreme fatigue, it can also cause disruptions in the nervous system, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, gastrointestinal system, immune system, gene expression, and sleep patterns. And if POTS is involved, the urinary tract can also be affected. See here.

For an extensive list of research being done into how ME/CFS affects the various system of the body, see here. If you want to know more about ME/CFS, the British ME Association has an excellent website with loads of very good information. Also, see Dr. Myhill’s site.

ME/CFS sufferers are not hypochondriacs. We just have a terrible disease without a specific cause and without a specific cure. But, in my case, it was curable.

Could I Have Healed Sooner?

I’ve read that some people with ME/CFS are healed after months of just complete rest. That usually entails no work and eliminating all kinds of stress.

In my case, that wasn’t an option. I had a family and financial responsibilities to consider. Would complete bed rest have healed me, though? I don’t think so. My dysautonomia and poor reaction to stress probably wouldn’t have allowed it.

Now, let’s get on with what I did to heal. Bear in mind that though this process took me many years to discover, I continue to use all the strategies to stay healthy and fit. I will list them in the order I discovered them.

Strategy 1: Going Gluten Free

About 12 years ago, I went gluten-free. This was the first major change I made on my health journey. Though I never had any of the major intestinal problems associated with celiac disease, I did have moderate IBS and a lot of the other associated symptoms.

As it turns out, myself and several family members have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). With this condition, the ingestion of gluten doesn’t cause the destructive autoimmune inflammatory response in the gut like celiac disease does. However, it does cause an immune response that can result in systemic inflammation. See here.

Even if you don’t have NCGS, gluten has been proven to cause leaky gut by disrupting the tight junctions in the epithelial lining of your gut. Because of this, toxins, pathologic organisms, and their byproducts can pass into your bloodstream causing a chronic inflammatory response throughout your body. See here.

Strategy 2: Avoiding Antibiotics

From the time I had my tonsils out at age 4 to about 24 years old, I suffered from one throat and sinus ailment after another. Of course, the first treatment of choice for most doctors was to prescribe antibiotics. Needless to say, I took a lot of antibiotics throughout my life.

While antibiotics can be a life-saving gift from God, they also come with a downside. Often antibiotics don’t discriminate in their killing of bacteria. Meaning they eliminate bad bacteria but they may also destroy good bacteria found in your gut.

In a healthy situation, there are good bacteria (microbiota) that inhabit your intestinal tract. These beneficial bacteria aid in digestion, fighting bad bacteria, and in the production of some vitamins.

When your microbiome is disrupted, as when you take antibiotics, a condition called dysbiosis can result. Dysbiosis has been associated with a number of serious diseases including ME/CFS.

Since I went GF, I’ve only taken antibiotics one time. That was only to determine if I had Lyme disease.

These first two strategies didn’t result in a fantastic immediate improvement in my condition. But what they did do was begin to reduce the inflammation in my gut, help restore a healthy microbiome, and stop my gut from leaking dangerous toxins into my bloodstream.

A healthy gut is key for overall healing.

I didn’t yet understand how to fully heal my damaged gut microbiome. I’ll explain how I further did that when I get to diet strategies.

Next, I’ll reveal the first major strategy I used to gain back some significant energy.

Strategy 3: Daily Walking

About 10 years ago, I read an article about a condition called neurasthenia. This was a mysterious medical condition reported by doctors in the 19th and early 20th century. The description of the symptoms of the disease was very similar to what we now call ME/CFS. One of the treatments recommended for that condition was a daily walk.

I initially thought that that idea was absurd. Walking requires energy, right? Why would I want to expend energy when I had such little energy to start with?

Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try. I started out slowly by walking around the neighborhood for just a few minutes. Surprisingly, I found that I felt energized during the walk.

After gradually increasing the distance, within a month I was walking about 1.5 miles daily at a moderate pace without any fatigue at all. After the walks, I felt fine, though the fatigue returned after an hour or so. But I found that over a few months I actually did gain back, and keep, about 10% of the energy I lost.

There is some evidence (also see here) that graded exercise can help some ME/CFS sufferers. For me, a gradual increase in walking distance and speed seemed to work.

I Walk No Matter What The Weather

Walking continues to be an important part of my fitness routine, and I walk regardless of the weather. When it rains or the weather gets cold, I use a treadmill. For me, my treadmill is not only an important piece of fitness equipment, it’s also an indispensable piece of healthcare equipment. I’ve used this one for over 4 years without any issues.

Why Did Walking Work For Me?

I mentioned previously that a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system is closely associated with ME/CFS. This dysfunction usually presents with the sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) dominating the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).

Studies have shown that moderate aerobic exercise especially daily walking can enhance parasympathetic activity thus bringing the autonomic nervous system back into balance.

Recent studies have also shown that walking in nature is a powerful therapy for enhancing parasympathetic activity.

To this day, I continue to do a brisk walk (3.5 mph) for at least 1.5 miles 5 -6 times a week.

For the extraordinary health benefits of walking, see my post here.

Okay, that’s it for this post. I’ve given you the first three strategies I discovered that set me on the road to healing from ME/CFS. In my next post, I’ll give you the remaining seven.

I want to emphasize that these are the strategies that worked for me. I’m not recommending them for anyone. However, I believe that science has proven that they are efficacious for health and wellness. Remember, always check with your doctor before you start any treatment protocol.

Have a healthy and blessed week. In my next post, I promise I will present the next 7 strategies that helped me heal from ME/CFS. Also, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The post The 10 Most Important Strategies I Used To Beat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Part 1 appeared first on Gluten Free Homestead.