What are the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome?

Symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome can include pervasive exhaustion, fatigue and lack of energy, poor concentration and focus, muscle aches, and sore throat. Integrative medicine specialist Tieraona Low Dog, MD, describes these symptoms.

Transcript

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With our diet and our poor sleep and many of these other things that we experience

00:06

in this 21st century living, I think we're seeing just more and more chronic fatigue. And it's become a growing, growing problem.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:22

I believe that chronic fatigue is actually a growing epidemic, especially among women. And I think that we're seeing more and more of this because

00:30

of the way we live our lives. We are running 24/7, we're burning the candle at both ends, taking care of families

00:37

and work and our homes. And with our diet and our poor sleep and many of these other things that we experience

00:46

in this 21st century living, I think we're seeing just more and more chronic fatigue. And it's become a growing, growing problem.

00:53

People with chronic fatigue, obviously the most dominant symptom is fatigue. And fatigue is not the same thing as being tired.

01:01

Tired is, you know, I'm tired and I'm sleepy and I go to bed. And I wake up in the morning and I feel better.

01:07

Fatigue doesn't get better. It doesn't get better with sleep. It doesn't get better with exercise. It just is this pervasive sort of lack of energy.

01:18

Other symptoms that can go along with it can be things like difficulty concentrating, poor focus,

01:24

muscle aches and pains, intermittent sore throats. I mean, so there's a constellation of symptoms that

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go along with chronic fatigue. [AUDIO LOGO]