For conventional medicine, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) has proven difficult both to diagnose and to treat. Nearly every CFS patient we see at Paracelsus has been told by at some point by their doctor that they were depressed and should take psychosomatic drugs. This makes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a classic example of how conventional medicine fails to benefit the patient because it treats only symptoms rather than causes.

CFS has been increasingly prevalent in recent decades and now affects millions worldwide. The condition often leaves the patient feeling utterly debilitated, challenged by sleep disorders and exhaustion, muscle pain, memory loss, tender lymph nodes, and a host of other symptoms. Many if not most practitioners view CFS as a psychiatric condition, despite recent research and the efforts of advocacy groups to argue that it is a real medical disorder with mainly physical dysfunction. With orthodox medicine labeling the patients as the problem, sufferers become increasingly frustrated with their bodies, with a medical community that can provide no answers, and with their inability to “feel better.”

In biological medicine we have a drastically different approach to treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. When followed strictly, our methods prove successful one hundred percent of the time. But the symptoms and pathology of this condition are so individualized that it takes a customized approach to discern the origins of the patient’s condition and his or her specific path to recovery.

In trying to understand the individual, we first work to paint a full picture of the affliction. Testing for a variety of causes and co-causes, we identify the root of the problem and then work from there. Epstein-Barr syndrome has proven a frequent culprit, as are other chronic viral loads; glandular dysfunction is often a contributing factor. Adrenal and thyroid disorders are also commonly present.

Once we have successfully diagnosed the inherent problems that make the patient susceptible to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and its myriad symptoms, we are then in an excellent position to appropriately treat the disease. Primarily, we must activate the person’s metabolism and increase glandular function. By stimulating the adrenal, thyroid, and sexual glands, as well as the patient’s immune system, the body is able build itself back up. Ultimately the newly enhanced immune system will overcome the suppressive issues that led to CFS.

Lasting approximately three weeks, our treatment begins with an intensive detoxification. Removing toxins (both organic and inorganic) from the body, even addressing past dental treatments which can potentially introduce poisons into the bloodstream, helps reinforce the immune system, reinvigorate glandular function and make it so that patients can effectively “rebuild” their bodies.

Refusing to dismiss CFS sufferers as merely depressed, we give them the ability to regain their lives. Antidepressants popularly prescribed by a traditional medical approach actually exacerbate the situation and can hinder finding a real solution to the problem. By first determining the underlying causes of this syndrome, we can help eradicate the issue completely. Former CFS patients leave Paracelsus feeling healthier and more energized than they thought possible.