9 Tips for overcoming fatigue and depression

Chronic fatigue (CFS or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis as the brits would say) in athletes is much more common than you would think. It’s another symptom of today’s high stress world of “more is better.” For those of us who push our limits too far too often the consequences of chronic fatigue can become an unwanted reality from what started out as something healthy.

PLUS Presence of eight of eleven symptoms, or six of eleven symptoms and two of the three major signs:

Symptoms: Mild fever, recurrent sore throat, painful lymph nodes, muscle weakness, muscle pain, prolonged fatigue after exercise, recurrent headache, migratory joint pain, neurological or psychological complaints: (sensitivity to bright light, forgetfulness, confusion, irritability, inability to concentrate, depression), sleep disturbance, sudden onset of symptom complex.

Signs: Low-grade fever, sore throat without signs or pus, palpable tender lymph nodes.

Personally I don’t believe that this diagnosis is a very useful one. To say that you have a disease is to attach yourself to a set of symptoms that can become your identity. I had a lot of signs from my body that I wasn’t living the way my body was designed to live. Sometimes diagnosis is the kick up the butt we need to do something about it, unfortunately too often it’s an excuse to add the billion $ industry that is anti-depressant drugs.

Main signs: Generalised aches or stiffness of at least 3 anatomical sites for at least 3 months, 6 or more typical reproducible tender points / trigger points, exclusion of all other disorders that can cause similar symptoms

Secondary signs: Generalised fatigue, chronic headaches, sleep disturbances, neurological complaints, joint swelling, numbness and tingling sensation, joint swelling, irritable bowel syndrome, variation in symptoms as a result of activity level, stress and weather changes.

The following 8 tips are a mix of the most well proven methods for overcoming fatigue and some of the things that helped me most.

1. Eat real foods the way nature intended. All foods were organic up until the industrial revolution which is a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms. There is no doubt that pesticides kill, that is what they were designed to do. Some people say a bit won’t hurt you. If you do the research you’ll see that organic food is clearly superior to the pumped up chemical alternative. (For more on this check out “You Are What You Eat” – Paul Chek)

2. Use digestive aids and a low allergen, nutrient dense diet like the Paleo diet. Death begins in the gut as people who’ve been through any of the above conditions will know. Once the body stops being able to assimilate nutrients we go into a downward spiral of being nutrient deficient and unable to assimilate nutrients from our food. (For more about the gut-brain relationship check out “The Second Brain” – Michael D Gershon, MD)

3. Omega 3 : Omega 6 ratios – the modern diet delivers omega 3:6 ratios of 1:15-30 where our primal living brothers and sisters (past and present) are at 1:1-3. Just getting this right can make the world of difference and it takes almost no effort!! Start with high doses (10-20g/day) of fish oil together with coconut oil. Saturated fats stop fragile omega-3 fatty acids being oxidised which would cause increased oxidative stress on the body. (Charles Poliquin and Loren Cordain have both written extensively on this)

If nothing else chronic fatigue symptoms teach us the importance of rest. The difference between a good nights sleep and a bad nights sleep can be suffering through the next day praying for it to end or enjoying it.

4. Getting your magnesium levels right could literally have you out cold like you’d just been in the ring with Mike Tyson but without the nasty wake-up! People with magnesium deficiency who take intravenous magnesium have been known to fall asleep INSTANTLY! Magnesium is also very important for bone health and neurotransmitter function among other things. Deficiency is very common. If you get toe cramps or eye twitches you almost definitely have a deficiency. (Check out “The Magnesium Miracle” – Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. – the diagnosis criteria were taken from her book)

5. Let your body know it’s night time. If your house looks like Las Vegas just before you go to bed chances are your bodies innate signals for night and day are being messed with. If cortisol is up you may as well be laying in bed trying to give yourself nightmares running through images of your worst fears! Use candles at night and don’t watch TV, computer or mobile phone screens in the hour before you go to bed. Books are good option if you can’t think of anything better to do. (For more about sleep read “Light Out” – T.S. Wiley)

Most people don’t exercise often enough those that do normally do too much and choose poor training options.

6. If you’re struggling for energy then Tai Chi, walking, gentle bike rides or playing with kids are great options to get active. The key is that you should feel like you have more energy half an hour after you’ve finished than when you started. If you’re tired and sore you did too much! (Read – “How to Eat Move and Be Healthy” by Paul Chek.)

7. Don’t sit for too long. Like a stagnant body of water compared to a river movement is key to your inner health.

What I’m talking about here is being grateful and getting your mind in right. If you’re thinking about and living negative experiences through TV and media you will subconsciously create that reality.

8. Media ban – avoid the bad news everyday and you will make the world a better place. Millions of wonderful things happen everyday for every few actions that could be seen as negative.

9. Laugh – it might all be over tomorrow so why not vibrate on a higher level today! Sometimes I have to do this one at home on my own because I get too caught up in my days to enjoy them. (Check out http://www.drcliffoliver.com)

By no means are these the only solutions to the symptoms I described above but I defy anyone to take on the 8 challenges and not see an improvement in their quality of life and therefore in the world as a whole!

We’re all  in this together!

As a kid I ran everywhere non-stop. My mum gave me almost all whole foods and steered me away from non-foods and sugar as much as she could. Still I was constantly experiencing over-use injuries through my youth and other symptoms that maybe I wasn’t cut out to be the warrior I wanted to be. I got ear infections and croup almost every-time I got a cold, my jaw is too small for my teeth and a bunch of other stuff you don’t even want to know about. All warning signs that if I steered too far off the course of good nutrition and lifestyle I didn’t have far to go to hit a wall of bad health. In my teens I took low dose antibiotics and abused alcohol whilst on a low-fat diet all of which are common in the history of people with depression and chronic fatigue. I was depressed and thought about ending my life often through the darker times.

Fast-forward through 4 years of travel and exploration of traveling through latin america, outback living, street sales, working on a farms and being vegetarian and I’d used up all the vitality reserve I’d been given. I was trashed and definitely ticking more boxes than I would have liked on the chronic fatigue list. I took on the job at the Catalans Dragons knowing that the only way I was going to be able to get to work each day let alone train was to learn everything I could about health and apply it. That’s been my journey and I’m happy to say that it’s working. I don’t think you ever really get over chronic fatigue since it was never really there! If I train to much and miss out on too many things that I need to do to stay healthy I start ticking boxes again. As time goes on I’m learning that I can be strong and healthy! My mission is to share and invite others into that experience on KeeganSH.com

If you have questions regarding this article or any other please post them in the Q&A section or on the KeeganSH.com facebook page! If you’re interesting in contributing to the website or need help re-establishing your health you can contact me at keeganrs@gmail.com