What are chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM)?

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are illnesses that often coexist and affect millions of Americans. Symptoms vary amongst individuals and commonly include severe fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive problems (commonly called brain fog), muscle pain and multiple infections. Unfortunately, many individuals and physicians continue to deny that these syndromes are legitimate diseases. The medical literature is, however, very clear that these are legitimate diseases and individuals with these syndromes have measurable hypothalamic, pituitary, immune and coagulation dysfunction. These abnormalities then result in a cascade of further abnormalities, in which stress plays a role by suppressing immunity and hypothalamic-pituitary function.

Both of these are two names for what often is the same condition. These syndromes reflect an energy crisis in your body where you are spending more energy than you're able to make and you essentially blow a fuse (called the hypothalamus). If you have severe insomnia along with chronic fatigue and widespread pain, then there's a good chance you have these or a related process. The solution? Increase energy production and get rid of those things that are draining energy. Resting by itself is usually not enough. Our published placebo-controlled study showed that treating with what we call the “SHINE Protocol” resulted in 90% of patients improving with an average 91% increase in quality of life. SHINE stands for Sleep, Hormones, Infections, Nutrition, and Exercise. A recent study of ours just accepted for publication showed that a special nutrient called ribose (5,000 mg 3x a day for three weeks and then 2x a day) increased energy production an average of 61% after three weeks. So this offers a powerful new addition to our treatment options.