Fibromyalgia/ CFS can be caused by a whole range of factors. 

Generally speaking, only doctors and therapists with first hand experience in the treatment and management of these conditions will have the time, testing equipment and expertise to tell you the most likely causes of your illness, and provide an accurate diagnosis and prognosis.

Recent research points toward a variety of triggers prevalent in these fatigue spectrum conditions.

1/ A chronic bacterial infection which has over-run the ability of your immune system to cope. You can be infected through a variety of mediums.

2/ A viral/ chemical exposure which entered your system causing brain and spinal cord lesions, leaving the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems in a state of chaos. The condition is then maintained and exacerbated by excess toxicity caused by a failing lymphatic system.

3/ Could it be that a simple gamma retrovirus (such as XMRV) has entered your system which replicating at a DNA level, allowing the host to survive, but in a weakened fatigued state. Only time and research will tell.

4/ A viral/ chemical exposure which entered your system causing a temporary brain injury in the area that deals specifically with immune response.

Types 1,2 and 3 will cause the most prolonged/ permanent type of Fibromyalgia/ CFS, with Type 4 being mostly related to the type of post-viral illness PVFS caused by Epstein Barr.

In otherwise healthy patients PVFS will usually dissipate over a period of 3 to 6 months and should not necessarily result in, or be classed as, Fibromyalgia/CFS. Although multiple episodes of the same virus can lead to permanent fatigue conditions.

So what is the strategy that I propose for the symptoms caused by Type 1 and 2 and 3 triggers.

The strategy I am going to outline requires multiple interventions and this has to be so for good reason.

Fibromyalgia/CFS of Type 1 etiology is likely to have been triggered by borellia burgdorferi (or a borellial sub strain), a mycoplasmal infection, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, or one of a host of other infectious agents. 

Please note once again that I specifically use the word triggered, and not caused.

There is currently a lot of research into Lyme’s disease and similar infections as a theory and subdivision of research into Fibromyalgia and CFS.

If you were traveling in tropical or subtropical regions prior to the onset of your condition, you should visit a tropical disease clinic. 

Bacterial infections are notoriously difficult to diagnose, they are transmitted by a variety of ticks and insects. Your doctor will most likely not have the necessary facilities to attempt a diagnosis.

However, and this is key to what we are trying to achieve.

The core treatment is the same for Fibromyalgia and CFS of all types, but a separate regime can be added to deal with type 1 which will facilitate quicker overall recovery.

Why is this, what is going on?

A healthy functional immune system should be able to cope with these bacterial and viral infections over a period of time.

Where bacterial invasion is suspected a short course of antibiotics should be adequate to return the patient to full health.

Similarly with viral/chemical infections we do not have the luxury of antibiotics, but a normal immune system in conjunction with the body’s normal defense mechanisms and organs of elimination should regularize an otherwise healthy system within a few weeks or so.

Indeed almost the entire population shows evidence of being carriers of borrelia or one of its subtypes, so there’s no doubt in my mind that the presence of these organisms is certainly NOT the direct cause of Fibromyalgia and CFS. 

So why do these agents trigger Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome seemingly at random in a significant percentage of people.

It’s my opinion that a chronic infection of these types can, in those predisposed, be the trigger for an episode of Fibromyalgia/ CFS, and indeed be a sustaining factor in the disease process, in much the same way that viral and chemical attacks are known to trigger an episode.

None of these agents are by themselves the cause. 

Most Lyme’s disease patients make a full recovery over a period of months and years.

In the next article i detail intervention and effective treatment strategies for these appalling conditions.