Eschew Obfuscation

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Cure and Theory

Posted by Max Dunn Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:51:00 GMT

I had my first bout of chronic fatigue in 1983. Back then, it was thought to be Ebstein Barr virus and I had to drop out of school for 6 months to get back to the point where I could function. Since then, I have continued battling my chronic fatigue and found something that has allowed me to control it – Vitamin C.

If I take 1000 mg of timed release Vitamin C sometime before going to bed (9 pm seems to work well) and then wake up at 2 am and take another, I can get a good night’s sleep. Otherwise, I usually wake up at 3 or 4 am and can’t go back to sleep for at least 2 hours and then will be exhausted the next day.

Here is my theory as to what is causing my chronic fatigue syndrome. (Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and have no formal medical training; this is just my wild theory based on research and observations.) In our digestive system, there is a lot of gram-negative bacteria. This bacteria is surrounded by a coating of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Now LPS is pretty nasty stuff and if too much of it gets into your system, it will kill you. But at lower doses it has several effects including contracting smooth-muscles and acting as a stimulant. It is this last effect that I believe is the cause of chronic fatigue.

What if your body had a low level stimulant being released throughout the day and night? At first, you would get a charge from it, like drinking coffee, but your sleep patterns would be messed up and you would never be able to get into a deep sleep. So after several days, you would be exhausted, but wouldn’t be able to get a refreshing sleep. Presto – a recipe for chronic fatigue.

So how can LPS cause chronic fatigue? Well remember when I mentioned that LPS contracts smooth-muscles? Well guess what kind of muscles are in your intestines? Smooth muscles! So if LPS starts to cause the intestines to contract, it will slow down or stop their movement. Then the gram-negative bacteria will start to die and their coating of LPS will be released which will cause the intestinal wall to contract more. Then the LPS will be absorbed through the intestines and get into the lymph system and blood stream and then start acting as a stimulant. It can also be deposited in muscles which may be the cause of fibromyalgia (muscle pain).

So why does the Vitamin C help? Vitamin C will irritate the intestines causing them to start moving again which helps keep the bacteria from dying and releasing their LPS. It may also help prevent the LPS from being transported through the intestinal wall.

What kind of Vitamin C works? Time-released Vitamin C of either 500 mg or 1000 mg seems to work best. Chewable Vitamin C doesn’t seem to have any affect and normal Vitamin C seems to work, but not as well. Once, I did buy a 1000 mg Vitamin C that was smaller than normal, but it didn’t work. The biggest side effect from these high doses of Vitamin C is that it can cause diarrhea.

This theory about LPS causing chronic fatigue syndrome could be completely wrong, but it does seem that taking a Vitamin C before bedtime and then one in the middle of the night has allowed me to control my chronic fatigue syndrome. I would be interested to hear from anyone else that tries this to see if it makes a difference in their CFS symptoms.