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symptoms). These symptoms often follow an initial, acute bout of flu-like symptoms. The most common symptoms of CFS include tender lymph nodes, recurrent sore throat, wandering joint pain, muscle pain and weakness, foggy brain, headaches, hypersomnia or insomnia, poor memory, depression, and anxiety.


Chronic Fatigue Syndrome According to Traditional Chinese Medicine


Since a syndrome involves various symptoms of unknown etiol-


ogy, biomedical practitioners can often find them difficult to treat; however, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can offer effective solutions to treating these kinds of health issues. Since TCM looks for patterns of symptoms to reach a diagnosis, many people find relief when their seemingly unrelated medical issues are actually ‘a textbook pattern’ according to a practitioner of TCM. In other words, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome may have no known etiology in the world of biomedicine, but within TCM the symptoms often manifest as an easily recognizable pattern associated with a particu- lar organ. In the case of CFS, the most common diagnosis involves a Liver-Spleen disharmony.


The Liver According to Traditional Chinese Medicine


In TCM, the Liver is the organ in charge of maintaining the smooth, unrestrained movement of qi. The Liver helps us stay adapt- able, so that we can roll with life’s unpredictable punches. The more constrained the Liver qi becomes, the more inflexible (liter- ally and figuratively) we become in our bodies and spirit. We feel frustrated, depressed, irritable, and “stuck” as the liver qi becomes more constrained. Liver qi can be constrained quite easily – the top two culprits


involve emotional or day-to-day stress and excessive consumption of energetically “hot” foods (including excessive red meat con- sumption, poor quality fats, hot spices, and alcohol). Physically, a constrained Liver can manifest as headaches, insomnia, painful menstruation, and muscle pain. A constrained Liver can also affect (attack) the Spleen and Stomach, which govern the digestive system. This can manifest as nausea, abdominal pain, epigastric pain, GERD, and fluctuating constipation and diarrhea (basically, the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome).


The Spleen According to Traditional Chinese Medicine


Think of the Spleen as the digestive center. The Spleen also “houses the power of Thought,” which includes the power to con- centrate and absorb information. The thought process essentially mimics the digestive process (we take in information, extract what is useful, and discard the rest). Overthinking and overeating, no matter the quality of the thought/food, can damage the Spleen. Irregular and excessive eating, as well as hurried eating or


eating while stressed will deplete the Spleen. When the Spleen is weakened, the first sign is fatigue. This is also often accompanied by a surge in cravings for sugar and white flour.


Other symptoms of a weakened Spleen include poor appetite, abdominal distention after eating, a tendency to ‘overthink’, weak- ness of the limbs, loose stools or diarrhea, a sense of pressure in the epigastric and chest region(s), varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and heaviness of the head and limbs.


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Other Common Patterns of Disharmony


Often times, the following pattern(s) may accompany the Liver/ Spleen disharmony explained above. Occasionally, they present alone or in a combination with another pattern listed here. Shaoyang Syndrome: initial viral infection that “never clears”, fa- tigue, alternating chills and fever, a bitter taste in the mouth, blurred vision, nausea, bloating, poor appetite, headache, stomachache, pain around the ribs, irregular heartbeat, depression, and irritability. Phlegm Obstruction and Dampness Retention: this pattern often accompanies a weakened Spleen and can make an illness more difficult to treat; includes fatigue, persistent drowsiness, a sensation of a lump in the back of the throat that cannot be expectorated or swallowed, chest tightness, puffy face, edematous legs, a feeling of being “weighted down”, and a tendency to be overweight. Heat Toxicity: fatigue, whole body aches, sore and tender muscles and joints, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes around the neck, persistent mild fever, and hot flashes.


Treatment Based on the Individual’s Specific Pattern of Symptoms


If you were to talk to ten people who have been diagnosed with CFS, they would probably all agree that fatigue is the com- mon denominator in their individual experiences. However, if they were to sit down and talk, it would quickly become clear that the subtleties of their illness vary greatly. In addition to the fatigue, one person might suffer from chronic headaches, another might have joint pain, and another might have nausea and depression. Know- ing the full picture of the patient’s experience is invaluable, both to the patient (who feels that their experience has been heard and validated) and the practitioner (who needs to make an accurate diagnosis in order to treat effectively). In Traditional Chinese Medicine there is a 4-pronged approach to treating illness once a diagnosis is confirmed. The practitioner will use acupuncture (and/or moxibustion), Chinese herbal medi- cine, dietary changes, and lifestyle modifications in order to help the patient return to health. Traditional Chinese Medicine has a positive history of treating patients who have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and should be considered a viable, ef- fective treatment option upon diagnosis.


Lauren Breau, L.Ac. is a Maine native and a Bowdoin alum. She is an acupuncturist at Wildwood Community Acupuncture, where ev- eryone is treated, regardless of income. For details, please see www. wildwoodmedicine.com. See ad on page 17.


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