The most commonly known symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is fatigue, giving it its name.

However, there are lots of other serious symptoms that can come with the illness, and vary from person to person. Some of these symptoms include joint and muscle pain throughout the body, depression, poor immune response, digestive troubles, and cardiac and respiratory problems.

Difficult to diagnose
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be difficult to diagnose, and has specific criteria used by care givers, including symptoms that have been present for at least six months. Care givers also have to take the time to rule out any other cause for the symptoms. Basically, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is diagnosed when everything else has been eliminated; there's not a specific test to determine whether or not you have the illness.

Since the illness itself is still so misunderstood, treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is also uncertain. Generally, it is usually managed more than cured.

Many people seek cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise therapy to help them manage their condition. There are also some medications that seem to help manage Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, including anti depressants, and steroids.

Natural approach
If you're looking for a more natural approach to managing the illness, though, how you live your life is key. Just as with any illness, it's important to take care of yourself, but since Chronic Fatigue Syndrome especially affects your body when you're under stress, tired, or not getting the exercise and nutrients you need, it's even more important for you to take the time to make sure you're physically and emotionally healthy.

This includes getting a good night's sleep, making sure you're eating a healthy, balanced diet, and doing everything you can to life a stress free, relaxing lifestyle. In addition to cognitive behavioral therapy, you may need to incorporate stress relieving activities into your daily routine. Meditating, finding relaxing hobbies, practicing yoga, or other things like that may help you feel better emotionally, which will help you feel better physically.

Keep yourself healthy with "pacing"
One method used to help keep yourself healthy with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is called "pacing." This means you change your lifestyle and activities to live within the limitations of the illness. This will avoid the "crash" that comes with pushing too hard, and the theory behind it is that if you don't push too hard, you'll be able to increase your activity levels little by little over time.

This is a similar theory to the energy envelope theory, which has you increase your activity little by little, while listening to your body to prevent yourself from doing too much.

Herbal Supplements
Many people also choose to use natural herbal supplements to help manage their Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Since herbal supplements work with your body naturally to make it healthier, and give you more energy naturally, without the harsh side effects you can experience with medications that include chemicals and artificial ingredients.

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