CFS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: chronic and persistent fatigue and weakness in the absence of any other physical condition. This basically means that they don’t really know what it is, so it becomes “CFS” by default.

Symptoms aside from the fatigue include (and worsen upon physical or mental stress or exertion):

Sore throat
Loss of memory
Difficulty concentrating
Enlarged lymph nodes
Headache
Wandering joint pain

One problem with this is that these symptoms are also included in the list of certain types of infection, most notably Lyme disease.  They are also present in mood disorders like depression and also other psychological conditions.

Today I would like to take another question from the files of reader polls: What in the world can cause waves of pain upon waking?

This comes up from time to time as people write in about the Stop Snoring and Insomnia programs. However, this question is a bit more generalized than what people usually ask me.

To find out what is causing waking pain, we first need to find out when the waking pain is happening, and also where the pain is occurring.

Watching the storm systems roll across the United States as well as other countries since the holidays has triggered a concern in me for my readers and clients who suffer from fibromyalgia. This chronic condition, known for its often relentless debilitating pain, does not mix well with frigid temperatures.

I watched the forecasts week to week as the dark blues and purples of sub-zero temperatures pillaged the continental US down to even Florida and Texas. You know it’s way too cold when vultures come to roost en mass on condo patios.

Some of the best natural aids for easing fibromyalgia pain involve heat in a variety of applications, whether it’s with a heating pad, hot stone massage, aqua therapy in a heated pool, or other means.