Chronic fatigue syndrome is a difficult condition to treat because so much about this condition is unknown at the time. Typically thought to be only a symptom of a much larger condition, such as Lyme disease or depression, chronic fatigue syndrome has only recently been recognized as a disorder in its own right. Often sparked by flu like symptoms that subside but render the patient burdened by ongoing fatigue, this illness can cause more serious conditions like depression, grave health problems and diabetes through inactivity. Quality of life is also drastically impacted. Nevertheless, there do exist a number of chronic fatigue syndrome treatment options.  The following are four common options that are prescribed by doctors.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Found to be the most effective treatment for treating chronic fatigue syndrome, cognitive behavior therapy focuses on direct consultations with someone suffering from this illness. Through intensive sessions, medical professionals attempt to rectify chronic fatigue syndrome by not only helping the patient cope with their negative feelings stemming from chronic fatigue syndrome but also addressing possible ways of curing their condition. The main downside of cognitive behavior therapy is that the results wildly differ from patient to patient. Therapy is also far more effective at helping the patient cope with the condition rather than finding any last cure.

Graded Exercise Therapy

This treatment option is similar to cognitive behavior therapy but involves a gradually increasing schedule of physical exercises to help patients become active once more. The incremental nature of the exercise is beneficial for people with chronic fatigue syndrome as the impact of these workouts are generally very low. However, ratcheting up the intensity over time allows someone with chronic fatigue to acclimate to greater amounts of physical activity, thereby helping compensate for many of the sedentary side effects that come from continual fatigue, such as weight gain, lack of energy, depression and diabetes.

Antiviral Medications

Used by medical professionals who subscribe to the belief that chronic fatigue syndrome is caused by a yet unidentified virus in the body, doses of powerful antiviral drugs, such as Ampligen, Valacyclovir and Interferon are introduced into the body of a person with this illness. While a very experimental form of treatment, using antiviral drugs for chronic fatigue has yielded inconsistent results. This may be due to how different patients react to different forms of antiviral medications but, for the most part, more evidence is needed to determine if these medications are at all effective at treating chronic fatigue.

Pharmacological Treatments

Early tests have demonstrated that pharmacological treatments are not capable of curing chronic fatigue but can be used to help manage symptoms of the condition. Such drugs include antidepressants which can aid patients in dealing with their feelings of helplessness and depression that arises from suffering from chronic fatigue. Hormones have also been used to help increase the energy levels of patients suffering from chronic fatigue but due to the sensitive nature of hormone therapies, this treatment option is often not recommended unless extensive testing is first conducted on a patient.

While these are not the only options, the four chronic fatigue syndrome treatment options above are the most commonly prescribed treatments.  If you are suffering from extreme tiredness and feel that you may suffer from this illness then make an appointment to see your doctor and discuss your symptoms as well as any methods your doctor may think would be a good method to treat your condition.