End Fatigue
The SHINE Approach to Treating CFS/FM
What is SHINE?
In his 30 years of clinical experience treating CFS/FM, and in his landmark study on Effective Treatment of CFS/FM, Dr. Teitelbaum has found that his SHINE approach is successful in the vast majority of patients. SHINE identifies the following five health guidelines when creating a treatment program for CFS/FM:
S = | SLEEP: Get adequate sleep, preferably eight to nine hours a night. Sleep replenishes the body's energy and heals its muscles. Inadequate sleep will leave you exhausted and in pain. |
H = | HORMONES: Get tested for hormone deficiency and treated if needed. Hormone deficiencies can contribute to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. |
I = | INFECTIONS: Get treatment when symptoms of infections occur. The lack of restorative sleep in CFS/FM leads to dysfunctional immune systems. Underlying viral, bacterial, bowel, sinus and yeast infections are common and can be a contributing cause or result of CFS/FM. |
N = | NUTRITONAL SUPPLEMENTS: Optimal nutritional supplementation is essential. Many nutrients can be depleted as a result of CFS/FM. B-12, magnesium, Acetyl L Carnitine and glutathione, as well as your basic A, B, C and D vitamins need to be supplemented at a level that your average over the counter multivitamin cannot provide. |
E = | EXERCISE: Exercise as able. After 10 weeks on the 4 steps above, you will be able to slowly increase your exercise-without being wiped out the next day! |
The SHINE Treatment Protocol
The "SHINE Treatment Protocol" is an itemized list of all the common treatments for CFS/FM, both natural and prescription, that can be used by a patient or practitioner. A personalized treatment plan can be created from this list by identifying the underlying causes of CFS/FM, based on an analysis of the(a) patient's particular symptoms.
Our free Symptom Analysis Program can evaluate your symptoms and automatically identify which treatments on the SHINE Protocol list apply to your CFS/FMS case. It asks a series of questions about your symptoms and analyzes your answers to determine the likely causes of your illness. It then "checks off" the treatments you likely need in the SHINE Protocol list. (For example, if you answer questions indicating you have dry skin, achiness and unusual weight gain, this could indicate a thyroid hormone deficiency. If so, the program might check off a treatment suggesting you begin taking Armour Thyroid.)
The result is a complete treatment protocol fully tailored to your specific symptoms.
You can download the SHINE Treatment Protocol as a pdf document to see its content, or to print the 40 page document.
What to Expect
It takes an average of six weeks to begin to feel the benefits of your treatment. During this time, you should chart important information about your treatment progress, such as dates when you start or stop individual treatments, and their effects.
For most of you, CFS/FM took months to fully manifest. It can also take several months to get well. Although the SHINE protocol gives you the fastest path to healing, keep in mind that total recovery can take several months to over a year. You should remain on the treatment program until you are feeling consistently well for six months or more (with no back-sides). After that, you can taper off the program by discontinuing one treatment every one to two weeks. The gradual tapering is recommended so that you can make sure a particular treatment is no longer needed. Although it isn't usually necessary, any or all of the treatments can be used forever without harm. Many patients choose to continue several treatments long term after stopping the majority of them. Reading your body’s signals and taking your practitioner’s advice are your best tools in determining which treatments should be continued to remain well.
 | Find a physician near you who specializes in CFS/FM. |
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