Fatigue comes in many shapes and sizes, especially these days. It is common with and after Covid, and for Covid long haulers. Fatigue is also a common symptom for many people with chronic illnesses and autoimmune diseases. It affects 4 out of 5 people with fibromyalgia and is the hallmark of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which is the disabling chronic illness I've had for over 20 years and that I've been gradually improving from using trauma perspectives and approaches.
Fatigue is also affecting a large number of us as a result of the stress and trauma of the pandemic, which is an invisible threat we cannot fight outright or flee.
Fatigue is a normal response to nervous system perceptions of threat. According to UC San Diego Dr. Robert Naviaux's cell danger response theory, fatigue can arise when our cells cannot maintain 100% energy production while also protecting us at full throttle, even from perceived threat. These effects are in our biology and our physiology and are not "psychological."
Learn more about how adversity affects your energy levels and what you can do to reduce stress, improve sleep, clear the brain fog and more.
4 Talks on Stress, Trauma and Fatigue
Join me and 3 other speakers for topics specifically related to Stress and Trauma at the Fatigue Super Conference
Veronique Mead, MD, MA
The Cell Danger Response and Fatigue
My talk with host Kirsty Cullen includes some of my story with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a focus on the cell danger response (CDR), research behind it and study that explains how ME/CFS reflects a state of relative "freeze" that is not in your head.
Making Sense of Symptoms so We Can Find Tools That Fit Us
- Working with freeze - how the act of "doing" can trigger more freeze
- Working to heal threat perceptions can take time. It's like planting seeds. Sometimes shifts can happen quickly
- It takes courage to walk the path of chronic fatigue and chronic illness. As Kirsty puts it, "The people who come to our clinic are Brave."
- Why different events can lead to the same illness
- Why onset may be fast for some and slow for others (like for me)
- The study that showed how chronic fatigue reflects a body caught in freeze, with 80% of abnormal metabolic waste products showing biological changes in the direction of hibernation-like freeze
- Why it's not in your head
- The freeze response, the intelligence underneath it - and how it interrupts what is happening to lead some of us to get stuck in states of fight, flight, freeze or some combination of these in chronic illness
- How and why understanding trauma can help make sense of symptoms and offer hope and tools for healing
Diane Heller, PhD
Surviving Isolation by Understanding Attachment Theory
I did part of my somatic experiencing (SE) training as a trauma therapist with Dr. Diane Poole Heller who has a massive amount of experience teaching about trauma and healing its effects. Her talk is about attachment trauma..
Irene Lyon, MSC
How Childhood Trauma Affects Fatigue
Irene Lyon combines her training in somatic experiencing, feldenkrais and beyond to makes sense of and work with chronic illness from trauma and nervous system perspectives. While I don't know her personally I have seen her videos and blog posts, which provide superb insights into symptoms and polyvagal theory.
Ameet Aggarwal, ND
How Emotional Stress Affects Your Body
Ameet Aggarwal is a naturopathic doctor and homeopath. While I don't know Ameet nor the exact topic of his talk, his work offers insights on the role of stress. Dr. Aggarwal incorporates the role of trauma in his private practice and he works with chronic illness using additional training as a psychotherapist with EMDR and Family Constellations for working with multigenerational trauma. This is another talk to keep an eye out for.
Here's where you can learn more.
The Fatigue Super Conference - a Free Online Summit
April 19 - 25th, 2021
Over 40 talks on working with body systems that influence fatigue
(the gut, immune system, nervous system, toxins, emotions, the environment, ...)
AND
ways to decrease your fatigue
(nutrition, yoga, meditation, functional medicine, trauma therapies...)
I've presented at Alex's online conference before and he and his team have taken steps to provide more diversity among speakers than has been common in summits.
April 19-25 2021
Register Here
******Each talk is FREE for about 24 hours******
* This is an affiliate link. I will receive 50% of any purchases made through this link, which I will apply towards continued writing on my blog about the science of adversity in risk for chronic illness where I provide free ACE fact sheets, ebooks and more. You can remove the information after the last forward slash (/) in the url to remove the affiliate link if you'd like.
The Fatigue Super Conference includes a short free video with stories shared by a musician, business professional and others who have had severe, disabling chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and who have recovered.
Alex Howard, the founder of this conference is one of the ones speaking in this mini documentary who recovered from ME/CFS. He has co-founded an organization (Optimum Health) that facilitates health and healing for people with chronic fatigue syndrome. They also conduct research with the profits from the summit if you want to purchase access to all of the talks to watch on your own timing.
The Summit Includes
- Short Video "Secrets to Recovery" (free on registering)
- Guided yoga
- Guided meditations
- Case study reviews for professionals
Other Talks at the Fatigue Super Conference
Other speakers include:
- Dr. Sarah Myhill (known for her work with ME/CFS)
- Dr Jacob Teitelbaum (known for his work with ME/CFS)
- Dr. Terry Wahls (known for her personal journey with multiple sclerosis)
- Dr Omowunmi Osinubi (Veterans, Environmental toxins, Gulf War Syndrome)
- Nick Ortner (EFT/Tapping for better sleep)
- Dr Armin Schwarzbach (chronic infections)
- Dr Tom O'Bryan (autoimmunity and balancing your gut)
- Gail Aylward (Yoga for deep rest and healing)
- Dr Christine Schaffner (Supporting immune function with long-COVID)
- Sarah Ramey (Practical tools for living with chronic illness; author of a memoir
- Gail Aylward (Yoga for deep rest and healing)
- Dr Evan Hirsch (Co-infections and how to address them)
- Dr Gabi Macaulay (a GP: How inflammation causes fatigue)
- Donna Gates (The Body Ecology Diet: Healing your gut to reduce inflammation)
- Lodro Rinzler (Mindfulness for deep rest and sleep)
- Dr Anu Arasu (Hormone balancing for pain and fatigue)
- Dr Carsten Nicolaus (How to address tick-borne diseases and fatigue)
- Laura Stirling (Functional laboratory testing for fatigue)
- Dr Suman Gupta (Practical strategies for managing COVID-19)
- Dr Jodie Dashore (Plant-based approach to autism, Lyme and mold illness)
- Dr Eva Detko (Vagus nerve stimulation to calm your nervous system)
- Dr Carrie Jones (Cortisol, mitochondria, and the stress response)
- Dr Gayetri Chudasama (Balancing digestion for better sleep and energy)
- and more
Register Here
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