I wanted to start by saying how thankful I am to Zana Carver, author of The End of Chronic Fatigue, for asking me to be part of her book by writing the foreword. 
I actually only read a draft copy of the first two chapters before writing the foreword, so it wasn’t until the book’s release day that I was able to fully read it in all its glory. I knew Zana would do a great job and I devoured it in two hours which made my heart glow as I was so pleased to have been involved (if only in a small way!)
I may reference back to this book and what I’ve learned from it throughout my blog posts.
The End of Chronic Fatigue was a relatable and compelling read from start to finish. It begins with a retelling of the authors’ (Zana and Gina) own thyroid stories and how they realised that their chronic fatigue which affected all areas of their life, were from non-optimally managed thyroid issues (such as hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s).
Talking about the afternoon energy crashes, climbing stairs being difficult, family events being exhausting and feeling forgetful, they really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the debilitating symptoms of thyroid disease.
The authors are Zana Carver PhD, an assistant professor of biology with extensive experience in research, and Gina Heath INHC, an integrative nutrition health coach. Between them, they have personal experience with Hashimoto’s, Thyroid Cancer and Hypothyroidism, which they use to form the basis of the book and delve in to the research they’ve done as thyroid patients and advocates.
The aim of this book is to equip the reader with reassurance that they are not alone in their chronic fatigue experiences as well as give the knowledge and resources in order to get better. And I love the hope that it instills in the reader that this can be achieved. I didn’t find the book to be a daunting or overwhelming read at all but comforting and a real page turner. I read it all in one sitting!
I found the information on suicide rates correlating with thyroid disease and medical gaslighting passages to be hugely interesting yet also quite shocking (it says that 40% of of annual suicide cases have positive thyroid antibodies). The authors really aren’t afraid to say it like it is and shout about thyroid advocacy from the rooftops. It’s a really refreshing attitude if I’m honest.
The book covers what thyroid dysfunction is and how it occurs, treatment, issues with treatment (such as still feeling unwell despite being on thyroid meds), the other factors that often also need to be addressed (such as diet, triggers, exercise and stress). They’ve done a really good job of creating a well-researched and interesting read that isn’t difficult to digest or hard on the brain. So if you’re feeling fatigued and brain fogged from thyroid disease, you should still be able to absorb all the great info.
The writing is down to Earth and honest, confessing that bumps in the roads and slip ups in health are just part of being human, and that definitely adds a human and realistic quality to the book that many others do not have. Agreeing with my message of each thyroid patient being unique and therefore needing to be treated as such, I found myself nodding along to a lot of the themes.
The chapters are long enough that they contain lots of useful and practical tips but short enough that you can read it and process it in bitesize chunks. Covering the importance of testing and the tests you need to be asking for, the several thyroid medication options (and why some may work better than others), nutrition, supplements, exercise, stress and more, it’s a really good place to find your feet amongst all the thyroid information out there.
This book will be helpful to so many people. It is detailed though concise, and goes into just the right amount of detail, without being too overwhelming.
Hot topics such as The Keto Diet, Paleo Diet and Intermittent Fasting are also all covered in the chapter on food and nutrition. Some mouth watering recipes are even included which look easy enough to make; breakfast muffins, smoothies, burgers and more.
The End of Chronic Fatigue delivers a solid dose of reassurance, hope and recognition for those whose lives really have been devastated by chronic fatigue. I felt really uplifted after finishing it and it’s up there among my favourite thyroid patient books.
You can get a copy of this book from Amazon.
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