CFS tips, treatments and resources

Hi

Here are a few websites I thought i'd share with you all regarding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:

http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/ho me/common/pain/disorders/031.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chronic-f atigue-syndrome/DS00395

Hope you find them helpful..

^Serenity^

I was labeled as having CFS/ME, and found out that all my symptoms were caused by two prescribed meds, an antibiotic and antimalarial. I have been ill for 14 years with life threatening, serious health conditions. Often, we take an off the counter med or a prescribed med, suffer symptoms, wax and wane, cycling symptoms for many years. Sometimes, we can suffer from an immediate reaction or delayed reaction to those prescribed meds and not make the connection.

It took many years of research and communicating with other suffering the same symptoms that I found thousands like me. Roaccutane is another nasty drug, as are corticoseroids. Meds attaches to DNA adducts, cause mitochondrial dysfunction and a host of other diseases states encompassing multisystems. The meds I took, including contrast dye show it can cause damage to the thyroid and cause hypo, hyper, Hashimoto's, adrenals, cardiovascular, autonomic and more health problems.

I learnt a lot, and the cause of all my health probs can be traced back to those two prescribed meds I took 14 years ago!!

These are three quite bad sources of information linked above. CDC definition is so broad as to be useless and include many other disease. Familydoctor recommends exercise for a serious mitochondrial problem and keeps calling it "fatigue". And mayoclinic thinks ME/CFS is psychosomatic and tries to talk patients into committing themselves to their psych facilities after paying thousands of dollars for tests.

Summary of a proper ME/CFS definition is at http://www.cfids-cab.org/MESA/ccpc.html and the full text document is linked there in .pdf format.

Alkalizing your body, proper supplementation (especially multi-vitamins and multi-minerals), transfer factors, eating some sort of raw food with every meal. Probiotics are good, too. Take the load off of the digestive system so your energy can be optimized.

The physician at this is believes that neurotoxins from either bacterial infections, fungal infections, or mold (i.e. lyme disease, pfiesteria, ciquetera, candida albicans etc...) and subsequent immune response is the underlying cause for chronic fatigue.

Based on my personal experience and the research I have conducted makes me believe that his model is highly accurate.

Hope this helps.

This is a case where chronic serotonin syndrome was misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue. Apparently if there is too much serotonin in your brain you can have debilitating pain. Another thing I have just read is that osteoperosis is supposedly caused by too much serotonin in the stomach ??? This became a popular thing as beer reduces the serotonin in the stomach and beer drinkings were all talkin about it. So I looked it up. As I am having a bone desity test and it says something in the beer can reverse osteoperosis. I am not going to drink beer but if it turns out I have a problem I will look up the bit that is in the beer and see where ele I can get it bananas is one source I recall.

I have watched my Mom cope with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for years now. It wasn't until she found this that everything changed for her.

I was one of the early diagnosed people of ME, and then CFS and then SBS, and I found that once I removed myself away from overhead power lines, telecommunications equipment my symptoms vanished, until now. You can't get away from EMR and EMF and that is what I believe is the causation factor of ME, CFS, SBS, FBS, IBS and BMS. The same stuff also causes extreme Tinnitus.

Regards

Hi Guys-
like you, I've had CFS for about 7 years now. I've been regaining my muscle mass over the past four months after trying unsuccessfully to do so over a period of 6 months prior - the key was supplementing with some bodybuilding products.
In the process of researching this stuff I found several key components of bodybuilding supplements (glucose, L-glutamine, BCAA's and others) have an impact on CFS.
At any rate, I've now regained 3 kg of muscle mass, and feel better than I've felt in years. It's all down to (a) a graduated exercise program and (b) supplementing.
I've presented my findings to the Hamilton (New Zealand) CFS/ME society and they were quite impressed. I've compiled my findings into the following document hoping that other people can find this useful:

Cheers,
Matt

Did you inadvertently miss posting the document or am I missing where it is? I would be very interested in seeing that. Thanks!

I'm not sure if the system removed the link or what,

hi, been diagnosed previously with CFS since "nothing" was really found back then, things have changed since. But in short, nothing really helps me, stimulants do, but its not sustainable. But for me muscle relaxers make me way worse....

There is a strong correlation with people who complain about CFS symptoms and those with both sleep disorders and things like Myastenia Gravis. I was diagnosed this last year with Narcolepsy through a MSLT sleep study (all naps were positive for short REM). As for the fatigue, I have also developed more alarmign symptoms I am under evaluation for MG, waiting on blood results. I found that stimulants help me to keep it together a little (used for the narcolepsy), but I am still struggling with the fatigue otherwise, because the stimulants keep me up for a period of time, but it cant be sustained, so I crash and crash really hard into severe fatigue. I also found that I am reacting negatively to muscle relaxers to where I get my weakest.
I recommend getting a sleep study and going to a neuromuscular specialist, as MG is fleeting and not so easily diagnosed. There are blood tests that can detect abnormal antibodies in people, but is not always telling, as there are people who are sero negative. Get tested for acetylcholine receptor antibodies and anti-MUSK anti-body at least and when you are in the worst fatigue, go to a doc who can do an EMG on you then, because MG changes rapidly, also take a picture of your face or have someone do it and show it to your doc.

Overall, sometimes people have overlapping conditions that produce the total CFS picture, but they are not always correctly and expediently diagnosed. So you never really know if its CFS. All you know is what improves or makes it worse.

CFS is difficult, because the only way to really? diagnose it correctly, would require genetic testing, and there is still alot of information being discovered about this illness and what the clear indications are for diagnosis, especially as it pertains to diagnostic testing (if that even exists). Good luck.

Chronic fatigue symptoms of CFS, though they may overlap the symptoms of many other ailments, taken as a whole, can lead to proper diagnosis and treatment. The primary chronic fatigue symptoms that should be considered with a diagnosis of CFS include these eight “defining” symptoms:

*Cognitive dysfunction, including impaired memory or concentration
*Postexertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours (exhaustion and increased symptoms) following physical or mental exercise
*Non-restorative sleep
*Joint pain (without redness or swelling)
*Persistent muscle pain
*Headaches of a new type or severity
*Tender cervical or axillary lymph nodes
*Sore throat

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