(Whiney Wide White Women)
Posted on 07/17/2007 12:22:25 PM PDT by neverdem
For decades, people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome have struggled to convince doctors, employers, friends and even family members that they were not imagining their debilitating symptoms. Skeptics called the illness “yuppie flu” and “shirker syndrome.”
But the syndrome is now finally gaining some official respect. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which in 1999 acknowledged that it had diverted millions of dollars allocated by Congress for chronic fatigue syndrome research to other programs, has released studies that linked the condition to genetic mutations and abnormalities in gene expression involved in key physiological processes. The centers have also sponsored a $6 million public awareness campaign about the illness. And last month, the C.D.C. released survey data suggesting that the prevalence of the syndrome is far higher than previously thought, although these findings have stirred controversy among patients and scientists. Some scientists and many patients remain highly critical of the C.D.C.’s record on chronic fatigue syndrome, or C.F.S. But nearly everyone now agrees that the syndrome is real.
“People with C.F.S. are as sick and as functionally impaired as someone with AIDS, with breast cancer, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” said Dr. William Reeves, the lead expert on the illness at the C.D.C., who helped expose the centers’ misuse of chronic fatigue financing.
Chronic fatigue syndrome was first identified as a distinct entity in the 1980s. (A virtually identical illness had been identified in Britain three decades earlier and called myalgic encephalomyelitis.) The illness causes overwhelming fatigue, sleep disorders and other severe symptoms and afflicts more women than men. No consistent biomarkers have been identified and no treatments have been approved for addressing the underlying causes, although some medications provide symptomatic relief.
Patients say the word “fatigue” does not begin to describe their condition. Donna Flowers of Los Gatos, Calif...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I’ve been tired for 50 years, just had to work on through it.
One more made up illness to create demand for a pill to treat it.
I’d reply, but I’m too damn tired.
(Whiney Wide White Women)
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm not lazy. I've had Fibromyalgia and CFS since '92.
I wish people who make comments like yours had to live with it for just a few months. You'd change your tune if you did.
Yeah and any reputable doc in England thinks “myalgic encephalomyelitis” is a crock too.
it’s easy to call someone else lazy unless you’ve experienced the symptoms yourself.
I went through a 2 yr. period where I felt much like what is described in the article.
At one point I had lost my sight in one eye so they thought I had MS - but my MRI’s kept coming up clean.
One day...boom!...I felt better.
I keep crossing my fingers and praying it was a one-time deal.
Infuriating, isn’t it? Even more so when doctors are just as ignorant as some of the posters here. My wife, who was as active as any one could be took a real downturn a few years ago, in constant pain with waning energy. It was so bad that we were afraid it was cancer until we got all the testing done. We also were fortunate to finally find a doctor who wasn’t ready to dismiss physical symptoms out of hand as psychological problems.
“Every other doctor wanted to throw anti-depressants at me.”
I was getting to the point where they were wondering if I was depressed.
I remember thinking “sure I’m depressed - because I feel like crap! If I felt better I wouldn’t be depressed!”
When they can’t explain something they’re awfully quick to reach for that depression label.
I thought the title said “Clinton Fatigue”.
Best wishes to your wife. It's taken me a long time to come to a point of acceptance. About the only positive thing is that I really appreciate my "good" days.
AM, do you know if you had any type of vaccination around that time? The Hep B vaccine can cause symptoms that appear as CFS for all intents and purposes.
And to all the detractors out there - correlate the rise in this with the increased vaccination rates. Gulf War Syndrome is basically the same thing, and there are links to GWS and vaccinations.
Unfortunately, there will always be “ignorant” remarks made on a subject like this.
I have a friend with CFS. I have MS, and from talking to her, at times some of what she experiences seems very similar to what I experience. I find it interesting HHV-6 has also been implicated in MS, and now this article indicates it might be a trigger for CFS.
Back then people had these diseases and they were called invalids and just passed away.
Definitley no vaccinations at that time—I was still breastfeeding my son and wouldn’t have taken one.
The problem is when a disease or syndrome is not obvious and chronic, medicine is ill equipped to figure it out. Remember how long they ignored ulcers and said they were caused by stress? Then someone actually looked and found most are caused by H Pylori.
With CFS the best case for saying the syndrome can happen is Greg Lamond, world class cyclist. Hardly a slacker by any sane persons definition. His performance took a nose dive during his career. He tried training harder but nothing worked. Since his performance/medical records were extensive, they penned his diagnosis mitochondrial myopathy. In his cells, the mitochondria stopped converting food into energy efficiently. He had a feeling a no energy because his body was not producing it. It was not in his head or heart. And laziness would be a silly explanation.
Of course as a world class athlete, he had access to world class medicine. It did not help.
Most people don’t have that kind of access.
You plight is noted here, and you can tell anyone here Greg’s story and ask if they think he is a slacker. If they say yes, you can call them insane.
DK
I better not comment...seems I ‘abused’ someone’s feelings earlier and had a comment removed...
best to you...
It wasn't long ago that doctors thought ulcers were caused by stress. It ought to be clear by now that there are any number of things that we just don't understand well at all.
I’m in total agreement with you.
Seven years ago, my daughter had such a bad case of mono that her spleen swelled and she had jaundice, too. She was really sick and was home for months.She developed an allergy to yeast after that and has had to be on a yeast-free diet. She sufferes from recurring bouts of tiredness which it definitely related to the mono. Many who wind up with CFS, start out that way.
Anyone who dismisses CFS as just a trendy yuppie illness has never experienced it firsthand. It is devastating
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