This is a real illness, but doctors always go back to saying you’re depressed. I would LOVE for someone to figure out how to test for CFS.
“Many health care providers are skeptical
about the seriousness of ME/CFS, mistake it for
a mental health condition, or consider it a figment
of the patient’s imagination. Misconceptions or
dismissive attitudes on the part of health care providers
make the path to diagnosis long and frustrating
for many patients. The committee stresses
that health care providers should acknowledge
ME/CFS as a serious illness that requires timely
diagnosis and appropriate care.”
You should show any hold-out MDs’s this passage from the IOM report!
https://iom.nationalacademies.org/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2015/MECFS/MECFS_ReportBrief.pdf
This report converted my own PCP to a believer after he had mocked me to my face for 5 years in the examining room! Well, this IOM report and my bloodwork from the NOVA U. ME/CFS clinic in Davie FL showing 5 reactivated or chronic viruses in my blood...
Last year I finally went to the doctor for a complete blood work up. Tired, chronic fatigue, just felt like hell all the time. I thought it might low iron or such. A few days later, I got a call from his office to tell me to get some Vitamin D3 asap. I was very low and cramping muscles along with fatigue are symptoms of low D3. Who new. Not anemic at all. And yes, chronic fatigue sucks.
It is a lot like Fibromyalgia, researchers typically look at pre-post menopausal women as 80% who have FMS are women. Most also have a thyroid issue.
When I hit puberty my muscles became stiff, but not painful. It was not until I had the drop in hormones at menopause that FMS became full blown. Burning muscles, extreme stiffness, occasional fevers for no reason. It was a Syndrome back then, or you were a hypochondriac. Now they know it is a auto immune disease. What they offer to treat symptoms only is Elliptic drug meds that have high side effect ratings of 50%, and what you hear on the commercials are a bare example of the side effects. Lyrica and Neurotin or it is called Gabapatin (sp?), are the 2 most common ones. Both shot my BP to heart attack levels with just 2 pills. Needless to say they were recycled so they would not go into the land fills or water supplies.
It is a ‘Orphan’ disease and Big Pharma is not going to put much funding into it as to small a percentage of the population have it.
But you are looking at 10 yrs or more before such a drug will be approved.
Suggestion as I have learned from my years on FR we are all skeptical of Big Pharma a book available from Amazon, not expensive: FIGHT FOR YOUR HEALTH BY BYROM J. RICHARDS. It will tell you how Big Pharma is selling us out for profits, about the poisons that the dyes they use, and other medical treatments that are pure Horse Manure. Killer STATINS, OP DRUGS that are badly researched, and terribly harmful to the human body.
You don’t have to be a genius or a scientist to understand what he has exposed. Now it is important to remember that over half your immune system is in your gut.
The biggest issues with most modern medicine is GERD, constipation, nausea, diarrhea, loss of Libido, hair, and memory issues. I’ve seen what the Cholesterol drug Welchol does to both memory and hand tremors in the elderly. I’ve experienced the GOUT pain just 5 pill caused, and the normal dosage is 6 big horse pills per day.
I have drug INDUCED OP, tomorrow I will have a full Cardio work up including a chem stress test the Cardio suspects an Enlarged heart that goes with the erratic BP caused by PAIN. Then Friday I see the Hematologist to find out why my red blood cells are enlarged. Then I get to play Russian Roulette—human guinea pig until they find one I can tolerate. I can’t tolerate the OP drugs and they are one of the badly researched poisons in the book. Every OP drug is flagged by the FDA for A Fib, jaw degeneration or dead jaw. Foreteo carries the highest warning a Black Box of not only the other warnings but Bone Cancer, and reverses itself after the 2 yr course IF you can tolerate it. Are the risk worth it? http://www.healthcentral.com/osteoporosis/c/73/2677/forteo-risks/
Maybe not all, but some cases are indeed caused by chronic Epstein-Barr infection. You can test for that virus.
The therapy is immune globulin. Some years ago you could get it as an injection and was easy to administer and not horribly expensive.
Now it is very expensive, you need to get it as IVIG, administered by a nurse, but you can also get it as subcutaneous IG, that you can administer yourself, after being shown how to, by a nurse. Insurance most likely doesn’t pay for it.
Naturally, this is just some info, not medical advice. Consult with your physician.