Chronic Fatique Syndrom - Why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS

Author

Why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS

Daniel Prince

2006-02-23, 11:28 am

Here are the main reasons why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS:

1. Almost all MDs define them selves as infallible, all knowing,
god-like beings. Since they are infallible (by definition) then the
tests they use must also be infallible. Since ME/CFS does not show
up on most tests it can not possibly exist.

2. The CDC definition of CFS is fatigue with no known cause. Most
MDs were already using that definition (incorrectly) for depression
so they think CFS must be depression.

3. The bad definition and the terrible name chosen by the CDC make
it very easy for people who do not know about the illness to think
it does not exist. The people at the CDC almost certainly did this
on purpose to make it easier for governmental and private insurers
to deny or limit disability payments.

There are probably other reasons that I have forgotten.
--
I just heard a TV commercial about an automobile that has a rear
entertainment system. I immediately wondered exactly how would an
automobile entertain one's rear and would it be safe to drive while
one's rear was being entertained.

Sagefox@AOL.COM

2006-02-25, 4:31 pm

In my opinion, the fact that more women have this than men is another built
in reason most MD's don't believe in it. For many years, doctors have
persisted in believing women were "neurotic" (psychiatric illness) and even an
illness like MS, which affects more women than men, was once called "hysterical
paralysis" and it was believed that women just wanted "attention" and so were
pretending to be ill. It doesn't help that most neurological illnesses, like
MS, don't progress in a straight line, so symptoms sometimes wax and wane,
thus people with neurological diseases often seem "fine" objectively. Until
there is 100% concrete proof of CFIDS, doctors will continue to abuse us,
scorn us, and subject us to huge bills for "homeopathic" treatment that does
nothing (I have no quarrel with homeopathy, but I spent hundreds on it and
damaged my first marriage looking for that promised homeopathic "cure," instead of
having actual help and assistance in understanding the relative permanence of
the illness- and I believe that illnesses like this one make many of us
sitting ducks for those who want to sell overpriced vitamins and herbal remedies
that will not heal the brain, the primary site of this disease). Frankly, I
am no fan of doctors. Even the most highly recommended docs I've seen have
been difficult to deal with, often expecting me to pay huge out of pocket
expenses for vitamins I could get online from a vitamin warehouse, and often have
staff that completely disbelieve the organic nature of this illness and have
treated me like I'm some kind of nutcase, expecting prescriptions to be
refilled like someone with an illness or something! ::eyeroll:: Most of them
are not capable of dealing with someone with a serious chronic illness that
devastates all areas of our lives, who isn't going to drop dead at some easily
identifiable moment or will have some easily understood progression of
illness.

In a message dated 2/22/2006 11:20:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
neutrino1@COMCAST.NET writes:

Here are the main reasons why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS:

1. Almost all MDs define them selves as infallible, all knowing,
god-like beings. Since they are infallible (by definition) then the
tests they use must also be infallible. Since ME/CFS does not show
up on most tests it can not possibly exist.

2. The CDC definition of CFS is fatigue with no known cause. Most
MDs were already using that definition (incorrectly) for depression
so they think CFS must be depression.

3. The bad definition and the terrible name chosen by the CDC make
it very easy for people who do not know about the illness to think
it does not exist. The people at the CDC almost certainly did this
on purpose to make it easier for governmental and private insurers
to deny or limit disability payments.

There are probably other reasons that I have forgotten.
--
I just heard a TV commercial about an automobile that has a rear
entertainment system. I immediately wondered exactly how would an
automobile entertain one's rear and would it be safe to drive while
one's rear was being entertained.

Shea

2006-02-25, 4:31 pm

I also have had the same experience 'sagefox.' After Medical
Doctors (that I trusted) could not help me, in desperation I also
went the homeopathic and herbal route. It also costs me alot of
money with no help at all. After the first 5 years, I did so slowly
start to feel better with the help of some meds to help me cope
with my symptoms of anxiety and dispair of not getting my health
back (prozac and xanax) with my Doctor convincing me that I so
needed to give this a good try because I could not go on like I was.
With his insistance..I started out with a low dosage and after about a
month..I finally could function quite a bit better, and my constant new
symptom of panic attacks subsided. He reminded me that this was
not for depression and anxiety as much as trying to help me cope with
all my many symptoms..and I needed to calm my nervous system down
(and the xanax really did help that). It did SO help me..be able to function
at a more tolerable level.

The symptoms had constantly changed year by year. This drug regime
seemed to have helped me after I slowly got better (but only after about
the first 5 years or so). Before that the same type of drugs didn't help me
at all..they all just made me feel like a zombie. So it seems that I had to get through the worst of being so sick..with constant fevers and extreme fatigue
and muscle weakness. It seemed to be the right time then. I still had brain
fog, malaise, fatigue..but could handle it all better.

I think that time has helped me (and I have heard this from many
others that also were so severely sick like I was). I was bedridden the
first 7 or 8 months. Another drug that's greatly helped me off and on
through the years is when I started taking the antibiotic doxycycline.
I needed it for a bad case of Rosacea (a skin condition that got worse
off and on throughout the years also) and my Doctor seemed to think
that it kept my body's bacterial count to stay down or keep it in check
for awhile, and then my symptoms of constant sore throats and all my
my breathing problems (from an adult onset of asthma) really improved.

My Pulmonary Doc (that I rarely see now) also said that over in Britain
they did a blind study of patients with asthma and chronic bronchitis, and
the patients that took doxycycline regularly (not sure if it was off and on
like me or all the time) all improved, and their symptoms were controlled
better than the patients not given it. So my Doctor (who luckily did believe
in CFS, but didn't understand it) did help me. However it took alot of trial
and error..and timing.

I think that most Doctors just don't have the patience for it. This Doctor was
my long time Primary Doctor who believed I was really sick and he helped me
get Social Security Disability. He was often frustrated at how so many things
did not help me, but he was willing to try whatever I had read up on that was being used by the "CFS Specialists." So..I really felt lucky to have him..however
I also felt completely on my own..most of the time. It does seem that time and learning to pace yourself..has helped me along with taking drugs (as needed) to help me deal with my symptoms. I have improved..but still have some bad
days when I overdo it.

Just thought I would share my story again. I am a long time member of this
list..and lurk most of the time. I just thought some of the newer members
might want to hear about it. Good Luck..to all.

Shea
CFS since 1990

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 14:37:53 EST
From: Sagefox@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS

In my opinion, the fact that more women have this than men is another built
in reason most MD's don't believe in it. For many years, doctors have
persisted in believing women were "neurotic" (psychiatric illness) and even an
illness like MS, which affects more women than men, was once called "hysterical
paralysis" and it was believed that women just wanted "attention" and so were
pretending to be ill. It doesn't help that most neurological illnesses, like
MS, don't progress in a straight line, so symptoms sometimes wax and wane,
thus people with neurological diseases often seem "fine" objectively. Until
there is 100% concrete proof of CFIDS, doctors will continue to abuse us,
scorn us, and subject us to huge bills for "homeopathic" treatment that does
nothing (I have no quarrel with homeopathy, but I spent hundreds on it and
damaged my first marriage looking for that promised homeopathic "cure," instead of
having actual help and assistance in understanding the relative permanence of
the illness- and I believe that illnesses like this one make many of us
sitting ducks for those who want to sell overpriced vitamins and herbal remedies
that will not heal the brain, the primary site of this disease). Frankly, I
am no fan of doctors. Even the most highly recommended docs I've seen have
been difficult to deal with, often expecting me to pay huge out of pocket
expenses for vitamins I could get online from a vitamin warehouse, and often have
staff that completely disbelieve the organic nature of this illness and have
treated me like I'm some kind of nutcase, expecting prescriptions to be
refilled like someone with an illness or something! ::eyeroll:: Most of them
are not capable of dealing with someone with a serious chronic illness that
devastates all areas of our lives, who isn't going to drop dead at some easily
identifiable moment or will have some easily understood progression of
illness.

In a message dated 2/22/2006 11:20:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
neutrino1@COMCAST.NET writes:

Here are the main reasons why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS:

1. Almost all MDs define them selves as infallible, all knowing,
god-like beings. Since they are infallible (by definition) then the
tests they use must also be infallible. Since ME/CFS does not show
up on most tests it can not possibly exist.

2. The CDC definition of CFS is fatigue with no known cause. Most
MDs were already using that definition (incorrectly) for depression
so they think CFS must be depression.

3. The bad definition and the terrible name chosen by the CDC make
it very easy for people who do not know about the illness to think
it does not exist. The people at the CDC almost certainly did this
on purpose to make it easier for governmental and private insurers
to deny or limit disability payments.

There are probably other reasons that I have forgotten.
--
I just heard a TV commercial about an automobile that has a rear
entertainment system. I immediately wondered exactly how would an
automobile entertain one's rear and would it be safe to drive while
one's rear was being entertained.

Sagefox@AOL.COM

2006-02-25, 4:31 pm

Hi Shea,

I was a member of this group a long time ago, but somehow they "lost" me.
Now I'm back. ;)

Your story is very familiar. I've been ill since 1984, and since I was
still a teen, many believed I was just malingering. Funny, since I was a
straight A student, took dance classes for 12 years, was very physically and
socially active, and had worked one or another job since 15. But suddenly I just
"didn't want to do anything." Also odd, as even though ill I went away to
college at 17 and moved into my own apartment alone at 18, so why in the world
would I be wanting someone to "take care of me?" I had so many plans, a vision
for my life, but getting sick at 17 and having it get worse and worse so
that at 19 I was so depressed it's a miracle I didn't kill myself- and then
living through all that to get severe fibro some years later and end up on doses
of painkillers they usually only give someone dying of cancer (not on those
anymore)- well now I'm 38 and I still live with this, yet it's still always a
big deal to deal with any doctor. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and
between January 1 of this year and January 17, I gained 15 pounds. Not by eating
more (I'm a vegetarian), just by only God knows what. Yet my doctor accused
me of lying about the weight gain! Like, what would that accomplish? I have
fought and fought, am steps from finishing a Master's degree that has
languished now since 2000 (and in psychology of all things), and yet I am constantly
treated like some psycho attention seeker who just makes up stuff for what,
fun? I don't know.

Sigh.... The absolute humiliation of this disease that won't be called a
disease....

Best,
sagefox

In a message dated 2/24/2006 6:43:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
shadow@QNET.COM writes:

I also have had the same experience 'sagefox.' After Medical
Doctors (that I trusted) could not help me, in desperation I also
went the homeopathic and herbal route. It also costs me alot of
money with no help at all. After the first 5 years, I did so slowly
start to feel better with the help of some meds to help me cope
with my symptoms of anxiety and dispair of not getting my health
back (prozac and xanax) with my Doctor convincing me that I so
needed to give this a good try because I could not go on like I was.
With his insistance..I started out with a low dosage and after about a
month..I finally could function quite a bit better, and my constant new
symptom of panic attacks subsided. He reminded me that this was
not for depression and anxiety as much as trying to help me cope with
all my many symptoms..and I needed to calm my nervous system down
(and the xanax really did help that). It did SO help me..be able to function
at a more tolerable level.

The symptoms had constantly changed year by year. This drug regime
seemed to have helped me after I slowly got better (but only after about
the first 5 years or so). Before that the same type of drugs didn't help me
at all..they all just made me feel like a zombie. So it seems that I had to
get through the worst of being so sick..with constant fevers and extreme
fatigue
and muscle weakness. It seemed to be the right time then. I still had brain
fog, malaise, fatigue..but could handle it all better.

I think that time has helped me (and I have heard this from many
others that also were so severely sick like I was). I was bedridden the
first 7 or 8 months. Another drug that's greatly helped me off and on
through the years is when I started taking the antibiotic doxycycline.
I needed it for a bad case of Rosacea (a skin condition that got worse
off and on throughout the years also) and my Doctor seemed to think
that it kept my body's bacterial count to stay down or keep it in check
for awhile, and then my symptoms of constant sore throats and all my
my breathing problems (from an adult onset of asthma) really improved.

My Pulmonary Doc (that I rarely see now) also said that over in Britain
they did a blind study of patients with asthma and chronic bronchitis, and
the patients that took doxycycline regularly (not sure if it was off and on
like me or all the time) all improved, and their symptoms were controlled
better than the patients not given it. So my Doctor (who luckily did believe
in CFS, but didn't understand it) did help me. However it took alot of trial
and error..and timing.

I think that most Doctors just don't have the patience for it. This Doctor
was
my long time Primary Doctor who believed I was really sick and he helped me
get Social Security Disability. He was often frustrated at how so many
things
did not help me, but he was willing to try whatever I had read up on that
was being used by the "CFS Specialists." So..I really felt lucky to have
him..however
I also felt completely on my own..most of the time. It does seem that time
and learning to pace yourself..has helped me along with taking drugs (as
needed) to help me deal with my symptoms. I have improved..but still have some bad
days when I overdo it.

Just thought I would share my story again. I am a long time member of this
list..and lurk most of the time. I just thought some of the newer members
might want to hear about it. Good Luck..to all.

Shea
CFS since 1990

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 14:37:53 EST
From: Sagefox@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS

In my opinion, the fact that more women have this than men is another built
in reason most MD's don't believe in it. For many years, doctors have
persisted in believing women were "neurotic" (psychiatric illness) and even
an
illness like MS, which affects more women than men, was once called
"hysterical
paralysis" and it was believed that women just wanted "attention" and so
were
pretending to be ill. It doesn't help that most neurological illnesses,
like
MS, don't progress in a straight line, so symptoms sometimes wax and wane,
thus people with neurological diseases often seem "fine" objectively.
Until
there is 100% concrete proof of CFIDS, doctors will continue to abuse us,
scorn us, and subject us to huge bills for "homeopathic" treatment that does

nothing (I have no quarrel with homeopathy, but I spent hundreds on it and
damaged my first marriage looking for that promised homeopathic "cure,"
instead of
having actual help and assistance in understanding the relative permanence
of
the illness- and I believe that illnesses like this one make many of us
sitting ducks for those who want to sell overpriced vitamins and herbal
remedies
that will not heal the brain, the primary site of this disease). Frankly,
I
am no fan of doctors. Even the most highly recommended docs I've seen have

been difficult to deal with, often expecting me to pay huge out of pocket
expenses for vitamins I could get online from a vitamin warehouse, and often
have
staff that completely disbelieve the organic nature of this illness and
have
treated me like I'm some kind of nutcase, expecting prescriptions to be
refilled like someone with an illness or something! ::eyeroll:: Most of
them
are not capable of dealing with someone with a serious chronic illness that
devastates all areas of our lives, who isn't going to drop dead at some
easily
identifiable moment or will have some easily understood progression of
illness.

In a message dated 2/22/2006 11:20:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
neutrino1@COMCAST.NET writes:

Here are the main reasons why most MDs do not believe in ME/CFS:

1. Almost all MDs define them selves as infallible, all knowing,
god-like beings. Since they are infallible (by definition) then the
tests they use must also be infallible. Since ME/CFS does not show
up on most tests it can not possibly exist.

2. The CDC definition of CFS is fatigue with no known cause. Most
MDs were already using that definition (incorrectly) for depression
so they think CFS must be depression.

3. The bad definition and the terrible name chosen by the CDC make
it very easy for people who do not know about the illness to think
it does not exist. The people at the CDC almost certainly did this
on purpose to make it easier for governmental and private insurers
to deny or limit disability payments.

There are probably other reasons that I have forgotten.
--
I just heard a TV commercial about an automobile that has a rear
entertainment system. I immediately wondered exactly how would an
automobile entertain one's rear and would it be safe to drive while
one's rear was being entertained.

Sagefox@AOL.COM

2006-02-25, 4:31 pm

Hi Lori,

I actually have called this a disease from the beginning. It was quite
clear to me that the day before I came down with mono was 100% different from
every day after I came down with it. I describe it as a neurological disease or
a neuroimmune disease to everyone- and I never, just about never use the name
"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." This was a known disease in the UK, and even
the World Health Organization knew of it, as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. If I
use the dreaded "cfs" name, I explain that little part there. This country
did us a disserve. Our government didn't want this to be classified as a
disease, for many reasons. See the amazing and well documented "Osler's Web"
_http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/051770353X/sr=8-11/qid=1140816014/ref=pd_bbs_11/
002-5903282-0587216?%5Fencoding=UTF8_
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/05...?_encoding=UTF8)

for more information on how and why that happened.

I have been the one who has said, since about 1989, that we should sue the
government for neglect because of how they have treated us. People have died
of this disease. People have killed themselves after being so ill and
treated with disdain, and our government encouraged it by adopting this name and
refusing to fund research and/or sending out incompetents to collect data. I
myself was physically, borderline sexually, and definitely emotionally abused
in 3 different ER experiences, including one in which I was rushed at 90 mph
to an area hospital with symptoms of a heart attack and 10 incidences of
syncope in the 40 minute drive, to be put alone in a room and ignored by the
doctors because I was taking painkillers and had this "problem." It is absolutely
shameful.

Unfortunately, I never find anyone who wants to see the government addressed
for this treatment. It's either, "Oh, we just need better publicity" or "we
have to make the doctors understand." Well, no. It won't happen that way
when our government continues to defund research on this disease. It won't
happen when they deny it exists, or their website gives incorrect and dangerous
information on it, and claims that "most recover" in a few years. This is
21+ years. I haven't met anyone yet who has recovered.

It is bitterly unfair that those of us most ill are somehow expected to
advocate for ourselves, when none of us probably has any healthy relative or
friend who wants to get involved. I'd recommend "ACT UP" style political
activism, but I have never been able to go to Washington. I can barely do the
things that I need to do. Since we are too ill to confront the government and
frankly, no one gives a damn about us, nothing will be done until a researcher
who has found evidence of the illness (and oh, there are- check out the
National CFIDS Foundation for more info _http://www.ncf-net.org/_
(http://www.ncf-net.org/) ) comes out strongly with his findings. One problem is certain
journals, like the Lancet in the UK, have actively refused to publish studies
that were otherwise peer reviewed and acceptable. They continue to insist we
are mentally ill, and unless we "accept" this, they won't bother to publish
anything that contradicts this. Never mind that I had 10 years of intensive
therapy, including a bunch of BS that insisted I was sexually abused (in
particular because of my bladder symptoms, which were found on cystoscopy to be due
to severe Interstitial Cystitis- my doc says I have the second worst case
she's seen, and she's a well known expert on it). I am in the mental health
field when I can work, and there is this acceptance that just about any physical
symptom is related to childhood abuse. I don't question that that can
happen. But Instead of any therapist helping me to cope with my grief over this
devastating illness, or helping me learn how to live differently, I was
treated to a bunch of therapy directed at removing my "psychosomatic symptoms" by
"coping" with childhood abuse. Some of that was there, it's true. But
therapists would have done me a world of good in helping me to cope with what was
happening in the here and now. This is what I want to do, and am trying to
restart again with my stress management business. I want to help people with
these illnesses cope with the illness, not deny the illness or imply blame to
the person who's sick if they don't magically get better in 10 therapy
sessions.

I am very angry, and I know that is coming through in this email and some
may simply dismiss me and think me misguided. But I've sat through a lot with
this illness. Nearly 22 years of denial, having to re-explain to my parents,
my relatives, my in-laws, and then if I have a relatively good 3 months,
well magically I'm expected to function at that level forever, and if I don't
most consider me a disappointment. If the government would stop dismissing us
and admitted the huge amount of physical findings that there actually are
(and we don't hear about them, which sometimes stuns me when I read up on what's
been found in the past 3 years), maybe then people would understand that
like some forms of MS, we have times when we do function better- and they can
rapidly disappear, leaving us as sick or sicker than we were, and many times
with no explanation for that change.

I have claimed this as a disease for almost the entire 21+ years. It
doesn't matter. I can say it all I want to. Without any outside support or
validation of the excellent research that proves it's a disease, it still always
comes down to a "he said, she said" type of thing. And that's ridiculous for a
person with a devastating chronic illness to have to put up with. Period.

Sagefox

In a message dated 2/24/2006 4:15:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
lori_jacobs@BLOOFOOLZ.COM writes:

Hello Sagefox and all other readers.
I am moved by all your letters and information, personal stories. I think
it is time for us, the sufferers, to own our own circumstance, not the
doubting doctors, and claim this now as a Disease! Just because they don't
get it yet as an equation to justify us, it doesn't mean we can't justify
our own experience as something "real". I have been calling this a disease
for the past year and telling people who just don't want to get it that it
is just like MS or Lupus or Polio years before it was more clearly
understood. Almost all people click in and get it with a more accepting
perception. Prior to that, I am sure you have all gotten the same reaction,
people just say, you cant be that sick... Not you... As you all know, we
don't go out and display our illness when we are down. We are hidden at
home sleeping. They only see us when we can move. I have a general
practitioner for a father and an occupational therapist for a mother and it
has taken them many years to "get it" and believe me. They started to get
my situation only after they heard Dr. Levine, CFS specialist in NYC lecture
about it and flood them with medical data and descriptions to justify my
condition as more and different than depression...(or manipulation as my
parents might have felt...)
Anyway, thank you all for your info and shared stories.
Take care,
Lori

TiHooerba@AOL.COM

2006-02-25, 6:22 pm

This post almost made me cry. I definitely understand what everyone is going
through with doctors that think we're all just a bunch of nutcases. My story,
as briefly as I can get it: I started getting panic attacks at the age of 13,
because my father was a raging alcoholic, and I guess I was just really
anxious about it. I saw this psychiatrist who promised my mom and I that if I took
tranquilzers in low dosages, I wouldn't become addicted to them and it would be
simple to get off of them. So, he started me off on Ativan and a huge
cocktail of other drugs. Soon, Ativan wasn't enough, and I was already on the highest
dosage I could be on, and I was switched to Klonopin. The huge cocktail of
other drugs caused me numerous side effects, which were "treated" with MORE huge
amounts of psychiatric drugs. At the age of 15, I was taking, AS PRESCRIBED,
I think almost 10 Klonopin per day, as well as about 5 other psychotropic
meds. I can't even remember all of the meds I was on, but some are Paxil (which
was soooo hard to get off of and IS physically addicting), Zoloft, Prozac (which
I had a really bad reaction to), Klonopin, Ativan, Seroquel, Neurontin,
Wellbutrin, Celexa, Effexor (made me anorexic for the 4 months I took it), Luvox,
Lexapro, Tegretol, Trazodone, Remeron, Risperidal, BuSpar....and I'm sure there
are quite a few others. Name a psychotropic drug, and I've been on it. So,
after several hellish attempts of trying to get off of the benzos, I decided to
ditch my twisted, drug-pushing psychiatrist and see a psychiatrist who could
assist me in getting off of the benzodiazepines. My new psych doc was great--at
first. He helped me slowly taper off of the benzos over a long period of time
(although he didn't believe that it was as painful as it was), BUT he still
wanted me to take other meds. I agreed, and decided to take ONE med at a time.
I think it was this doc who put me on Lexapro, which I didn't react well to.
We tried several different drugs, but I couldn't tolerate more than a VERY
small dosage of any drug, and was experiencing bad side effects with every drug.
My new psych was becoming increasingly frustrated with me, and accused me of
exaggerating my symptoms, and tried to diagnose me with OCD. This went on for a
little while until I finally decided that I had ENOUGH, and didn't want to be
on any drugs at all. My psychiatrist didn't support me on taking no drugs, be
he did support the fact that I was sticking to learning Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy. I still continued to see this psychiatrist until one day, when he was
extremely frustrated with me for explaining how severe my PMS symptoms were,
he pulled out a book and told me that I had a "somatization disorder". He said
that although I THOUGHT I was experiencing "real" physical symptoms, that they
weren't real at all and that I was basically just a hypochondriac. Never so
insulted in my entire life, I quit seeing him on the spot and walked out. I was
now 18, no longer having panic attacks, but still experiencing some of the
lingering withdrawal effects from being on so much medication for so many years.
At this time, I also just finished losing the 65 pounds I gained since I
started psychiatric medication, and I was back down to near 100lbs., almost too
skinny. Life was going pretty well; I met the boyfriend that I'm still with
today, and I still had my same old best friends, and I was getting my GED, since I
missed so much high school due to being so drugged up. One day, I woke up
dizzy and nauseous. This progressed into full-blown vertigo that lasted for nine
straight months. At Yale New-Haven Hospital, they said that I had fluid in my
inner ear, and that they thought an infection caused the vertigo. I slowly
recovered from that just to get the flu and pleurisy of my lungs. I quit smoking
cigarettes at this time, but i was never "right" after this illness. I soon
developed full-blown CFS. Now I'm 21, and although many of my symptoms have been
resolved, the plain old severe fatigue has replaced the symptoms that have
been resolved. I am not able to work at all, or go out with friends, or do very
much of anything. But, there is finally hope. After almost two years of not
being able to get health insurance even through the state, I finally got
insurance, and just had my first appt. with this WONDERFUL doctor at the Bridgeport,
CT college of Naturopathic Medicine Clinic. It's a 45 minute drive, but it's
well worth it. I'm soon going to get a 24 hour saliva cortisol test, as well as
a neurotransmitter test, both of which I think will reveal quite a bit. In
between all that I mentioned, there were a few other doctors that thought I was
nutty, especially since I have a "psychiatric history" and have been on lots
of psychiatric drugs. I truly believe that it was these very drugs that
destroyed my body. Well, sorry for such a long story, everyone, but I usually just
lurk on this list, so I thought I'd share. :-)
~Dina

Vickijo0403@AOL.COM

2006-02-25, 6:22 pm

Dinah, amazing story, you are lucky to be alive I would say.
Please tell me about the neurotransmitter test, is it a blood test, and what
can it reveal???? depression??? and thanks for sharing, I usually lurk
as well, ;) thanks, vicki