This is just a little insight into my personal thoughts and views on CFS – I am not a doctor, this is just my opinion.
When I first got ill I knew myself that this disease was a physical thing and that it was not ‘all in my head’ as many others believe. I went to my GP’s numerous times and was told that many people have these symptoms and not to assume it was ME, it could be any number of things. When all the blood tests came back good the GP essentially said there was nothing more they could do for me except prescribe anti-depressants and a cognitive therapy group. This response just made me so angry – I said “but I am not depressed, I am severely fatigued”, the reply came back “but the treatment of this condition is surgery policy, it’s all we can offer”. Can you believe it???
So, after refusing the NHS treatment I searched for a private specialist and finally found one. Her website is www.drmyhill.co.uk and then I waited months to be seen. I had blood tests that were sent to a biochemist who really examined all the cells and their contents. The results came back a few weeks later and I had mitochondrial failure – a common problem with heart patients. The biochemist also found my nickel level to be three times the safe upper limit and hence the cause of the mitochondrial failure. Apparently elevated nickel levels are very common but no-one ever knows because they don’t have their levels tested.
So, at least now I knew why I was ill and I had to go about getting better. I started out by leaving work – although I had been off sick for a while anyway (I am a hydrogeologist if you’re interested!). Then I started taking the mountain of vitamin supplements that were suggested to me:
Daily I take
Fish oil
Multi-vitamin
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Niacinamide
Co-Q10
Thyroxine
D-ribose powder
Zinc drops
Multi mineral powder in a drink
I think that’s it! It sounds a lot but it was all things I was missing or low in. The zinc is to displace the nickel and once the Ni is free in my body it can be sweated out via my detox regime.
That’s about where I am at presently and I have to reiterate it really DOES WORK.
In my opinion though the symptoms of CFS – of which there are many – are caused by a physical problem in your body that needs to be found. Once you have established the cause you can begin to treat it.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hi Sarah,
I think you had a raw deal with the NHS and your experience typifies the post code lottery that is our health service. I would have recommended you to try another doctor even within your practise.
My experience contrasts with yours completely. My doctor was completely supportive and did everything he could to find the root cause of my problems. I was given every kind of test you could imagine:
- 5 rounds of blood tests
- urine samples
- stool samples
- throat swabs
- x-rays
- heart monitors (both standing and 24 hr readings)
Although we these tests really didn't show much, there was never any hint that the doctor believed the problem was psychological. I was very lucky in the range of treatments I received. Although traditional medicine does not have anything to offer CFS patients(just water and rest), I was provided with physiotherapy on the NHS and this was specifically tailored to recovering from CFS and was very helpful.
The real turning point for me however, was herbalism. I had a great deal of skepticism when I first visited the herbalist, but I was so low at this point that I felt it was my last chance. At that point I was unable to walk more than a few metres at a time and standing up was even a problem. I required a taxi door to door to get to the herbalist and the problem had been steadily worsening for the previous 7 weeks. 2 weeks after starting my regime I had had a complete turn around. I was able to walk to the bus stop and get the bus to the herbalist. This was not a magical cure and took a lot of hard work to get my muscles back, but there is no doubt in my mind that it was a turning point.
I am still not completely healthy and I have since had 3 major setbacks, but I agree with you that there could be many physical causes for CFS and it is important to find out what these are in order to find the most appropriate treatment.
Dave
http://livingwithcfs.blogspot.com
Dave,
Thanks for your info, particularly about your NHS experience. I wish I had been able to have that!
Post a Comment