Just a quick post to mention this excellent article about CFS in The Guardian. I’ve read quite a lot of ill-informed tosh about chronic fatigue but this is both informative and optimistic, though frustrating that it’s taken so long for CFS to start being taken seriously.
I thought this was particularly interesting, “CFS is really an umbrella term for a whole variety of underlying illnesses – some psychological or due to anxiety-related exercise intolerance, but many others down to neurological impairment, energy-production impairment or even autoimmune dysfunction…it’s like taking patients who all suffer from shortness of breath, but the root causes range from asthma to angina. You would never treat them as the same group of patients.”
That makes a lot of sense to me. It also validates the Optimum Health Clinic’s holistic, individual-centred approach. Everyone’s case is different so what might be a ‘miracle cure’ for one person might not help another.
The article goes on to quote Dr Montoya’s belief that around 80% of the CFS patients he treats have developed their condition as a result of infection. “But because few of them get to see a specialist until they have been ill for many months or even years, the bacteria or viruses responsible have long gone into hiding inside the body’s cells, meaning that many standard blood tests appear to show there is nothing wrong.” Which is why, he thinks, so many doctors have dismissed CFS as psychological in the past.
I had glandular fever a decade ago and I think that has definitely had an impact on my energy levels ever since. Testing by the OHC shows that I also have problems with my mitochondria which impairs my energy production. Top that off with the stress of my hormones going out of whack with the pituitary tumour and the side effects of the drugs to treat it and it starts to make sense that my body might say ‘Hang on, something’s got to give. You can’t do a stressful job and cycle up mountains for a while.”
The good news is that my energy levels seem to be coming back. The good days are more frequent and the bad days aren’t as bad anymore. My Mum’s given me her Pashley Princess bike and yesterday I cycled up and down our local high street. It’s a long way from cycling up the Cat 1 Tour De France climbs that I used to be able to manage but it was even more exciting!
iamnotme 