General practitioners' perceptions of chronic fatigue syndrome and beliefs about its management, compared with irritable bowel syndrome: qualitative study
If there is one thing reading this debate has proved to me it is that
at present the only way out of this maze is for people with CFS/ME to take
responsibility for their own diagnosis and treatment.
Sadly it is the nature of the illness and economic reality to make
this an impossibility for many patients and so they are dependent upon
what the medical profession and the NHS has to offer them. In my
experience this falls far short of what may be desirable, with all
investigations ceasing as soon as a diagnosis of CFS was pronounced and
even routine prescriptions for symptomatic relief doled out on a strictly
rationed basis.
My own burgeoning health improvement after many years in a wilderness
of pain, fatigue and confusion is the result of a great deal of reading,
asking questions, a small number of relevent tests, a very few private
medical consultations and self medication.
The gentleman who suggests a new title for the illness NIME is bang
right in my view.
I am treating my immune system and at least one previously
undiagnosed chronic infection with a herbal medicine, my hypoadrenia and
hypothroidism with hormones and my pain and inflammation with herbs and
simple detoxification methods.
Unfortunately even these modest treatments would be out of the
question without relatives who are willing to foot the bill.
Rapid Response:
Taking responsibility for diagnosis and treatment
If there is one thing reading this debate has proved to me it is that
at present the only way out of this maze is for people with CFS/ME to take
responsibility for their own diagnosis and treatment.
Sadly it is the nature of the illness and economic reality to make
this an impossibility for many patients and so they are dependent upon
what the medical profession and the NHS has to offer them. In my
experience this falls far short of what may be desirable, with all
investigations ceasing as soon as a diagnosis of CFS was pronounced and
even routine prescriptions for symptomatic relief doled out on a strictly
rationed basis.
My own burgeoning health improvement after many years in a wilderness
of pain, fatigue and confusion is the result of a great deal of reading,
asking questions, a small number of relevent tests, a very few private
medical consultations and self medication.
The gentleman who suggests a new title for the illness NIME is bang
right in my view.
I am treating my immune system and at least one previously
undiagnosed chronic infection with a herbal medicine, my hypoadrenia and
hypothroidism with hormones and my pain and inflammation with herbs and
simple detoxification methods.
Unfortunately even these modest treatments would be out of the
question without relatives who are willing to foot the bill.
Victoria Loughlin
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ME-CFS-FMS_infections/
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests