How to treat CFS

What does the medical profession offer?

At present the only way to diagnose CFS is by a process of elimination.
This means that for several months you have to endure consecutive rounds of poking, prodding and bloodletting, as well as the joy of filling out numerous forms and questionnaires, most asking the same kind of questions in several different ways.
After 6 months, once the specialists have ascertained through this process that there is no other possible cause for your particular list of symptoms, a definite diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is likely to be returned.
Once you have your diagnosis there are a variety of options available to you, these are generally offered in the order:

Survey conducted and funded by AfME 2003

Various drug combinations can also be offered, but these do depend on a patients particular set of symptoms. With conventional treatment, drugs are prescribed to relieve specific symptoms. Low doses of antidepressants may relieve sleep disturbance and muscle pain and so these are usually the initial offering.
Making sure that a patient has adequate rest and maintains careful pacing of physical and mental activities is one of the most important aspects of dealing with this illness.

Many sufferers have allergies to foods or substances in the environment. This can lead to patients living on restricted and, in some cases, quite bizarre diets.
Similarly, some people with CFS find that things like exhaust fumes, perfume or ordinary household chemicals affect them very badly, so much so that even on the days when fatigue does not cause them undue difficulty, they are still worried about leaving the house and entering an environment over which they have no control.

As there is no test for CFS let alone a recognised cure, all of the treatments in place are to help a patient manage the illness. Some people are so successful at managing it they go on to lead what others would class as a 'normal' life, but there is always the possibility of a relapse should they push themselves too hard and forget to take good care of their overall health.

Supplements

At the onset of the illness it is easy to succumb to panic and grasp at any and every recommendation in the hope it will help relieve your symptoms. It is best to look at your diet and lifestyle before spending money on supplements because, when you are changing as much as you can in an effort to feel better, it is easy to lose sight of which changes are the most effective.

Many sufferers do swear by a cocktail of vitamin and mineral supplements, some may be offered on prescription by your doctor but most have to be bought over the counter.
Obviously there are many multivitamins available on the market so it is worth discussing the various merits with your GP before spending your money.

Here are some of the supplements members of my local support group swear by:

Professor Basant K. Puri has written a book entitled Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a natural way to treat ME in which he states the benefits of using the VegEPA supplement.
There is a very informative breakdown and review of this book by Jacqui Footman (Publicity and Information Officer, South Molton ME Support Group) Which can be found here.
Should you wish a copy of this in word format then email me (rosevibe@gmail.com) and I shall forward it on to you. There is also a rather generous discount offer available to any within the ME community whereby every pot purchased will also result in a 50p donation to MERGE.
For more information on this click here.

Alternative therapies

There are other treatment options available which may or may not be offered by your own medical practitioner:

While these may be beneficial they do tend to be quite expensive. Some are offered on the NHS however, so it's worth discussing these options with your GP to see if he or she can refer you for treatment.