Bottom Line Inc: "Is Your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatment Making You Worse?", article by Lucinda Bateman

[Andy]

Unless you’ve been fortunate enough to team up with a hotshot physician and researcher like Utah’s Lucinda Bateman, MD, the answer to the question above is probably a resounding “Yes!”

Chronic fatigue syndrome, with symptoms including intense fatigue, poor sleep, difficulty concentrating, headaches and muscle and joint pain, has stumped doctors for over 30 years.

Largely because so little has been known about it, most physicians have written off patients’ symptoms as being caused by depression or a lack of exercise. As a consequence, standard treatment has been to prescribe antidepressants and increasing amounts of exercise to “re-energize” patients. But patients have found that this treatment not only doesn’t help, it can make things worse! Antidepressants don’t do much, and engaging in an exercise program—a strategy that’s successful with other fatigue-causing conditions such as fibromyalgia—often leads to greater exhaustion, not less.

https://bottomlineinc.com/health/diseases-conditions/old-cfs-treatments-will-make-you-worse

 

[DokaGirl]

Thank you @Andy for this article. It reminds me, I need plain language summaries of biomedical research - helps me understand when the comprehension is not so good, e.g. gut bateria and exercise.
Also a struggle to recall my stats course from the 70s.

Good advice in the article. Good for newbies; however, hope they don't get savaged by medics if they try to pass along top notch info.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Studies in ME/CFS patients show poorly regulated circulation when standing that reduces blood flow to the brain. Don’t lie in bed all the time though or the problem can worsen

I don't have much choice as I'm 100% bedbound.