Trial By Error: My Interview with Melbourne’s Dr Don Lewis

[Andy]

When I visited Melbourne in March of last year, I heard a lot about Dr Don Lewis, a local physician beloved by those with ME—or “chronic fatigue,” as Australian patients, scientists and clinicians routinely called the illness, to my dismay. At the time, Dr Lewis was transitioning out of his medical practice because of serious illness. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to visit him. Last month, he passed away.
.....
In the course of this project, I have often done interviews and not written them up or posted them—almost always because I simply haven’t had the time to do so. I find myself feeling constantly behind and constantly needing to address new concerns, so balancing those imperatives can be a struggle. Although I didn’t meet Dr Lewis in person, I interviewed him from my hotel room in Perth a few weeks after I had been in Melbourne. I am very sorry I didn’t get around to editing and posting it while he was alive. But I wanted to share some of what he told me now.

http://www.virology.ws/2019/08/19/trial-by-error-my-interview-with-melbournes-dr-don-lewis/

 

[Barry]

The patients could have symptoms of depression, but everyone wanted to get better. They weren’t happy because of the way they were, but they were not primarily depressed.

[My bold]

That sounds very true.

It led me to consider, for example, that the infections might be just be the trigger on top of what was already happening in that person.

Echoes of @RDP's perfect storm comment, with the notion of a final straw at some point.

 

[DokaGirl]

The final straw theory is now how I see my ME evolving. I used to think it was "instant" with a flu I never recovered from.

Looking back just 3 or 4 years before that particular flu, I noted the stomach bug/food poisoning and EBV of many months duration. My health started to slide
with these two earlier instances. One symptom early on was adrenaline surges. GI problems really increased, allergies worsened, developed sensitivity to alcohol, bouts of fatigue etc., etc.