Chronic Fatigue (Mercury fillings podacst)

[Giandeau]

First, thanks Brian, for your podcast; it always leads to contemplation and lively discussions with friends.

In your podcast "Mercury Fillings: A Mouthful of Death!" you stated, "It should be noted that the true causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are well understood."

I was suprised to hear this, as I also know two people who feel that they suffer from CFS, and I don't think they've ever been given a concrete cause for their condition, and certainly nothing in the way of a cure.

In fact, the only thing I have ever heard by way of a cause is that it's "a disease of hysterical middle-aged women". I suppose that would be surprising to one of the friends I mentioned, being a 30-some year old man.

At any rate, could you please share what the true causes are, or at least a link to a resource with the information?

Thank you.

[Jonny_eh]

This was also news to me. I have an aunt who's been suffering from CFS for many years now. She was later diagnosed with an early stage of ovarian cancer, but after being treated for that, she's still as sick as ever.


I'm sure that she's read more on her illness than anyone who's never had that disease. She says there's LOTS of hypotheses out there, but no one really knows for sure.

Is there something that Brian knows that we don't? Please share!!

[brodski]

I spent years as the carer for my (now) ex girlfriend who had CFS/ME, and that claim is news to me, as well as to the whole host of doctors and consultants I took her to see.
It would also be a shock to all the oath people I met who had similar conditions.


If the cause of CFS was well understood, there would be far fewer doctors questioning wheter it even exists.

A link to some studies would be fantastic.

[mollyblack]

Actually CFS just got recognized. There's a whole organization out there for people. http://cfids.org/

Anyway, I know that they're pretty sure FMS (that's Fibromyalgia for those who haven't come across it) is a neurological issue at the base of the syndrome. But CFS? Not so sure they know anything other than it's real.

[brodski]

Actually CFS just got recognized. There's a whole organization out there for people. http://cfids.org/

Anyway, I know that they're pretty sure FMS (that's Fibromyalgia for those who haven't come across it) is a neurological issue at the base of the syndrome. But CFS? Not so sure they know anything other than it's real.
CFS/ME is legally recognised in the UK (were I am) too. that doesn’t mean that every doctor I met believed in it, and the general public seem to think of it as a euphemism for "lazy".

The distinctions between Fibro, ME and CFS are pretty blurred What you get diagnosed with often depends on the preference of your doctor.

[mollyblack]

CFS/ME is legally recognised in the UK (were I am) too. that doesn’t mean that every doctor I met believed in it, and the general public seem to think of it as a euphemism for "lazy".

The distinctions between Fibro, ME and CFS are pretty blurred What you get diagnosed with often depends on the preference of your doctor.
Well, it took me years to get my diagnosis of FMS and it went through the standard route of "Lyme's? No. Systemic Lupus? No. Fibro? Yes!" My ex-mother-in-law (in the UK) died because as a woman she underwent the worst type of hell. Her GP told her it was all in her head. I sent her emails telling her to switch because nobody is in that much pain and lying. Turned out she had bone cancer.

By the time they diagnosed it? It was way way too late to do anything and my current husband and I went over to her funeral for our honeymoon (she and I became online friends when she started helping divorce my ex-husband who actually IS lazy). Anyway...long story for what is basically the thing that infuriates me is a doctor telling ANYBODY that their pain is in their head. Even if it is, that means they need mental health help.

Sorry. Losing her before I got to meet her was the worst thing ever. The pain I've been in for ten plus years (I never had a diagnosis because I never had insurance before my husband got hired on at UT (Austin)) is hellish. Honestly hellish. The things I manage to do every day is a miracle of me pushing through the pain, not the lack of it.

[ellindsey]

While I would disagree that the causes of CFS are "well understood", there is increasing evidence that it is a real physics condition having to do with unusual activity or mis-functioning of the body's immune and stress response systems, possibly due to a genetic predisposition. There's still no cure, and AFAIK no reliably diagnosis other than process of elimination.

(link broken because I don't have 15 posts yet.)

ht tp :// www .medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/tb/3130

[quixotecoyote]

I actually had the oppostie experience of mollyblack's mother-in-law. I was diagnosed with CFS in high school, and although the symptoms were certainly real enough, 6 years with no recurrent symptoms suggest my particular case was psycosomatic.

[ellindsey]

I actually had the oppostie experience of mollyblack's mother-in-law. I was diagnosed with CFS in high school, and although the symptoms were certainly real enough, 6 years with no recurrent symptoms suggest my particular case was psycosomatic.

Or it went into remission. From what I understand, CFS tends to flare up and cause problems for 3-5 years, then go into remission for decades. My wife had CFS when young, then was perfectly healthy for nearly three decades, only to have the CFS recur after a period of major physical and emotional stress. It appears to be a genetic predisposition that causes no problems till triggered by external stressors, then when triggered wreaks havoc for a few years before going back to normal.

[briandunning]

I should backpedal a bit on that. It was not accurate to say that it's well understood. A better way to put it is that those doctors & scientists who are doing real research into CFS do agree that it's nothing to do with mercury fillings.

[Giandeau]

Ok. Thanks for the clarification.