I am going to email you my response to your comment. It might be a little bit easier for me.

But welcome to my blog. It can be fun here, some of the time. Don’t worry about commenting to the wrong post….I do that ALL the time

And there are lots of really great people who visit this site, and they always have lots of great advice. I hope you will come back often.

Thank you for your kind e-mail.

This is the very first time I have every written to a blog. I think I kind of goofed up and wrote my question about treatment at these centers in a section on your blog about hair issues!! Oh, silly me!! Thank you for your kind response even though I don’t have a problem with my hair (except that it is turning grey!!). Maybe with some experience I’ll catch on to the blogosphere ……

I found the name of your blog in the Summer 2006 issue of The CFIDS Chronicle. The description of your blog sounded interesting, so I thought I would start there. Little did I know that it would be a “hairy” experience!! (groan!!)

I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I am a 60-year-old, licensed, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist. I first began to struggle with CFS 18 years ago when I had some serious viral infections that I never fully recovered from. I was diagnosed with CFS 16 years ago and went on partial disability in my private clinical psychology practice. I continued to deteriorate over the next four years and finally became fully disabled nearly 13 years ago.

I am currently being treated regularly by my family physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, chiropractor, and also periodically by our area sleep center.

I take Xyrem at night to promote deep, restorative delta stages III and IV sleep. I also use a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (C-PAP) machine at night for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I take Provigil to promote wakefulness and alertness during the day. I have also developed depression on top of my CFS, and I take some anti-depressant medications. In addition, I have developed headaches, and I take migraine and tension headache medications. I sit under 10,000 lux full-spectrum bright light to stimulate elevation in mood and energy.

I take a variety of food supplements. I recently added a series of three supplements from my chiropractor, primarily to help with my cholesterol and, secondarily, with my blood pressure. Included in these are
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and a capsule that is a collection of antioxidants.

Interestingly, on page 9 of the Summer 2006 issue of The CFIDS Journal, it is recommended that CFS patients increase their intake of Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants to decrease body inflammation. That is encouraging.

Probably unrelated to my CFS, I take medications for cholesterol and blood pressure.

I have tried scores of other treatments, all of which have been very disappointing.

I became interested in the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers, Inc. because they are such a large organization, have centers in 15 large cities in the United States, are planning on opening more centers, have treated 4,000 patients, and report a high degree of success. I think: How could they be treating so many patients and be expanding to so many cities if they weren’t successful?

However, I also know that the information from the CFS organization I belong to, The CFIDS Association of America, continues to state that there is no cure for CFS. Yet, many CFS patients get better, and here I continue to linger and languish.

Well, that’s a summary of my story and the basics of my current treatments.

I hope that you are doing well. I gather that you live in Canada … so I send you the wishes of your National Anthem, “Oh, Canada!!”

Tom

I am sorry but I have absolutely no experience with these centres. I am skeptical about any program that is NOT tailored to ones own needs.

I am not going to say that it doesnt work for people, but I am just not familiar with their work. I did just now sign up for their newsletter, so I will put in a bit of research before I pass judgement on them.(I think they are only in the US, and not availabe in Canada)-which might be why I dont know who they are.

I am sorry to hear that you are still struggling…what kind of treatment are you currently on?

I hope you can find some relief very soon.

Have you had any experience with The Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers, Inc. (website: http://www.fibroandfatigue.com)?

They have 15 centers across the country. They have treated over 4,000 patients and claim that their patients have 80% improvement after four appointments.

They state that their success is especially significant because many of their patients have been sick a long time and have unsuccessfully tried numerous other treatments before coming to their centers and then being helped.

I have been fully disabled with CFS nearly 13 years. I have tried many treatments and failed. These centers sound promising, but I am hesitant to enter a new treatment program only to fail and have my hopes dashed once again.

Warmest regards,

Tom Wilkinson

thanks for the advice. Actually my stylist said the same thing, that maybe its thyroid dysfunction. I talked about it with my doctor, he ran a bunch of tests (still waiting to hear back), but thought that most likely its from the mono.

Anyway, I got a good cut out of it. My hair looks and feels a lot healthier now, even though the cut makes me look like i am about 15. She had to cut off 4.5 inches, just to get rid of the problems.

I am about to do a whole lot of research for a new vitamin regime.

Thanks for your advice. It was very sound.

Sue