Q: Are there any reliable treatments for insomnia? A: Most experts on ME/CFS agree that sleep disruption is the one symptoms that should be addressed first. Sleep allows the tired achy muscles to recover; and lack of sleep increases pain and fatigue. There are many ways to approach insomnia, starting with good sleep habits, especially […]
Q: I wake up each morning feeling tired, even though I have slept. Would a sleep study be useful? A: There are at least four core symptoms in ME/CFS: pain, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue or post-exertional malaise, and non-restorative sleep. Thus, awakening unrefreshed is one of the cardinal symptoms of ME/CFS, and one of the last […]
Q: Do I have to live the rest of my life like this? A: ME/CFS is considered a chronic illness, but longitudinal studies suggest that 17-64% of adult PWCs improve, less than 10% fully recover. The improvement rate is even better for adolescents with ME/CFS. The current standard of therapy is to treat sleep and […]
Q: Will it help me to eliminate gluten and milk? A: Many PWCs report intolerance to both gluten (wheat products, barley, and rye) as well as dairy products. These intolerances are rarely caused by true allergies to gluten (celiac disease or sprue) or dairy (milk protein allergy). Researchers in Belgium have also suggested that many […]
dairy, food, food intoelrance, food sensitivity, glujten, milkQ: What’s this gene defect in folic acid metabolism all about (the MTHFR gene mutation), and should I be tested? Does insurance cover that test? A: MTHFR (or methylenetetrahydofolate reductase) is an enzyme required to convert folate to methionine, which is then used in the production of necessary amino acids and other compounds. When MTHFR […]