I have been sick for over 6 yrs. It has ruined my life. I had mono for over 5 yrs then diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue and Irritiable Bowel Syndrome. I've gone to so many doctors, and none of them are able to help me, and I'm so frustrated and tired. I just want someone to give me an idea of what to do next. I feel I've covered everything, I feel so despearte and helpless as to the next step to take in feeling better.

Hopefully, by now you have gotten the help that you need, but if not, I would suggest that you go and see an ND to get some more natural help. ME, fibromyalgia and IBS normally respond very well to alternative therapies such as acupuncture, herbal treatment and homeopathy.

undefinedSize=4xxxAttention CFS patients
I just stumbled upon this Website and saw your question. I was diagnosed with CFS at the age of 16. The only things that showed up on tests were antibodies against mono and epstein bar virus. When I asked if I might have thyroid problems they said I would be fat if I did, so I obviously didn't have a thyroid problem.I put it out of my mind. over the last 12 years, I have made major advances in my health just by listening to my body and studing nutrition, etc. About 6 months ago, I was studying hormones and kept coming back to hypothyroidism. To make a long story short, I have 25 of the 30 symptoms of hypothyroidism. My doctor, who specializes in CFS had me take a basal body temp. test,because the blood test came bame W/I normal range. My basal body temp. test showed over the period of 10 consecutive days, that when I woke up in the morning, my body temp. was 1.5 to 2 degrees below normal. That coupled with the 25 symptoms, was enough to convince my doctor to give my thyroid supplementation. The test done on my adrenal gland showed that it was only performing at half its capacity. We are still doing tests, trying to figure out what the primary cause is. My adrenal gland did not respond to adrenacalm cream. And the thyroid supplements have not had too much of an effect even though I'm taking 180 milligrams/day. So, we think that something else is causing their failure. I really hope that you see this mess. I know that its been 1.5 years since you wrote in. Hope you're finding some answers. In my opinion, CFS is a "I don't know what's wrong with you and don't have the time to figure it out" diagnosis. The major symptoms of "CFS" are common in a lot of hormone and/or gland disfunctions. Please research that area. My cousin also had Mono, which led to CFS and after going to a bunch of expensive specialists traced the symptoms to her adrenal gland. She found the most help going to a hormone specialist I think. Hope this helps.

CFS is a form of somatisation disorder, one of the medically unexplained symptoms disorders. Why in a fee-for-service system would any avaricious physician want to neglect any diagnostic tests?

CFS is a form of somatisation disorder, one of the medically unexplained symptoms disorders. Why in a fee-for-service system would any avaricious physician want to neglect any diagnostic tests?

Oh, they tested me! For months, I felt like a human pin cushion. But, looking back, I think that their attempts were just half hearted. I had Kaiser insuranse, at the time and they just passed me from doctor to doctor. Almost every doctor responded the same way, because they didn't believe in CFS. They would ask my mom to leave the room and then I would get the 20 questions. Are you depressed, Are you having trouble at home or school, is there some reason that you want to be missing school? Etc. I was in the middle of volleyball season and trying to graduate with flying colors. Why would I want to miss school? They tested me for mono, hypoglycemia, epstein bar, hyperglycemia, but no adrenal or thyroid or heavy metals, or any of the things that my doctor is now testing me for.
We ended up paying out of pocket to see a very well known CFS specialist who worked with Dr. Peterson (who in our neck of the woods, anyway was the doctor to go to). He had me fill out a 20-25 pg. questionaire and performed this unknown test, charged us $1500.00 and told me that I had CFS. I was happy to know that there was a name for what I had, but unhappy that there was apparently very little that I could do about it. I wished that I at least knew what was going on in my body that would cause such affects. My mom put me on the candida diet, we tried chinese herbs, we tested foe allergies. I'm not a doctor and I'm not claiming to know more than a doctor. I have found however that my adrenal gland is functioning at half of normal function. And that I have hypothyroidism. I am thinking of visiting a hormone specialist, because the more reading that I do (and I've been researching now for 12 years) the more I see a similar set of symptoms for adrenal and thyroid failure and candida ("The Yeast Connection"). It looks to me as if we've got this circle of things that effect each other (hormones, immune system, yeast, heavy metals, etc.) and if one of those things is severly impaired it affects everything else. And so I am testing these things one at a time to see what exactly is causing my adrenal and thyroid glands to fail. I don't know if CFS is a entity all in itself or not. And, I certainly don't want to come across as one of those people who invalidate CFS patients. I just want to explore other avenues and make sure that my syptoms aren't being caused by something that can be treated. I don't want to have a disease that I can do nothing about. And, while there are other options out there to explore, I won't be satisfied with the CFS explanation. Please understand, I have symptoms like you do and I have a need to find answers.