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Intravenous Albumin
This is, in our opinion, the most remarkable therapy available. In the majority of patients, it has a profound effect on fatigue. This is a blood product. And as such it carries some risk of viral transmission. However, there has yet to be any recorded case of AIDS or Hepatitis from the use of Albumin! This is not so, unfortunately with Gamma Globulin. With this in mind, the risk appears to be outweighed by the potential improvement in quality of life for sick patients. This treatment may be repeated as often as every three months if needed.
Diet
It is highly recommended that you eliminate milk, mints and peanuts from your diet. They are thought to stimulate viral replication. Also, eliminate caffeine and alcohol. They are destructive to the immune system, and most patients with CFIDS develop marked alcohol intolerance. Also, the elimination of allergic foods will be very helpful.
Medications to Avoid
Do not take steroids, aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS),
or arthritis medicine. All of these drugs depress an already weakened immune system and they may cause an ulcer or further gastric irritation.
Most people with CFIDS already have a tendency to irritated stomachs. Tylenol is OK for pain and fever.
Depression
Almost all patients with immune dysfunction syndromes have a substantial amount of depression. This isn't because they are depressed because they are ill. Depression is a part of any chronic illness and it is caused by an irritation of the brain from heavy lymphocytic infiltration.
Some of the main and early symptoms of depression are:
The good part is that this kind of depression responds well to anti-depressants. Some anti-depressants also block prostaglandin production thereby reducing pain. Prostaglandins are substances produced by the body that are involved in the production of pain. Prozac and Zoloft are two examples of these types of anti-depressants.
Proper use of these kinds of anti-depressants should result in:
All of those factors are needed the most in order to cope with a chronic illness.
Allergy Testing and Treatment
This is probably the second most effective treatment (Albumin being first). Allergies stimulate the immune system, which in the case of CFS is already over active. Allergic Rhinitis is a prime example and it frequently leads to sinusitis. Sinusitis then burdens the immune system even further. Many people get relief from their upper respiratory symptoms with immunotherapy and by using environmental control inside of their homes.
Research has proven that food allergies can cause asthma, fatigue, migraine headaches, joint and muscle pain, agitation, foggy-headedness, gas, diarrhea, sinusitis symptoms,and drowsiness. And those are only a few of the symptoms caused by food allergies! Relieving pain and emotional symptoms is important in order to feel better. Try to identify your main food allergies and then you should eliminate those offending foods from your diet for awhile. You can't believe how many people have a major and dramatic improvement of their specific symptomsby doing this! You may experience as much as a fifty percent improvement in how you feel and your performance level as well.
Immune Prime
Immune Prime is Geranium oil that has been put under intense heat and high pressure in the presence of a high concentration of oxygen. There are currently several studies being conducted in order to approve it for an AIDS drug. Right now, though, it is being sold as an herbal remedy. I have had wonderful results with Immune Prime on herpetic infections, both simplex and zoster. For many patients, standard medications have not given relief. Immune Prime, on the other hand, has given relief and is less expensive. Pain seems to improve dramatically in many patients. In possibly one-third of the patients using, it there appears to be an overall improvement in the entire fatigue syndrome. Some people have quit using other therapies since they started using of Immune Prime.
Pain Control
Intramuscular Magnesium Sulfate
This usually gives superior improvement in muscle and joint pain. The doses that should be used should be far below 32 GMs per 24 hours. This can lead to toxicity. Some patients, though, may need 2 - 4 injections a day.
You should know, however, that these injections can be very painful and/or irritating. If the shot is given slowly, over a 10-minute period, there should be only a small amount of pain.
Celebrex and Vioxx
These two medications have revolutionized pain control. These are both types of arthritis drugs and cause minimal stomach problems. They are tolerated very well by most people. Vioxx and Celebrex give great pain relief and don't cause sedation or addiction. Ultram is very good also relieving pain, but it may cause sedation in some people.
B12 Injections and Other Treatments for Fatigue and Fibromyalgia
Vitamin B12 injections are very effective in many patients with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. These injections should be accompanied by folvite in the injection because too much vitamin B12 can cause folvite deficiency.
When given by injection, B12 has proven effective in helping fatigue in about 60% of patients with CFIDS. It's not understood why, but it is worth trying. You will know immediately if it is going to help or not. If it doesn't help you should stop taking it.
Some people use Kutapressin for CFIDs. To be effective, Kutapressin is given with large shots daily for two months. In some cases, there may not be any improvement in symptoms. Kutapressin has been shown to help fatigue in about 60% of patients.
Gamma Globulin shots have also been quite helpful in many patients with CFIDS when taken once or twice a week.
Another effective treatment is very dilute flu vaccine that is mixed with other dilute viral vaccines. This really helps for when one feels fluish or under the weather. It definitely eliminates or lessens the flu-like feeling.
Hormones
Many women with immune dysfunction are prone to having uterine fibroids, endometriosis, low progesterone levels, ovarian cysts, irregular periods and poor libido. Natural progesterone, estrogen and testosterone are beneficial for many women with immune dysfunction. These drugs are obtained by prescription from compounding pharmacies. There is a natural progesterone pill available from pharmacies, but it is not sustained release and is usually poorly tolerated.
Natural Progesterone
Benefits of Progesterone
The use of artificial progesterone (Medroxyprogestrone e.g. Provera) is not recommended. There are numerous side affects listed in Physician's Desk Reference.
Natural Estrogen
Benefits of natural estrogen
The use of artificial estrogen isn't recommended. Examples of these are:
These artificial estrogens are derived from pregnant mare urine. They contain many equine estrogen hormones, which don't occur in human females. There are also many bad side effects listed in the Physician's Desk Reference for these.
Some of these side effects are increased risk of breast and uterine cancer.
Thyroid Hormone
Many people with chronic fatigue have clinically significant Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. THE STANDARD BLOOD TESTS FOR THYROID FUNCTION ARE USUALLY NORMAL. Having a blood test for thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies confirms the diagnosis.
The important thing is that people who have symptoms of thyroid dysfunction but have normal screening thyroid blood tests may well benefit from thyroid hormone. Symptoms might include accelerated hair loss, being cold a lot, dry skin, fluid retention, some sluggishness, brittle nails or, off and on fast heart beat.
The treatment that has been found to beneficial for most, is thyroid suppression therapy. Since the thyroid hormone is attacked and bound by antithyroglobulin antibodies it therefore makes the hormone less effective than it normally would be.
Also, the thyroid peroxidase antibodies are attack the cell walls of the thyroid and cause irregular and excessive releases of thyroid hormone. These releases account for the hyperthyroid (high thyroid) symptoms.
The important factor is that lymphocytes IN THE THYROID are the ones producing these antibodies. This means that oral thyroid does not go through the thyroid nearly as much as the natural, and is therefore less damaged.
As the oral thyroid (I prefer Armour) is increased, the brain shuts down the demand for the body's production of thyroid. Eventually, the patient will end up with nearly all artificial thyroid hormone. Their own thyroid shuts down the production of hormone, decreases in size and has very little hormone in the cells to be released when the peroxidase antibodies rupture the cell walls. So, instead of ups and downs in symptoms due to high or low thyroid, things level out.
When patients see many doctors and give symptoms of both high and low thyroid functions, the doctors will shake their heads and say, "you can't have both hypo and hyper thyroid symptoms."
A study conducted in Europe found that when patients, whose chronic urticaria was resistant to all therapies, were given thyroid hormone, 70% of them got well. The study did not give any explanations for this. One could conclude, that the message is that thyroid hormone can have a beneficial effect on allergy symptoms.
Many Endocrinologist are not familiar with or currently using thyroid suppression therapy. They base their treatment of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis on the thyroid blood tests rather than the patient's symptoms. This works well in diabetes, but not so well with the thyroid.
On the other hand, there are quite a number of Otolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat doctors) who are using thyroid suppression therapy.
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and Graves Disease may be found in the same patient. When this happens and partial ablation of the thyroid is done, the remaining thyroid is very difficult to manage.
Sublingual Coenzyme Q10
Sublingual Coenzyme Q10 may be very beneficial for treatment of fatigue in about 30% of chronic fatigue patients. A sublingual dose will give a great burst of energy to some people. There are other vitamins which are helpful (please see the "Supplements and Minerals" sectiion). You shouldn't stress your pocketbook over vitamins. They help, but are expensive and are not a lead treatment.
DHEA
DHEA stands for dihydroepiandosterone which is an adrenal hormone. Studiess have found that DHEA is depressed and cortisol elevated in most immunostressed people like people with CFIDS. Taking DHEA has been shown to reverse this ratio in most cases, and to help reverse the unbalanced ratio of T helper to T suppressor cells found in CFS. Many people do feel better on DHEA.
That's the good part. On the flip-side, many patients suffer sudden acne and weepiness if the dose increases are too sudden or high. This can be avoided by starting on a very low dose, increasing slowly, and stopping on the strongest tolerated dose, (within recommended guideline). Usually men tolerate 50mg per day, and women 25mg per day. I strongly recommend you not start on a health food tablet of a strong dose. If that ends up being your dose, any brand is probably acceptable. Finally there seems to have been an increased incidence of ovarian cysts in some patients taking DHEA. It should be noted that an increased incidence of ovarian cysts may be a risk of DHEA therapy. It's possible that the natural Progesterone may prevent them. In any event, I feel that DHEA should not be recommended.
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