{"id":13926,"date":"2017-08-10T09:59:27","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T09:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?p=13926"},"modified":"2017-08-10T09:59:27","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T09:59:27","slug":"a-plea-from-a-fallen-doctor-on-mecfs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/a-plea-from-a-fallen-doctor-on-mecfs\/","title":{"rendered":"A plea from a fallen doctor on ME\/CFS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reddit<\/strong> blog post, 9 Aug 2017: A plea from a fallen doctor on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME\/CFS)<\/a><\/p>\n

I was educated at Baylor and practiced medicine for 30 years. I had a thriving practice, a rich social life, and excellent physical and mental health. I loved what I did and loved my life. I ran marathons, spoke at conferences, and chaired non-profits.<\/p>\n

I am now completely bedridden from post viral CFS.<\/p>\n

I am writing this to beg my fellow colleagues to take this disease seriously, understand that it is 100% organic in origin, and that it can happen to anyone.<\/p>\n

I used to see CFS patients fairly often in my practice. Some of them were quite debilitated and some semi-functional. I always tried to be sympathetic and did what I could to help, but truth be told there was always a voice in my head questioning if their symptoms were psychosomatic. At times I delayed a diagnosis because the literature told me to wait 6 months. I recommended exercise, antidepressants, and psychotherapy because that had always been the conventional wisdom.<\/p>\n

And when patients didn’t come back, I subconsciously assumed they had gotten better, and that I was justified in my approach. I feel tremendous guilt about this now.<\/p>\n

When I got the flu that started this, I thought I would be out of work for 10 days. 10 days turned into 10 weeks, and then 10 months. The virus was gone, my labs were clean, and yet I still felt horribly ill.<\/p>\n

My symptoms:<\/p>\n