114 Quotes About Chronic-fatigue-syndrome

If I have found promise, it is because I’ve squeezed it from the seemingly impossible.

Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is the hallmark clinical feature of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

The claim that patients can recover [from ME/CFS] as a result of CBT and GET is not justified by the data, and is highly misleading to clinicians and patients considering these treatments.

...patient evidence has repeatedly found that cognitive behaviour therapy is ineffective and graded exercise therapy can make the condition worse.

The recommendation of graded exercise has caused untold physical damage to thousands of people. In fact, a 2018 survey found that 89% of ME sufferers experienced worsened symptoms after increasing activity. If graded exercise were a drug, it would have lost its licence.

...exercise has not been shown to produce a long term cure for ME/CFS and studies have not shown that exercise reverses the pathophysiological changes found in this illness......for many patients, adding an injudicious exercise program has caused post exertional malaise and deterioration of function

The severe exacerbation of symptoms following exercise, as seen in CFS patients, is not present in other disorders where fatigue is a predominant symptom such as depression, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or multiple sclerosis. 10,11

The largest and most recent ME Association survey (ME Association, 2015) of patient evidence on the acceptability, efficacy and safety of CBT, GET and Pacing involved 1428 respondents. In this case, 73 per cent of respondents reported that CBT had no effect on their symptoms and 74 per cent reported that their symptoms were made worse by GET.

After a patient of his with pneumonia coughed in his face, Vink’s energy and endurance quickly tanked. He estimated that from one day to the next he lost 70-80% of the power in his legs. Very quickly this former marathoner was unable to walk 30 yards without having to rest for 15 minutes. He also experienced severe dizziness, headaches (for the first time in his life) and problems sleeping. Graded exercise therapy (GET) caused him to relapse further and he ended up bedridden.