Symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Lethargy
• Feeling generally unwell with sore throat or flu symptoms
• Aching muscles and joints
• Headaches and migraine
• Sleep problems
• Poor concentration
• Bad memory
• Digestive problems
• Dizziness and problems with nervous system
• Sensitivity to bright lights, alcohol, chemicals

Things to try

There are, however, some things that people have found helpful and may be worth investigating because there are instances of people who have got much better after trying them:

Mercury in teeth:

Maura started to have a lot of allergies about six years ago. ‘I was unable to eat so many things that I am now restricted to just 36 foods. I used to get really tired and chemicals gave me a headache or made me sick. I read about the possibility that dental amalgam could make people ill and decided to have my fillings taken out.

‘I had four big ones replaced on one side of my mouth. Two hours after being in the dentist’s chair I started to have a very strange headache and felt nauseous. But that only lasted for the evening and afterwards I felt much better and the chronic fatigue completely went.

‘Gradually I had all 19 fillings replaced, mostly from molars, and now I am much better. I had only been able to work part-time and in the afternoons I used to have a nap. Now I do things in the afternoon and have even started going to college at night. I don’t get such a strong reaction from the foods I am allergic to, and have added one or two of them back into my diet.’

To find out more about Mercury Fillings read: Mouthful of Mercury in Healthy Features

The British Society for Mercury Free Dentistry helpline: 0208 746 1177, www.mercuryfreedentistry.org.uk

Geopathic Stress

Radiation underneath the house can rise upwards and be magnified by metal bedsprings. In many cases of chronic fatigue or M.E. people have been found to be sleeping over underground rivers which cause radiation when they cross.

The best advice is to move the bed rather than buying all kinds of gadgets to send the rays elsewhere.
Some have found that visiting special healers like Seka Nicolic at the Kailash Centre, 020 7722 3939 can improve their M.E. considerably.

Electro-magnetic stress

Few people realise that they are surrounded by electro-magnetic fields all the time in today’s world. Experts like Alf Riggs claim that hairdryers, computers, electronic clocks and toothbrushes and more are affecting our health.

In particular the base stations of DECT cordless phones are said to be radiating more emissions than a mobile phone mast and can seriously affect the health of people near them. So if you sleep with a cordless phone base in the bedroom there is every chance that it is affecting your health and anyone with ME should remove them from the house, not just the bedroom and go back to the analogue cordless phones or the old-fashioned fixed line!

It is important also to make sure you are not sleeping above computers – so switch off everything at night at the mains and try to eliminate those little red buttons which are also wasting plenty of energy!

Nutrition

Anyone with M.E. or CFS would benefit enormously from seeing a nutritional therapist to find out what they are allergic to. Most would recommend having a general detox, giving up wheat and dairy and eating a lot of fresh organic vegetables, brown rice, pulses, seeds and nuts.

There have been connections between Candida (the yeast infection) and M.E. and a nutritional therapist would investigate this and apply an appropriate diet alongside herbal antifungals.

The British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT), 08706 061284, www.bant.org.uk
See Therapies/Nutrition

Essential fatty acids

According to Professor Basant K. Puri, Professor and Consultant at Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College, London, recommends, ‘The daily adult intake of 2,240mg of pure EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, an omega 3 fatty acid) and 800mg virgin Evening Primrose Oil provides the correct fatty acids to treat the underlying cause of chronic fatigue syndrome.’

He warns, however, ‘Patients should be careful, however, to avoid taking any supplements containing either DHA (another Omega-3 fatty acid) or Vitamin A. Current research is showing that these can be detrimental to one’s health.’

COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES

When someone has a chronic illness it is often a question of trial and error to find out which therapies suit them best so any of the following may be helpful. For more details of each look at Therapies.

• Homeopathy
• Herbal Medicine
• Naturopathy
• Reflexology
• Reiki
• Emotional Freedom Technique

For further information go to: Action for ME, www.afme.org.uk