Epstein-Barr

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I found this information on Chronic Fatigue/ Epstein-Barr. Hope it

helps. 

 

 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

This condition, also known incorrectly as " chronic Epstein-Barr virus

disease " or " chronic EBV, " is faddish disease that may or may not prove

to be a real clinical entity. It certainly has nothing to do with the

Epstein-Barr virus, which causes infectious mononucleosis ( " mono " ) in

our part of the world and unusual cancers in Africa and Asia. Antibody

tests for EBV are of no value in diagnosing the syndrome.

Typically, chronic fatigue syndrome affects young, healthy adults who

feel perfectly well until they get a flu-like illness from which they

cannot recover. Thereafter they suffer from overwhelming fatigue and

lack of energy, which often make it impossible for them to work or do

anything but lie around the house. Most patients report severe

disturbances of sleep and memory. Many describe unusual sensations,

including tingling in parts of the body or the feeling of a motor racing

inside them. Some have recurrent sore throats, fevers, and swollen

glands. Yet most of them also look great, so friends and relatives often

don't take their disease seriously. Chronic fatigue syndrome can last

for years.

If this new syndrome really is a specific disease, it may represent

chronic infection with a previously unknown virus. My feeling is that

only some patients with the diagnosis actually have a chronic viral

infection. Others may have many other reasons for not feeling well.

Conventional medicine has little to offer people with chronic fatigue

syndrome except antidepressant drugs. Some doctors attempt treatment

with injections of gamma globulin, interferon, or the antiviral drug

acyclovir, but these are drastic methods likely to cause more harm than

good. I advise you to stay away from them.

Here are my suggestions for people with chronic fatigue syndrome:

Exercise regularly: twenty to thirty minutes of aerobic activity at

least five days a week. This may be the last thing you feel like doing,

but force yourself to do it. Keep the intensity of your activity below

the level that leads to exhaustion.

Follow the nutritional guidelines of a low-protein, low-fat,

high-carbohydrate diet.

Take an antioxidant vitamin formula plus a B-100 B-complex supplement.

Eat two cloves of raw garlic a day.

Take Astragalus root for its antiviral and immunity-enhancingproperties.

A good product that I use is Astra-8, a mix-ture of Astragalus with

seven other Chinese herbs. The dose is three tablets twice a day; you

can stay on it indefinitely.

Avoid support groups for people with chronic fatigue syndrome. They

often give you ideas for new symptoms and convey the impression that the

disease will be with you for the rest of your life.

Read Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic by Jesse A. Stoff, MD

and Charles R. Pellegrino, PhD (New York: Random House, 1988). It

contains a lot of useful information. Experiment with homeopathic

remedies.

Ask your doctor to prescribe oxygen for home use and experiment with

inhaling it for fifteen to twenty minutes once or twice a day. If it

helps, continue to use it until your energy level improves enough to do

without.

Do not despair! Chronic fatigue syndrome is not a lifelong malady. Many

of my patients have recovered well after one to five years of being

sick. Do not expect to wake up cured one wonderful day. Do expect to

have ups and downs, with the downs becoming less severe and less

frequent.

 

 

 

Take good care.

 

Love,

Renee and Jerry