[skylane8]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

That's right, YOU DON"T KNOW, and I'm not the ignorant one.
I'll bite---since you THINK you have more expertise than I, please give me a working definition of CFS beyond a collection of somatic symptoms. Give me medically accepted diagnostic criteria. Give me a test that shows CFS.

When someone has a positive ANA and doesn't meet criteria for a specific rheumatologic disorder, ate least we can throw it in the catch-all category of mixed connective tissue disease. When someone has an elevated ESR and muscle and joint aches, we can use the catch-all of fibromyalgia. There is no equivalent for CFS.

Worse yet, CFS has become a sort of cult following. There are people putting out "CFS newsletters and magazines" They may call themselves doctors but most are nutritionists and holistic quacks. This happens with just about every condition that cannot be specifically diagnosed and has no treatment. Patients are desperate to latch onto anything that sounds authoritarian and offers hope.

Now I'm sorry you have had something for 30 years, and if you want to call it CFS, fine. I'm happy you have "studied" it, although I'm at a loss to fathom from what legitimate source you obtained your information. And feel free to question "anything I have to say about health", despite the fact that I have treated tens of thousands of patients and could give 4 pages of credentials here. But I will give you some free advice----eat a balanced diet, exercise, maintain ideal body weight, and take reasonable vitamin supplements, but most of all, do not buy any of the snake oil these CFS publications will try to sell you

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: It's Real, and We Can Do Better