Have you significantly used or abused any drugs in the past before the onset of symptoms?

[Ambrosia_angel]

I'm no puritan and I do not judge others for their choices. But I did nothing whatsoever to bring this illness on. I was as fit as possible, had not eaten white flour and sugar for years, never smoked (anything, except to try smokables and then not choose to continue), had a glass or two of wine with meals a couple of times a week, never even tried things like LSD, meth, etc. Never was into junk food, either.

Now I'm using medical marijuana and I just wish I'd opened my mind to it sooner! It helps so much with sleep and pain and might be helping with other things like muscle spasms and cognitive problems. I make my own tincture, just as with any medicinal herb, so I'm still not smoking anything. Never liked that.

I'm pretty sure no one was saying that anyone put illness apon themselves. Even if people do drugs most don't do it thinking that they will get ill in the future.

It's just a thread to find out if there is a relationship between drug abuse and ME which is probably likely. Most illnesses have that connection. I've never done drugs and my parents have never smoked throughout my childhood. But I'm still ill. I definitely didn't do enough exercise or eat the best which I don't blame myself for just because I wasn't educated enough back then

 

[Undisclosed]

@SDSue

I changed the poll because @maxm asked me to. I was actually thinking that alcohol might be something to be added but that's up to maxm.

 

[manna]

No, never, but my mother chain smoked through pregnancy and my childhood.

mine too. i think that would be an interesting question to ask many with me/cfs. certainly folk who have mothers who didn't smoke during pregnancy could for sure still get it, but i reckon its pretty bad start in life.
------

also my mum was a hairdresser and our kitchen was a full on salon daily for 20 years and hairspray was in everything...i sometimes wonder if some kind of cell memory of that led to my developing mcs as well as me/cfs. love her of course...and like the previous poster said...poor on no lifestyle education for either of us.

 

[Sushi]

mine too. i think that would be an interesting question to ask many with me/cfs. certainly folk who have mothers who didn't smoke during pregnancy could for sure still get it, but i reckon its pretty bad start in life.
------

also my mum was a hairdresser and our kitchen was a full on salon daily for 20 years and hairspray was in everything...i sometimes wonder if some kind of cell memory of that led to my developing mcs as well as me/cfs. love her of course...and like the previous poster said...poor on no lifestyle education for either of us.

My Mom chain smoked during pregnancy too and I'm pretty sure she was drinking alcohol moderately every day. She also had ME/CFS.

Sushi

 

[alex3619]

It would be hard to infer anything about tobacco use. It was so prevalent, and in many places still is, that almost everyone was exposed even if they did not smoke themselves. All the adults when I was growing up smoked. So did many of the teens.

 

[SDSue]

We all make choices in life based on the assumption, until proven otherwise, that we have normal healthy genes.
I personally cannot blame myself or anyone else for choices we made based on that assumption.

The day is coming when we will use our genetic code to make informed decisions in our lives in order to prevent, to the best of our ability, not just neuro--immune diseases, but a host of other illnesses as well.

I am not saying anyone did anything to bring this horror upon themselves. I am simply saying that, had we known where we would end up, we might have all done a lot of things differently in a (vain?) attempt to mitigate the damages.
I know I would have, because deep in my soul, I fear that this disease is a result of something I or my mother did.

 

[Sushi]

We all make choices in life based on the assumption, until proven otherwise, that we have normal healthy genes.
I personally cannot blame myself or anyone else for choices we made based on that assumption.
....

I used to travel a lot internationally and had to have a huge number of vaccinations--also the Hep B vaccine for work. These probably were not so great for the immune system, but then I had to have them to travel as many Asian countries wouldn't let you in without them.

Would I have chosen to not travel knowing what I know now about vaccines? I probably would have still traveled as this was extremely enriching for me.

Sushi

 

[peggy-sue]

I'm happy to blame my mother for anything and everything.

Caffeine is a drug we should be considering here too.

It's a pep-you-up, increases energy levels - and loads and loads and loads of folk are addicted.

I used to drink 6 big, mugs of strong stuff a day, now, only two smaller ones.

I can't cope with too much caffeine any more.


I got this Damed Disease from the 'flu my b-i-l had.
It's got nothing to do with my personal history, beyond having been stupid enough to have had my B-I-L to stay at christmas.
I knew it was a mistake at the time.

What you say is interesting, Sushi and again testament to individual differences.

No travelling is worth getting stuck with needles for, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[rosie26]

Cigarettes. I think Antibiotic's has been the culprit and done immune system damage to me. A botched dose that is.

 

[TigerLilea]

I was also going to mention caffeine. I personally believe this is what contributed to my getting CFS. I used to drink at least 20 cups of coffee per day for about five years. Even before that, I was drinking at least six to eight cups per day. Now, I don't know how I could possibly have drank that much, but back then I thought nothing of it. Today, just one cup of coffee keeps me awake all night and gets the anxiety in high gear. I was seriously over-dosing on caffeine and I read recently that long term over use of caffeine can lead to ATP shutting down.

 

[GhostGum]

Daily cannabis use from about 16yo to 18, stupidly here in Australia we are into the habit of mixing tobacco with basically all cannabis use and it took me about 5 years to realise how much of an issue that was to addiction, to the obliviousness of health professionals of course, once they hear you are using cannabis it is all that matters. When I quit I went into a mild psychosis and before even being able to adjust through the withdrawal phase I was put on olanzapine, which I went off cold turkey (most horrible experience of my life) then ended up on risperidone for 12 months. Weened off that drug, started exercising a lot, swimming every day, gym 5 times a week (all on poor nutrition), back to school, then one day after my usual 500m swim came out of the pool faint and dizzy, flu like symptoms next day, rest is history.

Also was on a somewhat notorious drug in mid teens for acne called roaccutane, god knows how that influenced my mood and future choices. One thing I also find interesting all these years is sometimes my fatigue seems similar to my olanzapine withdrawal experience.

So basically take your pick of factors, I gave up a long time ago trying to work any of it out. Substance abuse is just another thing that could be a factor for some people but is likely not for most, I doubt there is any specific biological reasoning for any specific recreational drug causing ME neither, other than it could relate to a stress/lifestyle factor. Which just leaves the drug being secondary in a possible lifestyle factor, so a secondary factor relating to a possible ME factor, ha.

 

[Little Bluestem]

An almost tee-totaler here. I did drink very moderately socially on occasion. If I went to a bar with friends, it was not unusual for me to order juice. Back then you could get a big glass of juice cheaply at a bar. Now they have wised up and charge like restaurants.

My mother did not use any type of drug, legal or illegal. My dad smoked a pipe some, but was not allowed to smoke it in the house or in the car when anyone else was with him.

 

[manna]

@GhostGum i never really smoked tobacco on its own but reckon if its used with marijuana then could be the more harmfull of the two. ive seen acne medication rate high up on causes in a candida overgrowth questionairre. i wonder if being on the meds per-disposed you to me/cfs too? and explosive exercising, like gym, running and swimming, all send energy away from the centre, and your organs, to the muscles. a certain amount of eexplosive exercise is good when you're healthy, like hill walking or a veg patch, but overdoing it is a way to run yourself down. theres a reason 90% of the australian olympic swimming team have asthma...inhaling chlorine deep into the lungs is not really a good idea...but at the time we think its a great idea and i used to swim too. explosive exercising is why sportsmen are always dealing with injuries. they do no implosive exercising, like tai chi, chi kung or yoga, which draw energy to the centre and nourish the organs and tendons

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conventional medicine and dentistry is more likely to make you ill than recreational drug use i think. smoking marijuana is not good for your digestion thjough....hence it causing the munchies...which for me indicates the body's need to replace seratonin, used for chilling out, via starch intake. the relaxation it gives is the same juice used to heal the body, or would if it wasn't used up.

 

[Allyson]

@Kina,

First let me say I appreciate everything you do to support this forum. Then let me add my 2 cents lol.

It's early in this poll's life and "other substances" is already taking the lead. Because it is the number one abused drug in much of the world, I think perhaps it would be appropriate to include a separate category for alcohol?

never drank alcohol much - never smoked much - both just the usual adolescent experimentation really

ditto for anything else - M made me paranoid tried it maybe 3 times in my life and hated it

most of my life is and has been spent cold clean sober

a lot of espresso coffee in my 20 s - 2-3 cups per day max though ( masking fatigue/OI symptoms ?- I crashed when I went cold turkey on that as it was keeping me awake and making me shake

never drank much soft drink either - lemonade, coca etc was rare

ALly

PS - what is "other " ? - ,.....see how innocent I am? lol

 

[Esther12]

Normal teenage drunkenness. Normal by British standards anyway - dangerous and excessive by the standards of any medical organistation. Smoked marijuana, but not heavily, and only for a relatively brief period before getting glandular fever. Would definately have moved on to scag if ill health had not intervened though - heard nothing but good things.

 

[Cheesus]

When I was a grotty teen I actually got PVFS and continued using and abusing all sorts of horrifically impure chemicals. Somehow I managed to get better, but I'm not sure I ever truly recovered, as for years afterwards I was beset by anxiety and all sorts of horrible physical symptoms that were always 'just my anxiety'. There may be a link there for me.

 

[Allyson]

Normal teenage drunkenness. Normal by British standards anyway - dangerous and excessive by the standards of any medical organistation.
.

yes amazing what you do as teens Esther12 - looking back - in our society anyway

I don't even know what scag is ...will google

but I DID go vegetarian andnot eat well for many years - so probably not enough protein in the diet ... that would not have helped anything


Ally

 

[taniaaust1]

It would be good if we could understand how many people took part alcohol and smoking abuse. They are the worst offenders when it comes to creating ill health.

I think we all have taken part in bad lifestyle practices whether that's illegal drugs or eating too much oily takeaways. They all contribute to illness one way or another.

Im a non smoker (Ive only tried a cigarette a few times in my life and never been able to smoke a whole one.. a few puffs on one makes my head spin). and a non drinker (Ive only ever been drunk a few times in my whole life.. Ive never been able to tollerate alcohol well even before ME/CFS. nearly can get drunk on its fumes).

The one thing I did do but not much of (I was never a regular marijuana smoker) is marijuana when I was in my early 20s, irregularly for a year or so. Im certain thou that didnt contribute to me getting ME/CFS.
.....

I too think it was a rather strong comment made about drugs being a natural thing. In some tribes only shamans did drugs and lots of people never do these at all and just never smoke and drink. Maybe some people believe that to make themselves feel more okay about themselves and what they do.

Neither of my parents ever smoked, too drugs or drank.
.......

I was a health addict so even avoided chemicals back then. My lifestyle was super healthy.. eatting all the right healthy and organic foods (I grew a lot of my own foods), a good amount of exercise etc etc. I never drank coke (I hated that stuff)... and used to only drink one cup of weak coffee per day. I didnt even take antibiotics. I have not even ever had one of those mercury fillings in my mouth.

(one thing which could of played a part in me developing ME thou I do think there was already something wrong as I had severe EBV as a teen.. was Hep B vaccinations. I had lots of those as my vaccine wouldnt take). Other then that I was actually anti-vaccination but I needed those vaccines to work in the ambulance service.

 

[xchocoholic]

I never liked the way I felt after trying drugs so I avoided the questionable stuff and limited my alcohol to occasional social activities.

In 1990 when I became ill, I was a working mother with a 2 year old so no time for drugs except caffeine. My DD was still waking me up during the night regularly.

Imho, if anything set me up for catching cfs, it was eating gluten.
I know now how it weakens my immune system.

Tc .. x

ps. I know far too many "healthy" people who drink alcohol regularly / daily to consider it a contributing factor. It would be interesting to know if drinking alcohol in moderation actually keeps people from getting this.

 

[manna]

(one thing which could of played a part in me developing ME thou I do think there was already something wrong as I had severe EBV as a teen.. was Hep B vaccinations. I had lots of those as my vaccine wouldnt take). Other then that I was actually anti-vaccination but I needed those vaccines to work in the ambulance service.

reading through your post, as i got further down, the only culprit i was thinking was left, was vaccinations, which you then covered in your last paragraph. i think its possible that vaccinations can be so detrimental, that even 1, or a few, can have serious longterm affects on health, even if everything else is being looked after. what else could have happened? did your mother have any mercury fillings placed during pregnancy--this used to be free in the uk, if you were pregnant, but now its considered dangerous to the foetus. so many avenues to cover to remain healthy.

i think there are "natural drugs"...though drug is not a word i'd use with the word "natural". Ayahuasca and psychedelic mushrooms can be great healers when used responsibly and legally. especially ayahuasca, which has an excellent track record with curing heroin addiction and even reforming criminals. most marijuana smokers give up the weed after taking ayahuasca. so some substances, like iboga, too, for addiction, can actually stop you from overusing "drugs".

in south america ayahuasca is often given to young men (14-15 years) to help them avoid the usual misinformed drug and lifestyle decisions. ayahuasca is never recreational and although you may have a life changing event, for the better, (its not unheard of to have a lifetime's depression dissappear in one dose) for the first few hours its incredibly uncomfortable with many issues being brought to foreground to be seen from a higher perspective. only that which can be handled. that said, i believe i can do anything that can be done on ayahuasca, without it, healing wise, but some folk may not.