I had rhubarb pie yesterday and while it tasted wonderfully I didn't get better. Isn't the general theory something like "the less tasty (more disgusting), the better for you"? In that case I would suggest trying cow tounge or snails for ME.
But seriously, "at least six different diseases"? That's interesting, @
Jonathan Edwards Seems like you've done some thinking there? I wish someone would start some real categorization here. The ones I've heard of don't seem to take into account all of the most common differences between PWME:s, only some of them. And there are, as we all know, quite a few (English is not my first language so please excuse any strange formulations):
Onset: Infectious / non infectious
Infections: Impaired immune system (catches every cold there is) / Over active immune system (never gets a virus)
Course of illness: Relapsing form / non-relapsing form / gets worse over time / constant over time
Symptoms: Gut, sensory sensitivity, pain, orthostatic problems -- Don't have it / smaller issue / huge issue
Etc etc.
Another perspective I miss is the "crash course" perspective. I think most of us who have had ME for a number of years know that the symptoms don't just pop up independently from one another. They follow a certain track and one thing seems to lead to another. For example, when I'm about to crash, I can feel the blood disappearing from my head. I get dizzy and parts of my head feels kind of cold. (I guess you could think this is something I imagine, I've asked myself that many times. But I'm pretty sure I don't.)
If I can stop that from happening (My little arsenal consists of support stockings, water and salt, licorice root, vein contracting medications, lying down with my feet up etc.) I can usually stop the crash altogether or at least shorten it a lot. Before I started doing this the crasches were bad and lasted for weeks or more (I don't have the relapsing kind; how I feel depends on what I do). Now I'm usually able to stop them simply by raising my blood pressure (which I guess is what I do with the methods mentioned). It helps so much more than just resting. The sensory sensitivity, the worsened fatigue etc all come after that first thing. And if I fix it they don't show up at all. Does that mean that, at least in me, the lower blood flow to the brain caused by overexertion is the intermediate variable (or whatever is the correct term in English) causing the other symptoms?
I believe there are many of us who have discovered these patterns and use them to treat ourselves. And I think they may hold some clues as to what is happening.