Hi,
I began hgh injections during the acute stage (severely ill) of my illness. It made me feel much worse. I continued to take it because my sister had CFS like symptoms and dramatically improved with it. She also lost 3O lbs in just a few months. Every 3 months my dose was increased and I felt much worse for a few weeks. I would just begin to feel better and they would increase my dose. I continued with it because there is not much available as treatment when you are in the stage where you can't tolerate anything- light, sound, smell, sitting/standing up... My sister's recovery gave me hope and I stayed with it. I think very few people with acute CFS would stay on hgh. You are already being tortured by the illness and to take something that clearly adds to the torture is an abnormal response. I think that is why there is no evidence of hgh treatments being successful iin CFS. Patients don't stay on it for very long. In the beginning it really makes you worse.
My dose is 4mg every day. Had I stayed in NYC with the endo that originally prescribed it I would probably be on a larger dose. But I am in GA and feel lucky to have found a endo that was willing to continue to prescribe it. I was diagnosed and treated for Hashimotos before I was tested for low growth hormone . I was initially tested for hgh and cortisol and my hgh was low but my cortisol was low but not abnormal according to the test. Two years ago I began treatment with small doses of cortisol as well. I hav been injecting hgh since 2000.
The endocrine system has been just one part of my treatment for CFS. But I believe it is responsible for getting me out of bed and on my feet by correcting my sleep cycle. Although I am still sick, I do have a rewarding if very "small" life.
I would recommend that all PWC try hgh. Of course, I would not say that for anyone with a history of cancer. I have a benign brain tumor which caused me to suspend my hgh treatment for a year while I was treated for the tumor. I was retested for hgh and again tested abnormally low. Everytime my insurance has changed I have had to suspend treatment and be retested. I always test abnormally low and insurance covers my hgh. Unfortunately, I have never experienced any weight loss with hgh and I do not look younger or feel stronger! My guess is that hgh may have that affect on healthy people but not CFS people.