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Hypoglycemia in ME/CFS - Myhill

xchocoholic

Senior Member
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2,947
Location
Florida
great article ...

http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?id=8170&t=CFIDS_FM

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) - a problem for many Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia patients, but treatable
ProHealth.com
by Sarah Myhill, MD
July 24, 2007

"My experience is that chronic hypoglycemia is a very common cause of fatigue in CFS sufferers," writes Dr. Sarah Myhill, MD, a UK-based CFS specialist focused on nutrition, preventive medicine, and patient education. This article is excerpted from Dr. Myhills book Diagnosing and Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome available in pdf format at her website (DrMyhill.co.uk).* It reflects her experience treating more than 4,000 patients with CFS over the past 20 years - many of whom also have Fibromyalgia.

IMHO, this doctor has the most effective treatment protocal for ME/CFS because she looks for the root causes in EACH patient. And her years of successfully treating PWCs has given her insight into what many of us have in common ...

A GTT with insulin can verify this condition ...

Of course not all PWCs can be helped partly due to the various organ damage caused by viruses, toxins, etc but following her general guidelines can normally help anyone suffering from a chronic illness live a better life ... Thankfully the internet has made this info more available to us ...

tc ... x
 

anniekim

Senior Member
Messages
779
Location
U.K
Maybe I am misunderstanding things but I get very confused when dr myhill refers to this x can be the cause of fatigue in people with Cfs

Is she saying if the cause of fatigue in someone with Cfs is as in this example low blood sugar is she then saying she has found the cause of the Cfs? she often bangs on that Cfs is not a disease but a symptom and talks about that can cause fatigue or this. This makes me wonder is she looking at m. E as a distinct illness or is she more of a chronic fatigue doc?

I can never work it out
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Maybe I am misunderstanding things but I get very confused when dr myhill refers to this x can be the cause of fatigue in people with Cfs

Is she saying if the cause of fatigue in someone with Cfs is as in this example low blood sugar is she then saying she has found the cause of the Cfs? she often bangs on that Cfs is not a disease but a symptom and talks about that can cause fatigue or this. This makes me wonder is she looking at m. E as a distinct illness or is she more of a chronic fatigue doc?

I can never work it out

Hi annie,

I was confused about all of this for awhile too ... Dr. Myhill is a ME/CFS expert.

My understanding is that all holistic or alternative medical practitioners look at ME/CFS as a group of symptoms and that each symptom should be addressed. As in food intolerances are known to cause all kinds of problems including neurological problems ...

The problem with the way traditional medical professionals look at ME/CFS is that they created a name for a group of symptoms without looking for causes or ways to resolve the problem ... which leads to a lifetime of chronic illness and/or taking medications. And a lot of confusion ... :confused:

The difference in how traditional medical professionals and holistic medical professionals view chronic illness has been a heated topic for years but thankfully the internet is helping patients learn the truth. Hopefully, these two groups will get their acts together in order to provide better healthcare for us patients ... :cool:

Again not everyone with ME/CFS or any other chronic illness can be helped. Many of us have too much damage to our kidneys, livers, brains, hearts, etc ... Having said that I've healed more than I ever thought possible just by switching my diet and taking a few supplements ... :D ... tc ... x
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Maybe I am misunderstanding things but I get very confused when dr myhill refers to this x can be the cause of fatigue in people with Cfs

Is she saying if the cause of fatigue in someone with Cfs is as in this example low blood sugar is she then saying she has found the cause of the Cfs? she often bangs on that Cfs is not a disease but a symptom and talks about that can cause fatigue or this. This makes me wonder is she looking at m. E as a distinct illness or is she more of a chronic fatigue doc?

I can never work it out

I took her post differently to what you do. When she says it is the cause of fatigue. I just took it as it causes fatigue for some.. but the amount of fatigue it causes doesnt mean that person is fixed just may mean they have less fatigue with the ME/CFS then they did before.

Hence the fatigue of the hypoglycemia has been treated so it is better then it was thou the person still has fatigue (If a person came completely well just by fixing low blood sugar one couldnt say they had ME/CFS in the first place so her heading would then be wrong as they couldnt be refered to as ME/CFS patients).

eg I get hypoglycemia myself (due to insulin issues).. and finding out I had these issues and what was causing the hypoglycemia has helped me fix or improve some of the ME symptoms I get.
..................

addition.. ahh... I just noticed she didnt mention ME but only CFS. So I wonder if by that she is refering to ones who dont have ME but rather just those with CFS...eg those chronic tired lot with aches pains etc.. not ME ones. (I dont know how she usually references ME/CFS patients)
 

anniekim

Senior Member
Messages
779
Location
U.K
Thanks Tania for your reply and perspective. I agree that she could be implying fixing certain problems will help the person improve but I'm still not sure whether she is saying that. She does always refer to her patients as having Cfs. Here in the uk we use m.e slot so I find that strange.
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
I can see how this one article might be confusing ...

I've been sick a long time, 21 years, and have seen the name of this illness change several times so I use the terms CFS, CFIDS, ME, ME/CFS, CFS/ME and even Fibromyalgia inter-changeably. I'm assuming Dr. Myhill does too at this point ...

Here's an interesting article I found on her site about how she approaches her patients health care. FWIW .. this is what my integrative doctor is doing for me too. Notice that she states the foundation has to be in place in order for some treatments to be effective. I can relate because there is no way I could feel this good while still eating the Standard American diet of toxic foods ...

http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Summary_of_my_approach_for_CFS_/_ME_sufferers.

and of course, some of us won't simply fix our hypoglycemia from following a Paleo / low carb diet. My liver couldn't handle a low carb diet at first and so my blood glucose was so low that I was pale and felt faint until I ate some fruit to boost it up ...

Also my brain simply can't function without some sort of glucose regularly. I've had petite mals since I was a child so this probably won't change ... I've met some people who've told me that I just need to tough this out and my body would eventually work without the carbs. BUT then I've read that glucose deprevation to the brain can cause damage. I'm sticking with the extra carbs for now ...

I'm assuming Dr. Myhill didn't address those who need a little more glucose than others in this article because it only makes understanding blood glucose more confusing ...

HTH ... x
 
Messages
62
I had severe hypoglycemia.. With my blood sugar down after only half an hour after eating..I suffered from both forms.. Reactive which is dependent on something you eat. And the regular type dependent on the functioning of the pancreas?? SOrry do not know enough about how it happens.

First taking a homeoapathic made it alot less severe. Then going off of all food senstivities stopped the reactive form of hypoglycemia.. THen taking high dose of biotin it improved because my candida yeast was better in control.

After doing frequent dose chelating to lower my heavy metals , doing around 45 rounds , I no longer have regular hypoglycemia.. just the reactive form with food sensitivities and candida...

nanci
 

anniekim

Senior Member
Messages
779
Location
U.K
Nanci, do you mind me asking how you know you have candida. What symptoms do you have that you subscribe to candida? Thanks