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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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the man has some nerve calling himself a "CFS Expert" IMHO

MEKoan

Senior Member
Messages
2,630
Provided by our very own hammock goddess Kim

quoted from Dr. T

When your immune system is impaired, many unusual infections can take hold. These include viral infections (e.g. XMRV, HHV-6, CMV, and EBV), parasites and other bowel infections, infections sensitive to other long-term treatment with the antibiotics Cipro and Doxycycline (e.g. micoplasma, chlamydia, Lyme disease, etc.), and fungal infections. Clinical experience shows that treating with prescription antifungals such as Diflucan can help relieve the symptoms seen in these syndromes.

Aside from the insinuation of trivialities like XMRV, HHV6 and CMV into this disease paradigm, I am transported back to 1975! (Hey, I am wearing cute bellbottom bib overalls, platform sandals and my hair is down to my ass!) I'm sure Dr T still cooks dinner from his copy of Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit. There is much about that time that I remember very fondly as, I'm sure, does he. But, he does seem to be stuck in a time warp. He is stubbornly anachronistic which would be kinda charming were it not so crazy.
 

Nielk

Senior Member
Messages
6,970
Dr. Teitelbaum is another charlatan making huge amounts of money off of desperate CFS patients and perpetuating propaganda to the world about us that hurts us all.

I agree with you 100%. I saw him speak 4 years ago at a cfs conference in Florida. He was so pompous. Saying he knows all the answers and how great he is that now that he
is "cured" from cfs, he can travel all over the world and he is not tired. His saliva was drooping from counting how many of us sick ones were there and would be bying all his products,
books and go to his centers.
 

JPV

ɹǝqɯǝɯ ɹoıuǝs
Messages
858
CFS patients are particularly vulnerable to sugar addiction issues, and it was Dr. Teitelbaum's personal experiences recovering from CFS that led to his initial understanding of this problem.

My experience has been that most people that claimed to have cured themselves from CFS (Paul Whitcomb, Ashok Gupta) are complete con artists.

And I've never had much of a sweet tooth.
 
Messages
71
It's funny how when I was a strict vegan who had no sugar whatsoever in her diet, nor caffeine, I didn't magically get cured. I did feel better, but nowhere near cured. It just took some of the burden off my digestive system.

I have been a sugar addict- I have given it up. It never affects my ME/CFS much either way.
 

jace

Off the fence
Messages
856
Location
England
I'm another that doesn't eat much sugar, and never have. I use sugar in similar amounts as I use salt. It's a spice, IMHO. Not the root cause of all our problems.
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
I avoid sugar (and simple carbs) wherever reasonably practical - I'm not fanatical about it - when I have the resources I cook everything from scratch so I know pretty much whats in everything I eat and drink - it does help manage symptoms - it even gives a partial buffer against PEM in that activities which would normally have consequences would have to be continued for longer to cause PEM - the extra margin provided by this allows me to function at a higher level that previously

in no way is it a cure tho - it's not even close - it just gives me more breathing room
 
Messages
6
Dr Teitlebaum

Well, having read "From Fatigued to Fantastic!" and having been a patient at the Denver Fibro & Fatigue Center for awhile, I've got a few opinions on this. I think his ideas on how to be healthier are basically worthwhile. HOWEVER, his statements that "this will cure CFS and you will feel GREAT!" are way off the mark for those of us that are quite ill, and I wish he would stop saying things like that. Maybe he believes it. Maybe he takes the experience of his own illness, now cured?, and generalizes it to everyone else without understanding how different other situations can be. And the relentless marketing really rubs me the wrong way.

The basic F&FC protocol didn't do anything for me. I asked my doctor there how many people improved on it, and she said in her experience about 2/3rds of her patients felt better or saw some improvement on their supplement regimen. So it does help some people. My doctor said the other 1/3rd usually turned out to have infections of one kind or another.

I just wish he didn't hype stuff so much, and make such blanket claims.
 
Messages
13
Is there a good forum discussing the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers now that they are chaning their name to 'Chronicity Inc'? I suspect it is a marketing ploy to attract new audiences because they have lost credibility in the CFS treatment area (I suppose they would call it the CFS market, since patients are really just that to them). It seems to me discussions of them and Teitelbaum have died out, which may be a good thing.
 

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
You know, it gets really frustrating to hear yet another theory on what causes CFS or FMS, especially one as lame as this one. I thought he believed it was T4 thyroid meds that cause FMS. Now it is sugar, huh?! More money to make on another theory I guess.

I feel like I am addicted to sugar by necessity. It seems like the only thing I can get energy from (besides vitamin B and some forms of caffeine when my stomach is having a good day). I eat/drink it because I have to. I know I can no longer process fat.

Unless you have scientifically proved your theory (with good science to back it), leave us alone please!
 
Messages
13
I drew my conclusions about him long ago...he's out to exploit people to make money. I was just curious how he is doing it now that it seems that he has less credibility at least among CFS patients. I haven't been able to find many recent reviews from patients who are being seen at his clinics nowdays, except for the poor folks who post on his Facebook page.

Obviously, his marketing team posted that wikipedia ad since it includes some of the same stuff he has been bantering about for years. My personal favorite is the quote of the editorial from the journal of AAPM. He never mentions when he cites that 'editorial' that it was written by Dr. Hal Blatman, whose name you will see in the acknowledgement sections of Teitelbaum's books. Apparently, they know each other quite well, but Teitelbaum would have you believe the 'editorial' is some objective endorsement from the journal. I suspected it was more of his spin, and it took me quite a while to track the quote down since it is only published in a journal that is no longer in circulation and can only be found at the National Library of Medicine. He doesn't even cite to it properly, maybe because he does not want people to know that his buddy wrote the editorial. The journal was the 'American Journal of Pain Management, April 2002.'
 

jace

Off the fence
Messages
856
Location
England
I can't eat more than a pinch of sugar without a massive aggravation of my symptoms. Therefore, I haven't had cake, or a biscuit, or cereal (I just can't eat porridge like the Scots) or anything else sweet for a year and a half now. I'm still ill.