ME/CFS Australia (SA) Inc: Food and Chemical Sensitivities, page 1

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ME/CFS AUSTRALIA (SA) INC

Registered Charity 698

Mailing address:
GPO Box 383,
Adelaide,
South Australia 5001

Office:
266 Port Road,
Hindmarsh,
South Australia 5007
Ph: (08) 8346 3237
('834 MECFS')

Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 10am-3pm

Support Line:
(Mondays and Thursdays,
10am-3pm)
Ph: (08) 8346 3237

SA country callers:
Ph: 1300 128 339
(local call)

FIBROMYALGIA HELP:
Contact
Fibromyalgia SA
at the
Arthritis Foundation of SA
118 Richmond Road,
Marleston 5033
Ph: (08) 8379 5711

ME/CFS Australia (SA) Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.

Donate online

Information and Support 2004 is an online appeal that aims to improve our Information and Support Line.

ME/CFS Australia (SA) Inc aims to keep members informed of the various research projects, diets, medications, therapies etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives.

Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services.

Introduction

At the beginning of a new millennium I would like to wish you and your family a happy, positive and increasingly healthy period ahead in 2000 and beyond. I wish to introduce myself and my consultancy service for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in collaboration with the Collaborative Pain Research Unit of the University of Newcastle.

How much do I know about CFS?

I am always learning more about this complex and debilitating condition but I have extensive first hand experience of the devastation and isolation this disease can inflict on one’s daily life. I am equally concerned about the effect community misconception and disbelief can wreak upon one’s self esteem and existence, including family and friends. I have had CFS for the last 16 years in varying degrees of severity. Thankfully I have improved dramatically such that I can work again and be helping others with this condition. But, yes, I have experienced the desolation of spending large periods of time almost bed-bound – dreadfully incapacitated, dependent on a disability support pension and wondering whether this is what life is about. I would like to reassure you that there ARE symptom treatments you can investigate to improve your life for the better. There are also lifestyle changes that can help maximise your energy and recovery. Please remember that although CFS is proving to be a complex heterogeneous disease with many different sub-types, there are many “treatments” that are not helpful, are unscientific and not recommended. Always consult a registered health practitioner specialising in CFS management.

I’m sure many of you have, and still do, experience the frustration and humiliation of being labelled as neurotic, or being told our illness is psychosomatic (“all in your head”) by the more unenlightened and out of date members of the health professions trying to “help” us. Or perhaps you have been treated by an understanding practitioner who believes you are unwell but has no idea of the range of symptoms CFS produces, leaving you to spend your valuable and limited energy explaining and convincing them of the wide effects on your body. Because, like you, I have experienced all these bizarre symptoms, the freakish way they wax and wane and absolutely know what they feel like, you won’t spend any valuable energy convincing me what you experience is very real. As your consulting dietitian, I therefore have an advantage over most other practitioners, spending time efficiently looking for ways to treat your symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Food and chemical sensitivities

Improving your symptoms and quality of life

Introduction

How much do I know about CFS?