M.E blood test

[grungema3]

Iposted a question a couple of days ago (Still on here) but had no answers. Would someone be kind enough to inform me whether or not there is going to be a blood test for CFS in the near future? Thnx xxx

[SuzCat]

I totally agree with you about doctors. They each have their teeny tiny area of specialty and are often closed-mined about new ideas or anything that may overlap with another area of medicine. And GPs only know snippets of most things, nothing in any proper depth. So when we long-suffering, self-educated people suffering from long-term exhaustion walk in, they're stumped. It seems to be extremely rare to chance upon a doctor who admits their limitations willingly and welcomes info that the sufferer has researched themselves.

I have alot of symptoms that I am convinced are caused by dysfunction of my hypothalamus. I'd love to hear why your expert (what type of doc is s/he?) is telling you it's hypothalamic dysfunction. I've been trying to get my GP to arrange for me to have an MRI, but she's really dragging her heels.

It's hard to keep our spirits up in the face of on-going suffering, but sometimes if I fake it a bit, I end up actually feeling happy, too.

Suzie

[grungema3]

Hi, Dusty, thank you for your help. I am in the UK.  My mum (90) has recently been in hospital. When I asked the junior doctor how much he knew about my mum's illness, he said he was not an expert. This is not a joke, honestly. I asked him if he knew anything about it and he had to say no. here it comes....... next thing, he honestly asked me how to spell it so he could look it up! So my faith in doctors is now -0 instead of 0.
We do have a good M.E.(CFS) assoc. and they have reported on the retrovirus  but so far no further news.
The expert I'm under thinks it's hypothalamus disfunction, others are going for epstein barr, spray stuff on farms, etc.etc. I am a bit despondant when I look at all the evidence from around the world and see that they are really no further on than 20 years ago when I first contracted the condition. Indeed, they are still debating psychological v. physiological even though the WHO have accepted it as a neurological problem. And round we go.
anyway, thanks again for your time. I hope life is treating you well in spite of the fact that you're not!
Keep smiling and when people call, say "Yeah, I'm good", meanwhile trying to take your lunchtime meds! We all do it!
Lovexxx

[dustybrown]

Hello and sorry for the delayed response.

If you are referring to the XMRV retrovirus, the verdict is still out whether or not the virus is the true cause of CFS. It is possible to get a test for the virus, but it isn't covered by insurance yet and most doctors are not backing the research as of yet since it hasn't been completely proven as of yet. The test itself costs over $400 and if you do test positive, not many practitioners are willing or even know how to treat it. If I were you, I would hang tight, follow the news closely, get educated, and talk to your doctor about the virus. That way the information will spread. Many people I've talked to tell me that their doctors don't even know about the virus yet.
-Dusty