Stanford rolls out new chronic fatigue fix

A new treatment under development at the Stanford School of Medicine uses antiviral drugs to wipe out the debilitating symptoms of some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

[i have cfs]

i am a bay area single mom who has been ill for 2 years. Totally didnt know what was wrong with me..just diagnosed a couple months ago. CFS is very misunderstood and there are soo many issues other than exhaustion that go along w/ it. Thank you for this article, i'm crossing fingers 4a cure.

[Helen Ellerbach]

Thank you for the coverage on this horribly debilitating illness. I have had it for 32 years, prior to even a remote diagnosis being on the horizon. I have never given up hope...after all this years, how could I give up hope? Thank you Stanford University and Kristina Peterson!!!!

[VChang]

Thanks for continuing to research ways to improve the lives of CFS sufferers. Both my kids have had their lives derailed by this condition. It is so hard to have no answers or treatments for them and watch them suffer silently, while the world rushes around them. Hope the clinical trials produce wonderful results & we have effective treatments to offer these untold hundreds of thousands of sufferers.
Thanks!
V. Chang
Honolulu, HI

[Mark Peterson]

Thank you for your recent article on Chronic FAtigue Syndrome. This is a very serious disease misunderstood by both the public and the average Physician.

Hopefully your article will help push us further towards the tipping point of increased funding for research needed from both the NIH and CDC to find a diagnostic marker and cure

Thanks again,

Mark Peterson

[Valinda Street]

Thank you for the article about CFS. I've had it since 1974 and have been totally disabled by it since 1986. It has been very frustrating over the years, and yet today, to be thought a hypochondriac, a malingerer, a drunk (even though the CFS itself prevents me from being able to drink, one Dr tested my blood alcohol level after I explained all my symptoms.) Please continue your efforts to understand this devastating, disabling condition and share more with the public. It helps to know that people are starting to understand the effects CFS has on our lives. Thank you.

[Ruth Moses]

Thank you for your article on CFS. I have suffered from this illnes for 25 years. It has changed the course of my life and the lives of my family. For the first 10 years I had no idea what was wrong with me and the doctors dismissed it. Even after a diagnosis, there has been no effective treatment. It would certainly be a encouraging to at least have people understand the disease that has been so devastating. Thank you for helping in that regard.

[SDD]

Thank you for your article on CFS. I have had this horrible illness since I was 19 years old (I'm 37 now) and recently had to get on long term disability because of a secondary condition. Although I have benefits, my former employer's insurance company would like to cut them off soon. It is a nightmare and one that MS patients' probably had to go through only three decades ago when nobody believed they were ill.

I am so happy to hear that Stanford Medical Center has recognized this illness and I am going to talk to my physician about this possible treatment very soon.

[Alice]

Tahnks for this good information, hope some get cured! wishing!

[Anna Kay Nuesmeyer]

I am interested in a clinical trial. However, I live in Ohio and there are limited access to any thing like this in our area.
I have had Cfids for seven years. I am a nurse and work in an indigent clinic. I had been exposed to a patient and got pneumonia..cant; think of the name..common in low income population and EBV. It took them 3 years to diagnose the cfids and about 1 1/2 to get the others. I have good days and bad..I try to work full time yet have an FMLA to protect my job as a nursing manager but easily get sick ..sinus and other weird things and that sets me back. I take vitamin B 12 which helps with the brain fogue and energy. When ever I start to excercise I usually get sick within a week or two. Im starting again ..but doing 5 mins..resting and resume 5 misn..
My older sister has the disease too..which now genetics are being shown in the picture.
Im receptive of any new treatment and informtion as I can get it. One thing that helps me is taking a nap every day..
Anna Kay
[e-mail]

[Jean Sucec]

This is wonderful news and another study that gives great hope. I want and need very much to get into this trial. I live in Columbus Ohio. I can I be a participant. I have been very ill and debilitated for years with this horrific disease/illness and millions of us so need help and some treatment soon. Its so hard to explain to someone that this illness makes you feel as close to death as I can imagain. Thank you for your wonderful research and study...I must get into the trial. Sincerely, Jean Sucec

[Elizabeth Barry]

Thanks so much for the good news in this article. I've had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for 20 years and this is the most hopeful news I've heard in all that time. Thank you for printing this exciting news.

[Joe Polchinski]

Thank you for your coverage of Chrtonic Fatigue Syndrome and a possible treatment for the illness. I am someone who has suffered from the illness for the past 3 years and it's nice to see the illness getting some media coverage. I have felt like a voice in the wilderness. Keep up the good work!!

[Edward]

This is great news for all ME/CFS/CFIDS and also Lyme disease patients, as LD is behind most of these illnesses. Let's hope this trial is successful and the treatment available in the next few years.

[joan robinson]

I live in Northern Ireland and have had cfs for 11 years - would very much like to take part in a trial, though this is probably unlikely given the distance involved.

[Mark]

I seen so many studies over the last 20+ years and it's difficult to get excited. Virus research has picked over the last year for CFS and quite frankly, they been down this road before (HHV6, EBV/CMV etc. and remember the drug Ampligen?) I encourange continued research in this area (and many other areas too) but like so many years that have past, nobody seems to come up with anything. Here is another one going on about a Cryptovirus found in PWC: See www.ncf-net.org/PressReleases.htm

[Ed Diestelkamp]

My daughter has suffered with CFS for 18 years. Thank you for this understanding and encouraging article

[Georgia Christenson]

Thank you for continuing the search for a cure and offering renewed hope. Hope, sometimes, is all there is to soothe the agony of this illness.

One has to count the blessings found amidst the devastation of CFS. The loss of my home, my job and a life I cherished was something I never imagined surviving. Too ill to pack or to decide even my own destination seemed an unfair blow after suffering for so long.

Yes, the losses are many but the blessings of supportive family and friends are pricless through the dark days. Those who fight this illness, the researchers and all in the media for spreading awareness.... bless you all.

[Patricia Foster]

I too have had this disease for over 20 years. I'm a professor and a writer and I'm particularly interested in how the narrative of disease can be reframed by new research. In my own experience CFS has been considered stress-based (and thus psychological) by most medical professionals while this research suggests it is viral (and thus biological). If I mention CFS, there's often a punitive response rather than a supportive or benign response. Not only is there no cure and little treatment but there's often an aura of disbelief too. I'm interested in other peoples' experience with the disease because I want to write more about it. I'm certainly hoping this research will help. My own life feels erratic because I never know when I'll feel okay, when I'll feel utterly wiped out. I'd welcome anyone's thoughts about how they've been treated for CFS, both professionally and within their communities.

Helen Ellerbach wrote:

Thank you for the coverage on this horribly debilitating illness. I have had it for 32 years, prior to even a remote diagnosis being on the horizon. I have never given up hope...after all this years, how could I give up hope? Thank you Stanford University and Kristina Peterson!!!!

[kris]

I'm extremely lucky that I'm able to take Valcyte at the levels that Montoya uses. I just started this week. I have been bedridden with severe, progressive cfs/fms for 7 years.
No change yet but I can tolerate the drug. My doc rocks!!
kris

[Mike]

Please, Kris, tell us how it goes for you!