Have you tried a magnetic mattress? Miracle cures for CFS
Many a CFS patient's patience wears thin when it comes to miracle cures for CFS. The reason for this is that often, particularly in the early stages of our illness, we've tried a large number of different treatments in the hope of getting better. The bitter disappointment the comes from realising that not only was the treatment ineffective but that we've wasted our money, time and energy on it are things we do not want to go through often. It's bad enough to be ill in the first place without having our hopes regularly dashed as well.
When I say 'miracle cures' I mean just that: products and therapies that are promoted as being a guaranteed cure for CFS (and often, other incurable illnesses as well). They tend to be of the unsubstantiated, wacky variety, such as magic amulets, mysterious powders, 'energised water' and the magnetic mattress mentioned above, which seem to depend more on the consumer's belief in their efficacy than they do any proven therapeutic benefit.
Conventional medical treatments rarely claim to be outright cures, and always offer some evidence of efficacy: patient testimonies, theories on how the treatment interacts beneficially with the body, or full-blown scientifically respectable double-blind placebo trials. These products don't demand you believe in their theory of what causes CFS, or that theirs is the only effective treatment.
Miracle cures, on the other hand, demand you believe their perception of your illness, such as 'CFS is caused by poisons in the atmosphere', and that the sole panacea for this is their treatment. Of course, their objectivity when it comes to a product they're selling is assured. Also, there is often a strong obligatory undertone: if you don't try this cure, you musn't want to get better. That kind of guilt-trip is extremely unwelcome.
When our time, energy and funds are limited, I believe PWCs have a right to pick and choose which treatments we try. Each CFS sufferer's reactions to substances (both pharmacological and 'natural') are highly individual, and what has done wonders for one person might bring on a flare up of symptoms in another. While most healthy people who advise PWCs to take a certain product or try a new therapy are well-intentioned, they don't realise how careful we have to be when it comes to reactions to substances.
We spend our lives trying to manage our small amount of energy and stamina for the best. So if a PWC doesn't immediately jump at the idea of building a strange electrical device which somehow 'zaps' CFS away (and can be configured to deal with cancer and AIDS as well), please be patient with them and understand that while there are many companies apparently prepared to profit from our illness, no effective universal cure has yet been discovered.
Lovely green sofa and orange
chair supplied to me by Eric Henes.
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