Subject: Toxic Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:- Part Two - Treatment Options----
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 07:53:38 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State
of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Carol Browner browner.carol@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read Part Two - Toxic Causes of Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome:- Treatment Options, by Sarah Myhill, M.D., ImmuneSupport.com
01162001.
Editor’s Note: Sarah Myhill, M.D., is a British doctor
working both for the National Health Service and with a private practice.
About 10% of her NHS patients suffer from CFS and approx 70% in her private
practice have it. Dr. Myhill is a
medical advisor to Action for ME, a national support organization in the UK
for ME/CFS sufferers. She is also the Honorary Secretary of the British
Society for Allergy Environmental and Nutritional Medicine.
Dr. Myhill has written extensively about CFS over the
years, covering all aspects of the disease from diagnosis to causal theories
to treatments. This excerpt is adapted from her book “Diagnosing and
Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”, and is used with permission of the
author.
This is part two of an article that originally appeared
in the 1901 bulletin.
Treatment
The priority is to recognize the illness and stop
further exposure to OPs and other toxic chemicals. Not all people are
equally susceptible to the toxic effects of OPs – those that get symptoms
are more susceptible and need to be doubly careful to avoid further exposure.
Most exposures to chemicals comes at times outside dipping, including handling
of sheep, wool wrapping, market (especially covered markets), pets with flea
collars, fly sprays and for some sensitive people, walking through a field of
sheep that have been dipped or, for a few, eating foods that have been grown
with the use of chemicals. (I have
developed a safe and far more effective (unregistered) alternative
sheep dip by the way.)
Fatigue – mental and physical
This has the most severe effects on lifestyle.
Most sufferers are unable to work full-time. Many have to grasslet or
sell their farms. I estimate most sufferers are reduced to 25% of their
premorbid potential. All activities have to be carefully paced as overdoing
things one day will cause a relapse lasting several days. The “brain fog”
is often helped by high dose B12 injections – I usually start with 2mgs a
week for 10 weeks, adjusting the frequency according to response.
Pain
Muscle symptoms often caused by low magnesium levels. A
serum magnesium is a useless test – if serum levels fall, the heart stops.
So serum levels are maintained at the expense of intracellular levels. The red
cell magnesium is an appropriate test (from BioLab tel 020 7636 5959/5905,
www.biolab.co.uk). Correction is
by injection of 2mls 50% MgSO4 weekly for 10 weeks, adjusting the frequency
according to response. Boron necessary for normal calcium/magnesium metabolism
– 9mgs daily for 3 months, then if effective reduce to 36mgs daily.
Correction of micronutrients
Routine use of multivitamins, minerals, evening
primrose/linseed oil and vitamin C.
Multiple chemical sensitivity
Sufferers must observe the many rules which apply to
patients with chemical sensitivity such as:
* Make the house a chemically safe place – no
new furniture or carpets, no painting, no smelly cleaning chemicals, no
perfumes or scented soaps, no polishes or sprays.
* Avoid gas appliances, cavity wall insulation
(formaldehyde), plastic windows. Visitors can be difficult because they
invariably smell of some perfume, wash powder, polish, cigarette smoke or
whatever. All guests have to be trained to avoid these things.
* The car has to be similarly chemically clean.
New cars are a disaster for these patients.
* Public transport is too risky because of
inadvertent exposure to perfumes and cigarette smoke.
* Holidays can be a nightmare to arrange, as can
staying with other people. Pubs, cinemas, theatre, shopping centres, offices
etc. can cause difficulties.
Hormonal imbalances
Corrected by judicious use of low dose, biologically
identical hormones such as T4 (and sometimes T3), low dose cortisol (510mgs,
equivalent to 12mgs prednisolone), DHEA, melatonin (3mgs nocte for sleep
problems), low dose sex hormones where a deficiency is shown).
Depression
This is very common, but sufferers react badly to
“normal” doses of antidepressant. I use small doses of anticholinergics
such as amitriptyline 1020mgs at night.
Sleep disturbance
Try melatonin, amitriptyline, valerian, etc.
Allergies
These are very common. Elimination dieting can be helpful
but counterproductive if there are multiple allergies, in which case consider
desensitisation (such as enzyme potentiated desensitisation – my preferred
technique)
Osteoporosis
The type of osteoporosis is unknown and no treatment is
known to work. I am experimenting with vitamins D and K, both essential for
normal bone metabolism.
Treatment of Chronic Organophosphate Poisoning
There is no "standard" treatment of chronic
OP poisoning. The following is based on my experience of treating patients who
have become ill through regular exposure to OPs. Treatment is likely to change
as new ideas develop.
Most patients who suffer from chronic OP poisoning
firstly become more sensitive to OPs, which means that they get bigger
reactions with smaller doses. The second thing that happens is that they
become sensitive to other chemicals. This is called a "spreading
phenomenon" and classically these people start to react to many other
chemicals such as diesel fumes, perfumes, cigarette smoke, alcohol and so on.
Therefore, the mainstay of treatment is to strictly
avoid exposure to all Ops. The second aspect is that patients have to avoid
other chemicals. This is not easy in modern society for obvious reasons.
Another aspect of treating chronic OP poisoning is to
support the body's natural detoxification system. This helps the body resist
the malign effects of OPs. In my experience the most important treatment is
with magnesium (sometimes given by injection), selenium and vitamin B12. I
also recommend a group of other multivitamins including B complex, essential
fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins and high dose vitamin C. Magnesium and
selenium levels can be measured at a nutritional laboratory.
Selenium levels are usually easily corrected by oral
supplements and patients may need to take up to 600mcg a day. Magnesium is
much more difficult to correct. I often use magnesium 300mg a day and combine
this with magnesium injections. I use magnesium sulphate 1g in 2ml (available
on prescription) given intramuscularly every week. Some of my patients do
inject themselves but the injections are uncomfortable.
I use vitamin B12 by injection to support the liver and
nervous system. This is extremely safe and many of my patients inject
themselves. I use 2ml of NeoCytamen subcutaneously or intramuscularly every
week for 10 weeks and then adjust the dose according to response. This dose is
considerably higher than that used for pernicious anaemia and will be a dose
that most GPs (family practitioner) are not familiar with but I can emphasise
here it is perfectly safe.
In addition to these nutritional interventions it is
important that patients rest, sleep well and do not overload themselves
physically or mentally. Many patients have food allergies or intolerances. I
suspect that this is because OPs act as immune adjuvants and stimulate the
allergy system of the body to react inappropriately.
Recent research has shown that patients with chronic OP
poisoning have abnormal outputs of hormones from the thyroid and adrenal
glands and this may open up some possible avenues for future treatment.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
MCS causes physical symptoms following exposures to tiny
amounts of chemical. It is usually caused by massive exposure to some chemical
such as pesticides, volatile organic compounds, silicone, carbon monoxide etc.
This phenomenon has an acronym TILT Toxicant Induced Loss of Tolerance.
Sufferers get headaches, brain fog (difficulty thinking clearly, poor
concentration and short term memory etc), irritability, depression, fatigue
and so on following exposure to chemicals such as perfume, traffic fumes, new
paint, carpets, cosmetics, cleaning fluids etc.
Sufferers do not like to tell people of their problems (least of all
doctors) for fear they may be classed as psychological cases.
The essence of treatment is avoidance. Sufferers need
to
* Make their house a chemically safe place – no
new furniture or carpets, no painting, no smelly cleaning chemicals, no
perfumes or scented soaps, no polishes or sprays. Avoid gas appliances, cavity
wall insulation (formaldehyde), plastic windows. Visitors can be difficult
because they invariably smell of some perfume, wash powder, polish, cigarette
smoke or whatever. All guests have to be trained to avoid these things.
* Keep their car chemically clean. New cars are a
disaster for these patients. Even windscreen washes can be a problem.
* Be careful organizing holidays, be careful
staying with other people. Pubs, cinemas, theatre, shopping centres, offices
etc. can cause difficulties.
* Be careful with public transport because of
inadvertent exposure to perfumes and cigarette smoke.
* Avoid all exposures to OPs and other toxic chemicals.
This presents problems walking in the countryside as inadvertent exposure to a
sprayed field or walking downwind of recently dipped sheep flares his
symptoms. Many streets in towns are sprayed with glyphosate for weed control
and this can cause problems for some sufferers.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
The symptoms of CO poisoning are the same as CFS, namely
physical and mental fatigue, weakness, susceptibility to infections, muscle
pain and so on – furthermore they may continue for several years after the
cause has been identified and removed, just like OP poisoning. It has been
estimated that 1 in 20 homes with gas heating had been affected in some way by
CO poisoning.
Diagnosis of acute CO poisoning can be made by doing a
blood test for coarboxyhaemoglobin levels. This has to be done within three
hours of exposure or nothing will show.
Well Mr. Helliker, What more can I say?
Your "registered" POISONS are now found EVERYWHERE,
CONTAMINATING EVERYTHING! Obviously,
you STILL have not decided to "legally" allow the
"professional" use of safe and far more effective (unregistered)
alternatives to actually control pest problems.
So you have virtually guaranteed, that the priority MCS/Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome treatment of avoiding further exposure to OPs and other toxic
chemicals, can not be done, unless you live in a "glass bubble",
wearing only organically grown cotton, breathing only filtered air, and
drinking only filtered water and
eating only organic food! Of course, you can continue to deny the very existence of
MCS/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - that
will "solve" the problem!
Respectfully, Stephen
L. Tvedten
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