People don't really ask me how I'm doing anymore..I think it's because the answer was always, "Meh." Truth is, I'm TONS better than I was three years ago, when I first got sick. I'm vastly improved from even a year ago. And I'm improving now, despite the flare-ups and stepbacks.
I didn't even know that I had chronic fatigue syndrome until about a month ago, when my doctor suggested it and referred me to a specialist. I knew very little about CFS except that it is a wastebasket diagnosis (which I know now isn't exactly true). I was upset with my doctor, because I felt like she gave up on me and was pushing me off to someone else. I felt despair, because what I understood about the condition (which was very little!) I thought nothing could be done. I was so wrong.
I looked up CFS on the internet, and after a while I had an "Aha!" moment. I felt a surge of recognition when I read the symptoms, the description...I felt relief.
I decide to go with a suggestion I found on the Mayo clinic website, and that was to try a supplement called D-Ribose. I figured this would be a test for me. During the past few years I've been wondering if I'm crazy and a hypochondriac, and I thought if I felt improvement, then my symptoms weren't all in my head. D-Ribose was my litmus test.
WOW. My second big revelation! It had taken me a while to locate this because I had to go to a special store. After about a week I started to feel a lifting of the muscle pain that I've grown to ignore.
