BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

MAY 12 AWARENESS DAY Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) Fact Sheet Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is also called chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It is recognized by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration and Social Security Administration as a serious, disabling illness. CFIDS is characterized by unrelenting exhaustion, muscle and joint pain, cognitive disorders and other symptoms (read on). Many people with CFIDS are denied disability benefits because doctors and employers wrongly believe they are lazy or have a mental illness rather than a serious physical condition. Although its name trivializes the illness as little more than mere tiredness, chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), brings with it a constellation of debilitating symptoms. CFIDS is characterized by incapacitating fatigue (experienced as p...

A Letter to the Editor of a Jacksonville paper in response to this article From: FREDERIC PORCASE Physician, Jacksonville FIBROMYALGIA - Painfully real "Monday’s article demeans all of us with fibromyalgia. "The horrible part was the “Mind over Matter?” stating that “ Patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia are more likely to have a history of mental illness, be overweight and economically disadvantaged. Some doctors say their suffering may stem from difficult circumstances rather than disease.” "I run a support group for people with fibromyalgia, and that is not the case . We are all type “A” personalities who have been forced to change our lives due to this horrible disease/syndrome. "ALL of us would give up our “ great ” disability checks for the more profitable lives we were living before the chronic pain and fatigue. "We may be overweight now, due to not being able to exercise, but this was not the case before the chronic pain and fatigue start...