Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) (CFS)

(For an appointment with Dr. Kennedy in Santa Rosa, CA, write to nexus@sonic.net.)nn

The official mainstream medicine line on chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is that nit is a "chronic inflammatory illness of undetermined origin that is suspected, but not proven, to have an autoimmune component, as many of those diagnosed with CFIDS have circulating nantinuclear autoantibodies."

This misguided understanding of what CFIDS actually is nexplains why mainstream medicine has been of no use to people with this "syndrome." nIn fact, the use of the word "syndrome" belies the fact that they do not nunderstand the causation or treatment. When a doctor tells you that you have na "syndrome" you can know that no help is forthcoming. Typically, such doctors recommend "antidepressants." nPatients leave their offices with diminished respect for medicine because they nknow what they have is not depression.

Many alternative medicine practitioners, on the other nhand, grasp that CFIDS has something to do with toxicity and they approach the nillness with various methods of "detoxification." However, the illness nis not that simple and this explains why these practitioners achieve sometimes nfair, but temporary, results. Usually a patient with chronic fatigue ends of nself-treating because no one seems to understand the illness.

One possible symptoms of CFIDS is chronic oppressive muscular npain, a condition which has been termed fibromyalgia.

In fact, the cause of CFIDS is a condition of heavy metal n(usually mercury) toxicity/overload complexed with an intestinal gut wall chronic ninflammation. That is the briefest of definitions which does not even hint at nthe complexity of treatment and surely requires explanation.

But, before I explain the cause and proper treatment of nthis disorder, let me list possible symptoms of CFIDS (no one has all of these nsymptoms, but if you have CFIDS, you will recognize many of these in yourself):

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• constant relentless fatigue, helped little by rest
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• reduction of activity by 50% or more
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• severe muscular weakness
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• chronic pain in muscles
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• attention deficit
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• difficulty concentrating
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• difficulty calculating
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• memory disturbance
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• spatial disorientation
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• getting lost in familiar locations
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• difficulty judging distances
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• often saying wrong word
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• often forgetting a common word
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• sleep disturbance
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• headache
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• changes in visual acuity
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• seizures
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• numbness
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• tingling
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• lightheadedness
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• feeling spaced out
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• difficulty with balance
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• difficulty moving tongue to speak
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• ringing in ears
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• paralysis
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• blackouts
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• photophobia
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• alteration of in sense of taste
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• alteration of in sense of smell
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• alteration of in sense of hearing
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• sleep is non-restorative
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• decreased libido
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• twitching muscles
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Conventional medicine was very slow to recognize the existence of CFIDS and many rigid doctors still deny that it exists. nThose conventional doctors who do try to treat it use drugs, treating CFIDS as if it were depression, using anti-depressants. nThis approach is not only incorrect (i.e. the cause of CFIDS is not insufficient quantities of the latest drug pushed by the npharmaceutical industry), it is also ineffective.

How CFIDS Develops

Let me walk you through how CFIDS develops and this will nmake the treatment of the illness comprehensible. The lining of the gut is a ndelicate membrane and the wall of the gut behind it contains 80% of the immune nsystem. These patches of immune or "lymphoid" tissue are called "Peyer's npatches" for Dr. Peyers who described them over 100 years ago. When the ndigestive/immune system complex works correctly, the microflora (bacteria) in nthe food passing through the gut is closely regulated. Secretory A is an antibody nwhich is placed on the surface of the gut wall and it kills off "bad" nbacteria, fungus, and yeast. The integrity of the immune system in the gut wall ndepends on the integrity of the gut lining. If the gut lining breaks down and nlesions appear, these lesions serve as entry points for pathogenic bacteria, nfungus, and yeast. Once embedded in the gut wall, the toxicity these bacteria produce nrenders the immune system incapable of regulating the microflora still in the nlumen of the gut and this produces "dysbiosis" (overgrowth of the n"wrong" or "bad" organisms). The toxins released by this ndysbiotic condition account for the symptoms of CFIDS.

Now, having said that, we come to understand the danger ninvolved in "bad habits." Here are the bad habits which can lead to nbreakdown of the gut wall: (1) having dental work which involves metals, (2) noveruse of antibiotics, (3) long-term and frequent consumption of coffee, (4) nlong-term and frequent consumption of alcohol, (5) smoking, and (6) stressing noneself and allowing this to go on for extended periods. In people who are susceptible n(and this has something to do with genetics and "constitution") the ngut lining (which is one cell layer in thickness and is called the "endothelium") ndevelops tiny holes large enough to admit micro-organisms. The development of nthese tiny holes is called "leaky gut." In some rare individuals nthis is a constant state of affairs and can actually be measured by lab tests. nIn most people these tiny holes are rapidly repaired, however not before the nopportunity for invasion by micro-organisms has occurred.

Once in the gut wall, micro-organisms invade Peyer's patches nand quickly disable the immune system - not completely, but enough that the norganisms can live in the gut wall. This is a kind of "Mexican stand-off." nIf two men are both armed with knives ready to strike, no one should strike nsince both will die. Thus, the chronic infection which develops in the gut wall ndoes not kill the patient, but merely disables him/her. As the immune system nhits the skids and dysbiosis takes over, the symptoms in the list above begin nto appear.

How To Treat and Cure CFIDS

Understanding the "pathogenesis" of CFIDS allows nus to shut it down. Here are the steps:

(1) The offending agent or agents must be eliminated. nMercury and other metals, antibiotics, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, and excessive nstress all have to go. That sounds easy, but when the patient has a mouth full nof dental metals, it become a big expensive project and here one encounters ndentists who have no idea of the damage they are doing to some people by installing ntons of dental metals. There is no dental work which cannot be done free of nmetals, but there are dentists who can't do that work and there are other dentists nwho refuse to do that work. Here we encounter the existence of institutionalized nignorance and take it from me, you will not be able to educate or change your ndentist and his/her point of view. What you have to do is find a "metal nfree dentist" and they are rare. Those dentists trained in the Netherlands nare a good choice as it is illegal to install mercury in human beings in that nculture, but those people are not commonly found in the U.S. (although we have none here in Santa Rosa). Also, when metals are drilled out, they vaporize n("sublimate") and part of it is inhaled. Therefore, one should have nthe dental work done and then go straight to a doctor (and these are also rare) nwho can give an IV to chelate out the inhaled metals within two nhours - before it is methylated by the liver and deposited in the brain and nspinal cord.

(2) When the mouth is free of metal, it is time to test nfor the "residual metal burden." The source of metal may have been nthe dental work, but the real problem (where the rubber meets the road) is the nmetal that has migrated to the rest of the body over those years of exposure. nThis test is called a "Challenge Test." A chelating agent is given n(usually intravenously) and a six hour urine collection is then analyzed for nthe toxic metals excreted. A plain blood or urine test will be negative unless nexposure to large amounts of mercury or other metals has occurred in the last ntwo days because of the fact that toxic metals are stored inside cells and is nnot available for measurement in blood or urine. (Many doctors do not understand nthis point.)

(3) When the results of that test are in, the doctor will nbetter be able to prescribe oral or intravenous chelation to bring down the nlevels of toxic metals. The higher the levels revealed by the test, the nlower should be the dose of oral or IV chelation. The reason for this is the nfact that too rapid removal of metals can raise the blood levels to intolerable nheights. (Metals have to traverse the blood when they come out of cells in order nto reach the kidneys and liver to be excreted.) The process of metal detox will nrequire anywhere from one to eight months.

(4) When metal detox is complete (and completion is proven by nanother Challenge Test), the final phase of treatment can begin. This involves nthe SanPharma Protocol, a use of the SanPharma Remedies devised to regenerate nthe immune system. Until this is accomplished, the patients with CFIDS will nnot recover and unless this last step is taken, there is little reason to do nthe first three steps. The SanPharma Remedies are a German product and they are nclassified as "isopathics." American medicine has nothing in this ncategory, so we are indebted to the Germans for developing these wonderful remedies. nThey consist of specific compounds isolated from pathogenic bacteria which safely nand effectively train the immune system to deal with these organisms. The protocol nrequires eleven weeks and for most people there is a small maintenance program nwhich prevents CFIDS from making a come-back.

(To look deeper into this phenomenon, read this article: mercury, ngut wall infection and fatigue.)

When all these steps are complete, patients commonly report nto me "I have my life back." Those of us who do not have CFIDS have na hard time understanding what this means, but those with CFIDS know exactly nwhat this means. Imagine that you just had surgery and that you are waking up nfrom the anaesthesia. You are "half in and half out." Now, imagine nthat you become stuck in that condition. That is how it feels to have CFIDS.n