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Hope and Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
It has been said that chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia (CFS/FM) are like the old Indian story of the blind men and the elephant. As the men felt various parts of the elephant, they described it as a snake, a brush, a tree, or a wall, depending on which part they had touched. Each thought of the elephant in terms of his own experience, mistaking part of the elephant for all of it. Likewise, everybody working with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia has a piece of the puzzle, but much work remains to be done before a complete picture emerges.
Hope and Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia is designed to educate patients suffering from CFS/FM about their illnesses and to teach them coping skills that will improve their quality of life. And while the good news is that people who suffer from CFS/FM aren't dying, the bad news is that it's going to take a lot of time and effort to get better since there is no one specific treatment that works for everyone.
Some of the more important issues explained are:
-Understanding the symptoms and how diagnoses are made
-Causes of CFS/FM and common psychological consequences, including anxiety and depression
-The role of stress and how to manage it
-The connection between the mind and the body in coping with CFS/FM
-The potential of medications, nturition, and lifestyle changes
-The role of complimentary medications and dietary supplements in pain management
-The value and limitations of alternative and complementary therapies such as acupuncture, massage, homeopathy, and aromatherapy
-Legal issues about how to deal with medical and legal problems that may arise if insurance benefits have been stopped
Hope and Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia is designed to educate patients suffering from CFS/FM about their illnesses and to teach them coping skills that will improve their quality of life. And while the good news is that people who suffer from CFS/FM aren't dying, the bad news is that it's going to take a lot of time and effort to get better since there is no one specific treatment that works for everyone.
Some of the more important issues explained are:
-Understanding the symptoms and how diagnoses are made
-Causes of CFS/FM and common psychological consequences, including anxiety and depression
-The role of stress and how to manage it
-The connection between the mind and the body in coping with CFS/FM
-The potential of medications, nturition, and lifestyle changes
-The role of complimentary medications and dietary supplements in pain management
-The value and limitations of alternative and complementary therapies such as acupuncture, massage, homeopathy, and aromatherapy
-Legal issues about how to deal with medical and legal problems that may arise if insurance benefits have been stopped
- GenresHealthNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 22, 2006
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July 29, 2011Not very specific, and outdated at this point. This is one of the books I read early on in my fight against CFIDS. If you're looking for good information on the topic, look for books with a much more recent copyright date. There are a few good ones in my collection if you care to search there.
November 4, 2021
Some of the medical/technical information in this book may be dated, but the section on "Pacing, Energy Conservation, and Sleep Hygiene" is invaluable and still holds up. This book is worth a read (or buy) just for that chapter, even if you skim or skip everything else. Read a lot of other books on cfs/me and this has the best info on pacing and energy conservation that I've come across yet.
November 16, 2019
Offers great insight into the illness and treatment and research.
July 28, 2016
With the reputation of Dr. Bested I expected better out of her and I am quite disappointed in this book. While I have never met with not been a patient of Br. Bested I know a few people who have and they speak well of her as a person. I was stricken with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis 44 years ago (1972)- the most severe of the known variations that have been piled under the category of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was also diagnosed as having Fibromyalgia in 1986. I have worked in the peer support and advocacy area since '86, and have seen much in the way of false hopes and wrong thinking come out of the global medical establishment between then and now, and I have seen many, too many, friends, acquaintances, and fellow advocates suffer and die due to M.E./CFS and complications there of. With FMS they have died with the disease, many by their own hands in order to end their suffering.
Although there is much symptom overlap between M.E./CFS and FMS grouping the two disorders together without any differentiation can cause much needless suffering. It has gotten to the point, diagnostically, where the only point of differentiation is in the area of exercise toleration. Movement (exercise) is an aid to pain reduction in the case of FMS while in M.E./CFS there are mitochondrial abnormalities that can be severe, causing crippling Post Exertional Malaise (PEM). And even when there are shared symptoms there may be different reasons for them, with very different treatments for them. I did not find that these critical distinction were made in the advise given in this book.
I feel that this book also gives the false hope of "getting better", if you only follow all of the advice given in this book. With 30 years of experience with peer support groups globally I have yet to find of anyone who has "gotten better"- been cured of either FMS nor M.E./CFS. These are disorders of a relapsing/remitting nature that. Research has indicated that the best that a person can expect to regain is 80% of the health levels that they had before the most recent relapse. A person can never regain 100% of their post disease health. I know how devastated people can be when they have been "cured" only to hit the wall again in six months, being sicker than ever before. I have seen false hopes dashed end up in suicides- which is why I react so negatively whenever I see such as that on offer.
Those two main issues aside, this book is good in it's general information for people recently diagnosed with either disorder. People with FMS and M.E./CFS must learn to adapt to their new, post onset, bodies and their limitations. These limitations are far greater in the case of M.E./CFS than they are in FMS. But both disorders can be crippling. It is not uncommon to be bedridden with either one.
The medical world has much ignored and maligned these disorders and the people afflicted by them so that patients must learn to be their own best advocates and medical specialists and to do so they need as much good information as possible. That means both sides of the issue. There is no "one size fits all" treatment regime for all people with either disorder, let alone both.
This book has "good bones", as long as the readers do not make it their health bible. Take this information as the start of the research and then do further research on what information appears to apply to the person's unique situation.
Although there is much symptom overlap between M.E./CFS and FMS grouping the two disorders together without any differentiation can cause much needless suffering. It has gotten to the point, diagnostically, where the only point of differentiation is in the area of exercise toleration. Movement (exercise) is an aid to pain reduction in the case of FMS while in M.E./CFS there are mitochondrial abnormalities that can be severe, causing crippling Post Exertional Malaise (PEM). And even when there are shared symptoms there may be different reasons for them, with very different treatments for them. I did not find that these critical distinction were made in the advise given in this book.
I feel that this book also gives the false hope of "getting better", if you only follow all of the advice given in this book. With 30 years of experience with peer support groups globally I have yet to find of anyone who has "gotten better"- been cured of either FMS nor M.E./CFS. These are disorders of a relapsing/remitting nature that. Research has indicated that the best that a person can expect to regain is 80% of the health levels that they had before the most recent relapse. A person can never regain 100% of their post disease health. I know how devastated people can be when they have been "cured" only to hit the wall again in six months, being sicker than ever before. I have seen false hopes dashed end up in suicides- which is why I react so negatively whenever I see such as that on offer.
Those two main issues aside, this book is good in it's general information for people recently diagnosed with either disorder. People with FMS and M.E./CFS must learn to adapt to their new, post onset, bodies and their limitations. These limitations are far greater in the case of M.E./CFS than they are in FMS. But both disorders can be crippling. It is not uncommon to be bedridden with either one.
The medical world has much ignored and maligned these disorders and the people afflicted by them so that patients must learn to be their own best advocates and medical specialists and to do so they need as much good information as possible. That means both sides of the issue. There is no "one size fits all" treatment regime for all people with either disorder, let alone both.
This book has "good bones", as long as the readers do not make it their health bible. Take this information as the start of the research and then do further research on what information appears to apply to the person's unique situation.
November 19, 2009
Dr. Alison Bested, an internationally recognized expert with a multi-disciplinary practice in CFIDS and Fibromyalgia, co-wrote this book with Russell Howe and others. The book covers everything from up-to-the-minute theories about the syndromes' causes, to (even more importantly) new and better coping strategies. The authors offer current medical information (Western and alternative) in a reader-friendly format: you'll find updated pacing and exercise/movement strategies, which foods and supplements to try and those to avoid, as well as pharmaceutical and legal advice.
After 15 years of coping with both of these illnesses, I thought I knew most everything there was to know. This book proved me delightfully wrong.
If you live with CFIDS/Fibro -- or you love someone who does -- place this on your must-read immediately list!
After 15 years of coping with both of these illnesses, I thought I knew most everything there was to know. This book proved me delightfully wrong.
If you live with CFIDS/Fibro -- or you love someone who does -- place this on your must-read immediately list!
September 25, 2009
I'm not sure how many stars to give this book, since most of it wasn't very applicable to me. I don't have CFS or FM. I do have severe adrenal fatigue, which is why I picked up this book at the library. I was hoping it would offer me ways to work with my extreme fatigue.
It did! There is a long chapter on pacing yourself, conserving energy, and sleep hygiene. This chapter gets all five stars. It was so helpful, so well-thought. It has helped me very much already.
The other chapters were pretty specific to CFS/FM, so they didn't help me.
I would recommend this book to anyone with severe adrenal fatigue just for that pacing chapter. And to those with CFS/FM, it would surely be a great resource.
It did! There is a long chapter on pacing yourself, conserving energy, and sleep hygiene. This chapter gets all five stars. It was so helpful, so well-thought. It has helped me very much already.
The other chapters were pretty specific to CFS/FM, so they didn't help me.
I would recommend this book to anyone with severe adrenal fatigue just for that pacing chapter. And to those with CFS/FM, it would surely be a great resource.
January 11, 2019
Hope and Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
by Dr. Alison Bested
Dr. Bested is a renowned physician in Toronto. She specializes in CFS, FM and Mulple Allergies disorders. She is a legend with patients who have been diligently followed and cared for during many years, before these illnesses were well known and acknowledged in the medical community.
This book is great for those who have been recently diagnosed, for those that are looking for a diagnosiss and also for vintage patients, since it provides abundant advice on nutrition, life style and sound medical information; complemented with alternative medicine recommendaations .
by Dr. Alison Bested
Dr. Bested is a renowned physician in Toronto. She specializes in CFS, FM and Mulple Allergies disorders. She is a legend with patients who have been diligently followed and cared for during many years, before these illnesses were well known and acknowledged in the medical community.
This book is great for those who have been recently diagnosed, for those that are looking for a diagnosiss and also for vintage patients, since it provides abundant advice on nutrition, life style and sound medical information; complemented with alternative medicine recommendaations .
May 28, 2018
This was a very comprehensive guide to helping me realize the severity of my illness. It provides plenty of helpful research & experience supported aids. It even touches on legal aid & insurance supports which are very important & barely ever mentioned in these kinds of books.
October 8, 2012
Brilliant book
January 3, 2015
Perhaps the best book I've read on this subject. I've come away with plenty of things to try, affirmation for the things I do and for the things I don't.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews