tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22576999.post1535453134014249147..comments2024-03-27T14:05:22.815-04:00Comments on Live With ME/CFS: CFS and FamilySue Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14532098225905355332noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22576999.post-79388448552125242142008-01-12T22:23:00.000-05:002008-01-12T22:23:00.000-05:00Hi Sue,Just wondering how you and your family are ...Hi Sue,<BR/>Just wondering how you and your family are doing, since you haven't posted for awhile.Sherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11034488498196936495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22576999.post-1806026696672275022007-12-22T12:41:00.000-05:002007-12-22T12:41:00.000-05:00Hi-I have not been formally diagnosed with CFS but...Hi-<BR/><BR/>I have not been formally diagnosed with CFS but the symptoms are there and I have tested positive for EBV antibodies that indicate a current or recent infection. I have been doing everything I can to rest, eat well, and all the other things other than taking heavy duty drugs to combat this. One thing I have done recently is to sit in a sauna (15-20 minutes in, cool off for 15 minute, then another 15 or 20 minute back in the heat) and the following days I have approached normal and found myself in a very good mood. I have only done this three times so the positive feelings could be coincidence rather than a direct effect of the sauna. <BR/><BR/>My thinking behind this came from the realization that typically a viral infection will cause a fever. This is the body's way of trying to kill the virus. My body temperature has alway run a little low and continues to do so. I thought I might try to create my own fever with heat, thus the sauna. After feeling positive for the first time in months I did some research on the benefits of sauna. It seems to provide many of the benefits of exercise like increased circulation, detoxification through sweating, and an increase in endorphins associated with exercise. Being out of energy and feeling completely depleted through real exercise, the sauna seems like a great way to get many (not all) of the benefits of exercise without spending the precious energy that I do have. I then learned the theory behind the cold plunge after taking in the heat of the sauna. First, as the body is heated the circulatory system tries to keep the body cool by sending all the blood to the outside of the body in order to release heat. Blood going to the core of the body (all the organs) is reduced. The body sweats and eliminates toxins. After 15 or twenty minutes of being in the heat you then reverse the process by plunging into a pool or very cold shower. The body restricts blood flow to the outside of the body and sends all the blood it can to the core in order to keep the organs warm. The organs are now flooded with clean blood and can further deliver the nutrients and remove the toxins associated with the internal organs. You don't need to stay in the cold nearly as long as you do the heat. Less than a minute (it will seem like an eternity). Then it's back in the heat for another 15 or 20 minutes. <BR/><BR/>OK, like I said I have only done this a couple of times but I have enough encouragement by the positive "results" I have experienced to go get a gym membership so I can do this every day and see if this works. What I would also like to do is conduct our (people with EBV or other viral infections) own experiment to see if this could be of real benefit. At first I thought everyone should be on the same page with meds, diet and all that, but it occurred to me that if everyone in this "experiment" had completely different regimens, equal only in the fact that nothing was working, then the new variable of the sauna would best be tested.<BR/><BR/>From here, how can we compile a group of a hundred or so people who can commit to a very specific regimen of this practice for a month or two and compare notes?<BR/><BR/>Any feedback yo may have about this will be greatly appreciated.<BR/><BR/>Thanks-<BR/><BR/>JonathanJojohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11378055219652678269noreply@blogger.com