Specialist medical care is the most usual treatment for CFS/ME, and it helps many people improve. You get a confirmed diagnosis, an explanation of why you are ill, and general advice about managing your illness. Your specialist might either prescribe medicine to help you manage troublesome symptoms such as insomnia and pain or advise your GP about what medicine is appropriate.
Here is some of the advice about managing your own illness you may get as part of specialist medical care.
• Avoid extremes of activity. Many people with CFS/ME get into a pattern of being very active and then very inactive. It is better to give yourself a pattern of activity that you can keep going. This may be a lower level of activity you are used to.
• Set a daily level of activity. It will help to set a simple level of activity that you do every day. Stretching exercises, for example, will minimise the weakening effects that creep up if you don’t use your muscles for a time.
• Make only gradual changes to your activity level. If you feel you can increase your level of activity, and not everyone does, make changes carefully and gradually. A sudden increase in activity may make your symptoms worse.
• Try to reduce stress in your life. When we are ill, stresses such as excessive work demands don’t help us. If you can reduce these stresses, it will help you recover.