German general practitioners are discussing on Reddit how to treat patients with ME/CFS
I thought this is quite interesting. I'm sure it's easy for most to translate the page to your mother tongue.
My highlights
>In my current job, I have almost no contact with ME/CFS, but I do keep a passing eye on the latest discussions and research, which means I’m constantly seeing posts from ME/CFS activists on social media. In the vast majority of cases, these posts strike me as unpleasant because they expect general practitioners to provide some kind of special treatment and miracle cure with off-label medication (often without a solid diagnosis) and any dissent is met with harassment, as shown in the link.
>I find the Bubble really difficult. Patients are often incredibly demanding, wanting every possible somatic test, even though there are no somatic findings. And all this drama about “No, it’s not psychological. We’re not crazy” really gets on my nerves. First of all, mental illnesses are real and can be just as distressing, and second, from a somatic perspective, there’s no difference between moderate depression + somatization disorder and MECFS.
>Then please explain to me how you distinguish moderate depression and somatoform disorder from MECFS on a purely physical level. Spending a lot of time in bed, running to the doctor over every little thing, complaining about hypersensitivity, yet still being glued to your phone all the time—that sounds more like an emotional issue to me xD
>Lol, in most cases, good sleep hygiene would be enough. An iron deficiency or hypothyroidism (if that's even what it is) can be treated relatively easily—you don't need an endocrinologist for that; I can handle it as your humble family doctor.
>As far as I know (*feel free to correct me), the most effective treatment for such syndromes is psychotherapy. I find that very insightful.
>What is an ME/CFS emergency? Bed rest syndrome?
Some of the wilder comments have already been deleted as well as all and any comments from patients trying to chime in. Anyways, this is what the average German doctor thinks.