As a former CFS sufferer and current healthcare practitioner, I feel Ms. Butcher provides an informative and interesting perspective on this disease and her road to recovery. Kyrie Kleinfelter,D.C., Upper Cervical Chiropractor. As a fellow sufferer of CFS, I was truly able to relate to Ms. Butchers experiences, thoughts and feelings. Her reference to the Word of God comforted my heart. Truly inspiring and honest. Darla Canney, CFS Patient. Ms. Butcher shares her intense and emotional journey of how the autoimmune disease chronic fatigue syndrome impacted her life from her first symptoms to the progress of her treatment and physical, spiritual and emotional recovery. By sharing with others, she hopes to inspire others to seek help so they may lead better lives as well. She wants them to know there is hope.

Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (CFIDS) is not the 'Yuppie flu.' It is a debilitating, incurable illness that hijacks the body's immune system and drains the life out of its victims, often leaving them incapacitated for years. While researchers around the globe explore the causes of treatments for CFIDS, the men, women and children who suffer with the illness grapple with questions like: -Will I ever be normal again? -Of what value am I now that I can't work or go to school anymore? -How will CFIDS affect my marriage and my family? How will CFIDS affect my ability even to consider marriage or having children? -How do I glorify God in the midst of a debilitating illness and pain? Lynn Vanderzalm and her teenage daughter, Alisa, have battled CFIDS for over seven years. In Finding Strength in Weakness, Vanderzalm shares her family's struggles and questions-along with those of 70 other men, women, and children-while offering direction, encouragement, and hope to the countless families who battle with the 'mystery illness of the nineties.'

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are serious, debilitating conditions that affect millions of people in the United States and around the world. ME/CFS can cause significant impairment and disability. Despite substantial efforts by researchers to better understand ME/CFS, there is no known cause or effective treatment. Diagnosing the disease remains a challenge, and patients often struggle with their illness for years before an identification is made. Some health care providers have been skeptical about the serious physiological - rather than psychological - nature of the illness. Once diagnosed, patients often complain of receiving hostility from their health care provider as well as being subjected to treatment strategies that exacerbate their symptoms. Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome proposes new diagnostic clinical criteria for ME/CFS and a new term for the illness - systemic exertion intolerance disease(SEID). According to this report, the term myalgic encephalomyelitis does not accurately describe this illness, and the term chronic fatigue syndrome can result in trivialization and stigmatization for patients afflicted with this illness. Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome stresses that SEID is a medical - not a psychiatric or psychological - illness. This report lists the major symptoms of SEID and recommends a diagnostic process.One of the report's most important conclusions is that a thorough history, physical examination, and targeted work-up are necessary and often sufficient for diagnosis. The new criteria will allow a large percentage of undiagnosed patients to receive an accurate diagnosis and appropriate care. Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome will be a valuable resource to promote the prompt diagnosis of patients with this complex, multisystem, and often devastating disorder; enhance public understanding; and provide a firm foundation for future improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

Develop a better understanding of what CFS/CFIDS sufferers are going through!In the 1980s, a strange emerging epidemic baffled doctors in Incline Village, Nevada. Dismissed by the media as “The Yuppie Flu,” Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) turned out to be neither a faddish disease of the wealthy nor a passing trend, but rather a growing worldwide epidemic of devastating proportions.In the voices of a South African journalist, a former marathon runner, a teenage girl, a public health activist living on the edge of race and gender, a cancer patient neglected by doctors because of disdain for her chronic illness, and a theologian relearning the art of spiritual empathy, the people who share their stories in Stricken: Voices from the Hidden Epidemic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome defy cultural stereotypes and explore the complex social and political dynamics of this hidden epidemic. Through their distinct points of view, we feel the grief and hope of those stricken with CFIDS and learn of the complex nature of this misunderstood disorder. These are compelling stories about a quiet and baffling epidemic. The first American anthology to contain stories from a diverse range of people with CFIDS, Stricken offers an intimate look at the political and social issues surrounding CFIDS, as told by those who are living through this ordeal. Stricken addresses several issues, such as: why some doctors still do not believe CFIDS is real how the disease is mocked in the media myths about this illness the personal fight for medical or public recognition the skepticism and hope that is felt by the ever-growing number of CFIDS sufferers Stricken confronts fascinating CFIDS issues such as the Kevorkian suicides, accusations of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, Gulf War Syndrome, the role of storytelling in a memory-impaired patient movement, and the feasibility of mass activism in a disabled population. With contributions from Pulitzer-prize nominated writer Susan Griffin, renowned health writer and radio host Gary Null, well-known feminist activist Joan Nestle, and award-winning poet and essayist Floyd Skloot, Stricken is an eloquent testament to the heroism, defiance, and diversity of the CFIDS community.

Tenth year anniversary edition with an update by the author "A relentless, meticulous, and highly persuasive expos by a journalist who spent nine years investigating the medical research establishment's failure to take seriously chronic fatigue syndrome... In a chronology that runs from 1984 to 1994, Johnson crams in fact after telling fact, building up a dismaying picture of a rigid and haughty biomedical research establishment unwilling or unable to respond to the challenge of a multifaceted disease for which a causative agent has yet to be found... A compelling, well-documented account..."Kirkus Reviews

"Original edition published in 2017 by Hammersmith Books, London, United Kingdom"--T.p. verso.