End Fatigue

How to get CFS & Fibromyalgia Treatment at Low Cost

I appreciate both your frustration and the difficulties that you are going through. When I had CFS/FMS, it left me homeless and sleeping in parks for much of the year while also knocking me out of med school for the year. I know it is even harder for many of you, as I did not have a family to care for at the time.

Because of this, I have done several things to make help available to every one — even those on tight budgets:

	1.	At my website www.endfatigue.com, there is a free online computer program that can analyze your blood tests (if available) and symptoms. It will determine the most likely underlying problems triggering your CFS/FMS while also tailoring a treatment protocol to your case. You can then work with your family doctor to apply the treatment protocol — and much of it can be done on your own.
	2.	If you have prescription insurance, much of the program can be done with prescriptions instead of natural therapies if needed. If on Medicaid, they cover most needed prescriptions. If not, and income is low, most medications can be obtained for free. Visit the Partnership for Prescription Assistance website for info.
	3.	The key tests that are needed include the blood count (CBC), ESR, general chemistry, free T4 level (thyroid test), vitamin B12, Ferritin, and DHEA-S level. Although many other tests can be very helpful, one can often rely on symptoms alone to make the other treatment decisions. If you have no testing insurance, many labs offer a 50% discount for payment when the blood is drawn (you need to ask for this before you go in).

The key to getting well is "SHINE" — Sleep, Hormones, Infections, Nutrition, and Exercise as able.

How can I get treated if I don't have much money?

	1.	Sleep — Flexeril and Elavil, although more likely than some other medications to cause side effects, are inexpensive. Desyrel, Neurontin and Klonopin, in generic form, are also reasonably priced. These 5 can be very helpful for sleep, and your doctor is likely to be comfortable prescribing the first 4 of these. The Revitalizing Sleep Formula herbal mix, melatonin 1/2 mg, calcium and magnesium are also low cost. All of these can be combined as needed.
	2.	Hormones — Thyroid, cortef, DHEA, and estrogen (by prescription) can also be found at fairly low prices.
	3.	Infections — Diflucan generic is $42 for 6 weeks (from Consumers Discount Drugs at 323-461-3606 which, along with Costco, often have excellent prices). Doxycycline is also cheap.
	4.	Nutritional support — To simplify nutritional support, I recommend the Energy Revitalization System vitamin powder I discuss in my book (From Fatigued to Fantastic!). 1/2 scoop a day is enough, so it can be done for ~50 cents a day (~ the cost of 1/4 cup of tea or 3 cigarettes a day). Ribose can be done at ~ $1/day. By doing a monthly auto-ship (which offers a 20% discount off already very discounted prices) at my website www.endfatigue.com, these can be obtained at a low price.
	5.	Exercise as able — Free and priceless! Simply walk as feels comfortable.

Although some of the treatments for these syndromes can be very expensive, and are often very helpful, it is still possible to do key parts of the treatment protocol in an affordable manner. For those who can afford it, the FFC (Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers — nationally) is geared more to helping people with CFS/FMS than to make money. In fact, the money they charge barely covers the cost of providing the services. That means that despite putting in an enormous amount of work and investment, there is little to no profit being made by them. Nonetheless, as insurance will sometimes not cover CFS/FMS treatments, it costs ~ $500/month for the first year (then usually drops to ~ $200/month).

Though many researchers patent their treatment protocols, I donated the patent for mine to the public domain to ensure that it can be applied by any doctor at no extra cost.

I know it is hard, but I also know you can get better. Start with the info here, do the free online program, read my book (or read the free review articles online) and trust. We, and many others, are working hard to make effective treatment available for everyone.

Love and Blessings,

Jacob Teitelbaum MD