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Thanks @zzz, I knew none of this!

No, not really. Just standard antihistamines for allergies, but I don't think that's the same thing, is it? Those have no effect on my symptoms. My CRP is almost always quite raised (between 11 and 30), and there's a lot of accumulated evidence that IL6 plays a causal role in CRP production. So...

Thanks, @MErmaid! Interestingly, this article seems to be focusing on Zantac's histamine-blocking effect, not its IL6 blocking effect.

I don't know really, I don't think I've pushed it to the limit. I couldn't have given you a number before either, my function has always been so variable - most days I'm limited to bed, but there are odd days when I can walk a bit. But even on a good day I'd commonly get this hot prickly...

Hi folks, just updating on this. I've experienced unprecedented good health over the past 9 days, which coincides with taking the Ranitidine. Perhaps - just perhaps - its helping? Its always easy to misattribute, and there's one other thing that might have something to do with my improvement...

So tired of all this talk of human beings as delicate flowers that can't have any bad stuff happening early in life - without becoming permanently messed up. In some way. Usually mental illness, or depression, or "somatic" illness. Its obviously not like that, because prior to the mid 20th...

There were some nice comments here. I enjoyed this one: This article, mentioned in the comments, was worth a read: https://politicalsciencereplication.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/getting-the-idea-of-transparency-all-wrong/. Some powerful bits:

Yes, I found it rather patronising.

interesting bit: Seems to happen a lot in the psyc papers I read. And this: Old timers will remember that one example of those "red flags" offered in that 2016 paper was vexatious CFS patients with an anti-science agenda.

Nice points, @strategist!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:!!!!

It was an interesting article, raising all sorts of questions about whether off-label use of antidepressants is good or not. My impression on reading the article was that there seemed to be a lot of different claims being made about a lot of different medicines. And they couldn't all be right...

Yes, sure. I should first say what my main sleep problem was: waking in the middle of the night. Usually hot and fluey. It would take hours to cool down enough to get back to sleep, and if I didn't get enough sleep before morning, I'd be in much more pain during the day. I now take half a...

That's an interesting thought, @Samuel. I just read over that other thread where you posted, and it seems to be presenting the opposite view from mine. That you focus on a core set of symptoms and assume any others are coincidental. But maybe not as different when you look more closely? What...

Oh gosh, look at all the psychologisation in this article, I didn't notice it first read. They could be talking about ME patients, the language is so similar: That last one is of course somatisation. This is exactly what many think is the cause of ME.

Oh, I see. Although there's no suggestion that every case of sleep disturbance is due to atrophy. Or even most cases. Just some. Sorry you've had no joy with sleep meds :(. I've found a happy combination that works well for me, and that has really made a difference to my life.

@Little Bluestem, if its any reassurance, the article is actually suggesting the opposite. That the brain atrophy causes the sleep problems, not that the sleep problems cause the atrophy. But not getting good sleep in general is a worry, I feel the same way too. There's quite a lot to be said...

This is a really good article. Not trying to be sensationalist or to arouse panic, just stating that adverse events reporting in drug trials is not as good as we think it is. I thought this line was terribly astute - and it reminded me of what happened in the PACE trial. Edit: I tend to think...

Yea, that's interesting. They love to capitalise on the government's desire to save money, don't they?

Wow, sort of self-contradictory, isn't it? On the one hand, we shouldn't be bothering our doctors with our health questions. On the other, we shouldn't be trying to answer those questions ourselves either. Well, which is it? Should we try to get some useful information ourselves? Or rush...