One to One
Tips, strategies and helpful thoughts about CFIDS

Sleeping under a "tent"
I experience such severe knee and foot pain that even light bedcovers hurt when I try to sleep. To address this, I purchased a lightweight metal frame that holds the bedcovers in a "tent" above my feet at night. I also use a "fat" light switch adapter that fits over my tiny lamp switch to reduce my hand pain. These and many other items can be purchased though mail order catalogs. Two such catalogs are Functional Solutions (1-800-235-7054) and Aids for Arthritis and Fibromyalgia (1-800-654-0707).
Rebecca Becker-Bean, New Jersey

Feel-good destinations
When I travel to certain locations, I am suddenly virtually cured of my CFS. Even when I stay in these "good" places for months, I do not revert to feeling badly. I have rated how well I feel in various places that I have visited, from 0 to 10 (0 is unbearable and 10 is fully cured):

9:   Cuba; coast of northern Peru (avoid in September and October)
8:   The Yucatan, Mexico (avoid in September and October)
4:   Mexicali, Baja California (desert)
3:   Winnipeg; San Diego; Houston; Florida; Quito, Ecuador; Mexico City; San Jose, Costa Rica
2:   Toronto; New York

I am hoping to hear about others who have had similar improvements and where they have gone. You can send me your ratings via e-mail at p_beith@yahoo.com.
Paul Beith, Toronto, Canada

Watch for carbon monoxide
As winter approaches, many people will be turning on their heaters for the first time in months. I want to warn everyone about the need for carbon monoxide detectors on each floor of their homes. This is especially important for people with CFIDS, since the symptoms of carbon monoxide poison-ing and CFIDS overlap.

I began feeling progressively worse early last winter, and figured that I was having a bad CFIDS flare-up. In fact, the upper two floors of our house were being flooded with carbon monoxide because our heater had developed major cracks. Our detector was on the lower level, which wasn't being heated because the damper there was closed. When we opened it, the alarm went on and stayed on for two weeks, until we got the heater fixed.

Please be sure to install detectors and have your furnace checked annually.
Dawn Carroll, Norcross, Ga.

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