In a well-publicized case last August, a Michigan woman bedridden with CFS and a painful, related condition called fibromyalgia became the 35th person to commit suicide with the help of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. In the aftermath, medical experts underscored the serious nature of CFS, while still offering hope for medical relief. Recovery is slow and uncertain for many clients. With no cure in sight, doctors can only treat the symptoms. They might prescribe small doses of antidepressants to reset sleep rhythms, or anti-inflammatory drugs for joint pain.
Some patients seek out alternative remedies, with varying degrees of success.
Many learn to live in the slow lane, avoiding any physical or mental stress that could set them back. Buchwald, who founded the Harborview CFS clinic in 1988, has launched a study to help clarify what predisposes people to the syndrome, what triggers its onset and how disabling it is. Skloot, meanwhile, is pessimistic about reclaiming his cognitive prowess. At some point the immune-system disarray will either burn itself out or rearrange itself in some fashion. One day you feel OK, and the next you wake up and there's something drastically wrong.