Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Support Group
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) describes a sense of exhaustion and post-exertion malaise, even when you have gotten enough rest and sleep. The disease is characterized by six months of incapacitating fatigue experienced as profound exhaustion and extremely poor stamina, and problems with concentration and short-term memory. The cause is unknown, but it is a...
Recently received an email about this. It is called ciguatera toxicity and it is a food poisoning toxin that remains in the body for decades and has been linked to CFS. It has many neurological components. It is caused from eating red snapper or grouper fish. The AMA says in order to prevent getting this illnes we should avoid eating these fish. The problem is that as much as 1/3 of our fish is mis-labeled. (That makes it easy, doesn't it?) Go on-line and google ciguatera poisoning for more information. It's just one more avenue to look into. Some of the symptoms that present with this illness are pretty odd, so if you have those, it would be a really good idea to get tested!
Good luck!
Good luck!
The toxin originates in algae that grow on tropical reefs. Fish and invertebrates eat the algae, which makes them contaminated with toxin. Then larger fish eat them, and so on. The toxin can become more concentrated that way...it can reach very high levels in barracuda. Yet barracuda in some areas are perfectly safe to eat.
The link between ciguatera and ME/CFS has been investigated, but nothing really conclusive was found. Since so many people develop the illness without consuming fish from tropical waters, the link seems unlikely. But who knows? I was eating a lot of fish caught near tropical reefs when I first got really sick.
Once you do get ciguatera, even small amounts of contaminated sea food can cause violent symptoms. There have been deaths from ciguatera in Florida, as I remember...from eating barracuda I think.