Dr. Holtorf's Story
As one of millions of Americans who suffers with Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, I know that every day I feel good is a gift. When my patients walk through the door and describe how they feel, I understand. As Chief Medical Officer of Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers, Inc., that personal experience is what allows me to bring this unique understanding in the form of proven medical protocols.
Since then I have dedicated my practice to helping Fibromyalgia (FM), Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and Unrelenting Fatigue (UF) patients, like me, who want to take control of their life again. Through my experience as a patient and my knowledge as a specialist in the field, I am able to continually develop new therapies and advance research. This is a dream come true and one I would not have dared to dream in the beginning.
While going through college some 20 years ago, I was tired all the time, gaining significant weight despite little food intake and had difficulty sleeping. Then in medical school the fatigue and sleep disturbance worsened and I started noticing concentration issues and muscle aches. It progressed to the point where it was difficult for me to make it on time to my clinical rotations, and I would frequently miss class. I became very unsocial, refusing to go out with my classmates; a simple conversation was exhausting and I knew I had to conserve every ounce of energy to get through my school work.
Since stress, anxiety and depression are not uncommon in students, particularly medical students, I was told that I was like everyone else. But deep down I knew it was something more. This did not seem like the usual exhaustion some of my classmates were experiencing; after all, they only had occasional bad days and it was my good days that were few and far between.
I learned coping mechanisms to make it through the rigors of medical school and decided to specialize in Anesthesiology; to me, it was the least fatiguing of the medical specialties. Even with sitting and not talking for long periods, it was still a battle to make it through each day. When I wasn't studying, I continued the quest to find an answer to my condition, immersing myself in anything I could find.
Like most FM, CFIDS and UF patients, I needed to know what this was and why this "thing" had taken over my body and my life. Most of all I wanted to know how to cure it. At that time there wasn't even a name for it, much less a cure. Numerous blood tests came back "normal". I couldn’t find a doctor who would take my condition seriously. I was told my symptoms were from depression or anxiety and was not given treatment options. After trying many things, including taking off time from my new practice and seeking help from "experts", I finally did an extensive hormonal lab panel on myself. That lab study was a breakthrough. I found that I was in the suboptimal range for numerous hormones, which most experts I had gone to previously called "normal". With nothing to lose, I started treating these suboptimal levels and I found I actually began to function again.
I am now able to help patients with similar struggles. Today my condition has a name, my dreams are obtainable and I control my CFIDS, it does not control me. I not only have the energy, strength, focus and ability to live a full life, but I can spread that accomplishment through successful patient outcomes.