Diet and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Patients with
Orthostatic Intolerance
Eat Small Meals More Frequently – Eating large meals
causes large amounts of blood to be shunted to the gut (and away from the heart and brain) causing sluggishness and
fatigue. The National Dysautonomia Foundation (NDF) suggests flexing your feet back and forth while you’re
eating to stimulate the muscle pump in the legs. Do not eat in a high chair
since doing so accentuates blood flows into your legs.
Starchy and High Sugar Foods - Stay away from
starchy and high sugar foods (yes, all the good stuff!) since they tend
to worsen symptoms
Salt - Increasing salt (with your doctor’s
permission) and fluid intake is commonly recommended for OI. Doing so can
increase your blood volume - which is low in many chronic fatigue syndrome
(ME/CFS) patients) - and thus increase blood flows to your heart and
brain.
"The reduction in salt, which is a good idea for
most people, may push OT symptomatic people into having symptoms of OT," Dr
.Peter Rowe
Increasing salt intake will only work if you increase your fluid intake as
well for (see below). Increasing salt intake should be done slowly and can
be easily achieved simply by eating saltier foods. Some ME/CFS and POTS
patients who already had low salt intake have had dramatic improvements by
increasing their salt intake. Do not increase your salt intake, however, if you have high blood
pressure.
Dig Deeper! Martha Kilcoyne received dramatic benefits from increasing her salt intake.
Fluids - Dr. Rowe suggests that patients who make a serious (i.e. consistent) effort at increasing their fluid intake will benefit the most. He recommends drinking a glass of liquid every two hours with a goal of drinking at least two liters of water a day (approximately half a gallon). Particularly when its hot be careful that you're well hydrated. If you’re trying to increase both blood volume and salt tomato juice is an excellent choice.Gookinaid – Dr. Cheney recommends Gookinaid an electrolyte enhancer, to increase blood volume. You can buy it (it does have sugar in it (glucose)) or make it at home.
Caffeine – may help some patients and harm others. Its diuretic properties suggest it should be avoided in patients with low blood volume.
Alcohol – opens the blood vessels – just the opposite of that OI patients want to have happen - therefore stay away from alcohol.
(This and all sections of the Phoenix Rising website are compiled by a layman. They are not a substitute for a physician and are for informational uses only. Please discuss any treatments in these pages with your physician.)
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National Dysautonomia Foundation. Living with Dysautonomias'.
http://www.pediatricnetwork.org/medical/OI/johnshopkins.htm (Rowe 2003)