| >I'm seeing and hearing a lot about how it goes the other way Well, you need to be careful who you listen to. There are an infinite number of dubious naturopaths (and many MDs) who buy into dubious theories and spread them. There are a lot fewer people who will tell you "stress causes burnout, which causes POTS, ANS dysfunction, depression, chronic fatigue/pain, digestive problems, etc.", even though this is based on a more correct understanding of how the body works. The USA seems particularly bad for MDs believing dubious theories, for a number of reasons. > acute reactions in my mouth from certain cheeses, and things like that - so I'm certain there's some kind of allergic reaction If it is an allergic reaction, it will show up on an IgE. Bear in mind, though, that some cheeses are just sharp. >Also - in my situation the autonomic dysfunction has a strong biological component. I have postural tachycardia The autonomic nervous system is biological/physiological, but is modulated by stress. It doesn't really make sense to separate these systems into "biological" or "psychological". Postural tachycardia and depressed parasympathetic nervous system are typical symptoms of CFS caused by burnout from stress. I had these symptoms myself, very severely (I had periods where my digestive system didn't move at all, and where I had atrial fibrillation due to the tacycardia). However I've recovered completely from it now and have no symptoms. >caused by a genetic collagen issue (Ehlers-Danlos) Did you suffer from these symptoms your whole life? If not, I'm not sure how it fits. Typically CFS comes on suddenly and/or you have relapses and normal periods...if that's how your illness manifests then I don't see how a genetic collagen could explain it. Also, allergies are a different issue to a genetic collagen problem (and neither really explains depression). I have a moderately severe allergy (hay fever), but zero depression or fatigue from it. |