Check, J H · Clinical and experimental obstetrics & gynecology · 2017
This case study describes one woman with ME/CFS, pelvic pain, and diarrhea who was given the stimulant medication dextroamphetamine to help with fertility. Unexpectedly, not only did her ME/CFS symptoms improve, but her hearing loss—which had not responded to months of steroid treatment—also significantly improved, as confirmed by hearing tests.
This case suggests a potential link between ME/CFS-associated neuroinflammatory processes and autoimmune hearing loss, expanding the known spectrum of systemic manifestations in ME/CFS. The unexpected improvement with a sympathomimetic agent may offer insights into autonomic dysfunction in ME/CFS and guide future investigation of hearing complications in this population.
This single case report does not prove that dextroamphetamine is an effective or safe treatment for ME/CFS or hearing loss, nor does it establish a causal mechanism. The improvement in hearing could result from multiple factors unrelated to the medication, and results cannot be generalized beyond this individual patient. The diagnosis of 'sympathetic neural hyperalgesia edema syndrome' itself is not an established nosological entity in mainstream medicine.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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