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What questions should a doctor be asking?

Dr. Hyde shared his thinking that all doctors should be asking themselves the questions “what makes the symptoms worse, what makes them better and how did it start,” having learned these basic skills in medical school.

Other questions to ask are if there was any injury to the physiological system, could it be proven which organs were injured and in what manner?

The theory is that if a patient is ill, there must be proof of it.

However, the physician has to be thorough enough and ask the right questions to determine which tests to run and how to interpret them. This is where many ME/CFS and FM patients fall through the cracks.

Above all, Dr. Hyde stressed that it is absolutely important to capture a patient's genetic history, beginning from their infancy to the present. Before he does anything, he will spend the first visit (which usually takes 1 1/2 days) gathering patient background information. 

Dr. Hyde’s protocol of taking a patient history and work is as follows:

  1. Genetic History
  2. Historical Illnesses & Traumas
  3. Immediate Prior Illnesses or traumas
  4. Trigger (any combination of infection, immunization, medications, trauma, surgical procedure, transfusion, severe emotional injury)
  5. System Injuries or Pathophysiological Injuries
  6. Multiple Organ Injuries