Dr. Dale Guyer

In the pursuit of his daughter's betterment, this Patient Advocate has written about a number of CFS/ME doctors. The PA admires many researchers and doctors including Myhill, Vrchota, Cheney, Peterson, Chia, Levine, Enlander and de Meirleir. The PA is a particular admirer of Dr. Dale Guyer, who practices medicine in Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Guyer has a number of patients who are active on the Prohealth CFS/ME Message Board. Dr. Guyer is knowledgeable, kind, patient - and reserved in his treatments. His use of antivirals can be found in the following document, available on Prohealth from 2007. (A more general treatment protocol was revealed in Dale Guyer, M.D., on Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia: “Covering the Bases & Peeling Back the Layers of the Onion”, published a year earlier.)

“Antiviral medications have generated considerable scientific attention in the primary and adjunctive treatment of CFIDS and FMS - in the subset of the population with a viral component as part of individual etiology.

Through the years, I have noted a few good additive results with medications such as Famvir, Valtrex, and occasionally Acyclovir and Amantadine. Over the last year, thanks to the work of Dr. Jose Montoya at Stanford University, I have found that ValcyteTM offers another option that can really be the proverbial “icing on the cake” for many afflicted with CFIDS. Like other clinicians, my own experience with antiviral medications is that they are often very helpful with occasionally dramatic benefits, adding another viable alternative to the landscape of treatment options.

Some years ago, I had doubts that antiviral meds could add significantly to the management of CFIDS. Retrospectively, the doubts stemmed largely from becoming accustomed to observing good results with therapeutic strategies I was already using.

On many occasions, I have noted that comparatively simple treatments often deliver extraordinary results - Transfer Factor,1 oxidative therapies, Intravenous Vitamin (IV) therapy and vitamin B12 shots, to mention a few. Obviously, no protocol represents a “one size fits all” strategy. Clinicians are still required to find unique treatment strategies for unique patients.

Recently, I followed two male high school students who were very physically active prior to development of severe cases of mononucleosis. Following the episodes over the next six months, I noted that both students exhibited the classic findings of CFIDS. Both also responded almost immediately to a cocktail of IV Therapy, Transfer Factor and broad-spectrum nutritional supplementation. One patient eventually competed in an international martial arts competition in Germany, while the other returned to twice daily football practice in the heat of the Indiana summer - a challenge even for those without CFIDS!

In addition, my earlier opinions were based in large part on not observing impressive results with antiviral medications - at least not as good as I came to expect from other therapies.

Along the way, a good friend - Kristin Loomis, who in addition to being very knowledgeable is also the Executive Director of the HHV-6 Foundation - encouraged me to continue to give antivirals a try. I must say she, as usual, proved correct. Last year, she introduced me to the research of Dr. Montoya2, a Stanford infectious disease specialist; and since then I have seen often very good success with Valcyte.

In 2007, we began collecting data on the results of adding Famvir and Valcyte to individual treatment plans as clinically warranted. The formal results will be presented at the International College of Integrative Medicine meeting in Nashville in March 2008. In the meantime, I want to share observations that I have made over the last several months on very intriguing clinical findings that include the broad array of subjective improvements patients report while on antiviral therapy.

One interesting case involves a gentleman undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder for years. During his last office visit, he remarked that since starting Valcyte not only did the CFIDS symptoms reduce substantially, but he also noticed more motivation - for example, mowing the lawn and enjoying it, something he had not done in years. The patient reported that his lithium dose was reduced from 1200 mg daily to 300 mg daily.

Others have reported a restored sense of joy and humor - feelings absent for years, in addition to improved libido, decreased anxiety and depression, improvement in asthma and allergic symptoms, positive clinical changes in autoimmune disorders such as Crohn’s Disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and even one case of rare ALS type progressive motor neuron disease.

As our clinical experience demonstrates, our evolving understanding of the pervasive role viral activity in human health expands. We are beginning to understand that chronic viral activity may be present in the population at levels higher than previously assumed and not just involved in the etiology of CFIDS.

Can we predict which patients will do well with antiviral therapy?

Overall, it would appear that patients who fare better have a classic “viral” provoke history - i.e., they had a case of a “viral-like” illness, never got better, and over time keep going downhill. Duration of symptoms may be six months or 20 years. I have observed a few cases where these symptoms started after receiving a vaccine, such as the flu vaccine, and another case that appeared to begin after receiving a tetanus vaccine. In addition, patients will have consistent lab findings, including: depressed natural killer cells, low adrenal function, hormone deficiencies, elevated RNase-L3 levels, and elevated viral antibodies to Human Herpesvirus Six (HHV-6), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and occasionally other viruses.

As a rule of thumb, individuals who experience milder symptoms of shorter duration [accompanied by elevated levels of] IgG (Immunoglobulin G) to EBV seem to do well with Famvir. However, patients more severely affected for a longer duration with antibodies more skewed to HHV-6 or CMV will often need Valcyte.

Younger individuals with shorter duration of symptoms tend to get better faster, while people over 40 or those with several years of symptoms may need a few months to start getting back on track. Often even after six months of Valcyte or Famvir, we will maintain some individuals on a low dose of Famvir or Valcyte in the 50 mg range (a dose we compound because it is not commercially available).

Another important issue is the necessity to take a comprehensive view of CFIDS.

Often, physicians desire to treat CFIDS simplistically like we might address a sore throat - one cause, one solution. Undoubtedly, theories come and go relating to CFIDS, but in my experience, physicians who get optimal results evaluate all contributing factors, listen well, and integrate therapeutic support strategies to address contributing issues, such as: adrenal dysfunction, sub-clinical hypothyroidism, neurotransmitter imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, endocrine problems (depleted levels of DHEA, growth hormone, testosterone) - to name a few.

In my experience, taking a more comprehensive approach accelerates the process of restoring health, while simultaneously diminishing the likelihood of feeling exhausted, depleted and miserable while taking antiviral medication.
The inclusion of antiviral therapy in CFIDS has in my experience been a great addition. Like any stand-alone therapy, it may not offer the big difference we want to see; however, when combined with other supportive therapies, it offers a giant step forward in restoring wellness in individuals with CFIDS.”

One comment on the above article focused on the issue of the toxicity of these antiviral drugs for the CFS patient population.

While it was an oversight that Dr. Guyer did not speak to this issue in his discussion, he is very sensiitve to the issue and quite cautious in prescribing antiviral medication to CFS patients. As can be noted by his general attitude, Dr. Guyer is intent on strengthening the CFS patient in a variety of ways in order to prepare the patients for antivirals. Dr. Guyer prescribes antivirals to those patients whom he believes can tolerate them - and often he does so in a very low dose (and builds up). It is worth noting that Dr. Derek Enlander stated at the NJ CFS/ME conference that he had given Valcyte to 120 patients (again under a careful controlled setting) and had not had any adverse effects. Dr. Enlander indicated that Valcyte benefited about 40% of the patients to whom he prescribed