Given the limited amount I know about CFS I don't have a problem believing it would have an impact. Lithium has been researched as a neuroprotective for years. PubMed has articles referring to lithium as a neuroprotective dating back to 1991 so seeing it go to trial for other neurological conditions makes sense. Since the Italian study has been published I'm willing to bet you'll see trials for several others surface in short order.
I am cautiously optimistic as I said to Jamie in a PM earlier today. Lithium has impacts on several of the proposed mechanisms of ALS which I posted earlier in this thread.
Hey, thanks for that great link. I'm going to go and look at that in depth here in a minute, but it looks very well done at quick glance.
The thing about CFS is that we don't know what causes it. Some claim it's in the muscles, others claim there is something irritating the nerves, others claim it is a potassium ion channel problem. Given that we don't know the exact mechanisms of Lithium, either, (though it does appear to be protective against glutamate excitability and has some other documented functions) I figured that, hey, my nervous system is not acting normally for unknown reasons, and since all of lithium's mechanisms are not fully understood--heck it makes the grey matter in very particular parts of the brain grow--I would give it a try. I had little to lose at the levels I was taking. My symptoms were fatigue, cramps, constant bodywide twitching and weakness--all common for CFS. Yet my EMG/NCV and nuerological exams were normal. I didn't even have a hint of any fibs, for instance. So I tried it ,and it worked for me. Now, I haven't recommended it to any other CFS'ers. If this were aboutcfs.com, I wouldn't have mentioned it at all. One person is not a trial. Plus, CFS can spontaneously go into remission, though that's pretty rare.
Anyway, you are probably right, but my symptoms were severe and now they are gone. If it were something like sleeplessness, I could go with the placebo effect. Actually, that would be fine--whatever works. But, as I said, I had very severe CFS symptoms and now I have nothing. I have to think that something specifically stopped it, and the only changed I made was lithium.
Anyway, wherever the truth lies, I'll not quit it, that's for sure.
Again, thanks for the site. Can't wait to go through it.