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Me/cfs?
Hey!
I recently saw a post on here with someone saying that they had ME. Now, being the curious person that I am I checked out what it was and was shocked to discover that I seem to have a lot of the symptons. I'm not sure whether it's just me being a hypchondriac or whether I should seriously get checked out for it. The following symptons are often present:
* Muscle symptoms include exercise intolerance and post-exertional malaise (i.e. feeling shattered the day after undue physical activity), pain/myalgia (present in around 75% of people) and fasciculations (visible twitching of the muscles which sometimes includes blepharospasm/eyelid twitching).
- I have visible twitchings at least once a day, mostly my mouth area but sometimes my legs. My muscles always ache (which I put down to having bad posture) but even after I'm improved my posture they still hurt.
* Brain and Central Nervous System symptoms include cognitive dysfunction (problems with short-term memory, concentration and maintaining attention), clumsiness, disequilibrium likened to 'walking on rubber', and word finding abilities. Problems with control of the autonomic nervous system results in palpitations, sweating episodes and symptoms associated with low blood pressure/postural hypotension (e.g. fainting).
- I suddenly cannot remember anything. I am being totally serious here and it's not just me freaking out. Last year I could remmeber facts and figures after hearing them once and I was extremely good with names and words. However, nowadays even after meeting someone 6 or 7 times I can't rmemeber thier names, and I cannot remmeber dates at all. E.g. I put Stalin died in 1945 and that World War Two started in 1937, even after studying both for over a year (and gaining an A* at GCSE in History). This is just one example. There's many more. I've also started to find that I say the wrong word sometimes, or cannot find the right word at all.
* Symptoms which suggest on-going abnormalities in immune system function include sore throats, enlarged glands, joint pains, headaches, problems with temperature control and intermittent flu-like feelings.
- I've been getting really bad headaches, and just like week I was off with 'flu like symptons'.
* Other symptoms which frequently occur in ME/CFS include sleep disturbances (often increased requirements at the onset followed by an inability to maintain a full night's sleep), alcohol intolerance (a very characteristic feature, particularly in the early period of illness) and irritable bowel symptomatology.
-I have a really irregular sleep pattern, and normally wake up about 3 times every night. I also find that I have to take naps at around 5pm again disturbing my sleep (and the reason why I'm up now)
* Some people also develop emotional lability or mood swings and features of clinical depression as time goes on.
-Lately I've been really angry with people, crying about anything on TV (and I never used to cry. Ever).
Now, I know symtons differ in each case, but surely all of these things cannot be coincidence? I feel like I'm a different person recently, and I'm really unhappy generally.
Should I go and see my doctor or will he not take me seriously?
I recently saw a post on here with someone saying that they had ME. Now, being the curious person that I am I checked out what it was and was shocked to discover that I seem to have a lot of the symptons. I'm not sure whether it's just me being a hypchondriac or whether I should seriously get checked out for it. The following symptons are often present:
* Muscle symptoms include exercise intolerance and post-exertional malaise (i.e. feeling shattered the day after undue physical activity), pain/myalgia (present in around 75% of people) and fasciculations (visible twitching of the muscles which sometimes includes blepharospasm/eyelid twitching).
- I have visible twitchings at least once a day, mostly my mouth area but sometimes my legs. My muscles always ache (which I put down to having bad posture) but even after I'm improved my posture they still hurt.
* Brain and Central Nervous System symptoms include cognitive dysfunction (problems with short-term memory, concentration and maintaining attention), clumsiness, disequilibrium likened to 'walking on rubber', and word finding abilities. Problems with control of the autonomic nervous system results in palpitations, sweating episodes and symptoms associated with low blood pressure/postural hypotension (e.g. fainting).
- I suddenly cannot remember anything. I am being totally serious here and it's not just me freaking out. Last year I could remmeber facts and figures after hearing them once and I was extremely good with names and words. However, nowadays even after meeting someone 6 or 7 times I can't rmemeber thier names, and I cannot remmeber dates at all. E.g. I put Stalin died in 1945 and that World War Two started in 1937, even after studying both for over a year (and gaining an A* at GCSE in History). This is just one example. There's many more. I've also started to find that I say the wrong word sometimes, or cannot find the right word at all.
* Symptoms which suggest on-going abnormalities in immune system function include sore throats, enlarged glands, joint pains, headaches, problems with temperature control and intermittent flu-like feelings.
- I've been getting really bad headaches, and just like week I was off with 'flu like symptons'.
* Other symptoms which frequently occur in ME/CFS include sleep disturbances (often increased requirements at the onset followed by an inability to maintain a full night's sleep), alcohol intolerance (a very characteristic feature, particularly in the early period of illness) and irritable bowel symptomatology.
-I have a really irregular sleep pattern, and normally wake up about 3 times every night. I also find that I have to take naps at around 5pm again disturbing my sleep (and the reason why I'm up now)
* Some people also develop emotional lability or mood swings and features of clinical depression as time goes on.
-Lately I've been really angry with people, crying about anything on TV (and I never used to cry. Ever).
Now, I know symtons differ in each case, but surely all of these things cannot be coincidence? I feel like I'm a different person recently, and I'm really unhappy generally.
Should I go and see my doctor or will he not take me seriously?
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Speaking as someone who has CFS, I can't diagnose you but I can tell you I have irritable bowel symptoms, disturbed sleep patterns and extra sleep requirements; I also suffer from painful muscles (particularly in my legs) and problems with short term memory, as well as getting utterly exhausted by minimal activity (during my worst period so far I was laid up for a couple of days after walking about a mile). If any of this sounds familar, I'd advise you to see your GP. However, as you said, these symptoms are very diffuse and hard to nail down, so I was tested for anything from IBS to malaria before they diagnosed me.
I wouldn't be too sure that CFS is what you have, but if your symptoms are affecting your life then get to the doctor anyway. PM me if you want to know anything, as I don't want to crap on here too much!
I wouldn't be too sure that CFS is what you have, but if your symptoms are affecting your life then get to the doctor anyway. PM me if you want to know anything, as I don't want to crap on here too much!
You haven't mentioned feeling tired constantly to the extent that it is constantly overwhelming and influences all decisions. That's the main symptom - I want to say exhaustion but that doesn't really sum it up. It's like a huge cloud that's surrounding you.
And muscle pain is also one of the main ones.
From the symptoms you've described, you should probably see your doctor if you're worried, and they should take you seriously. It doesn't sound too much like ME / CFS though if that helps. Take care and I hope you feel better soon.
And muscle pain is also one of the main ones.
From the symptoms you've described, you should probably see your doctor if you're worried, and they should take you seriously. It doesn't sound too much like ME / CFS though if that helps. Take care and I hope you feel better soon.
if your worried about it go to your doctor, but dont tell them what you think you may have, doctors have this thing where they hate patients self diagnosing these things.
Yeh, if you're worried go to your doctor. I just wanna point out though, that CFS is a diagnosis of exclusion; that is to say that everything else has been ruled out. Therefore if you are experiencing these symptoms, it could easily be something else. Best to go see the doc methinks. 
yep I'd agree with love2learn here. I have PVCFS (equally umbrella'd under the term ME). Its less of a post exertional malaise and more of a 'i've actually moved from my bed' malaise! It would also be unusual to have all of those symptoms (not that it isnt possible, but most people don't have that many).
You're obviously worried so go to your doctor, but no, not all doctors will take you seriously. They will do the general tests but if they come back clear they may tell you there's nothing wrong rather than diagnosing this. It happens quite a lot, in which case go to another doctor. If you have any questions feel free to pm me xx
You're obviously worried so go to your doctor, but no, not all doctors will take you seriously. They will do the general tests but if they come back clear they may tell you there's nothing wrong rather than diagnosing this. It happens quite a lot, in which case go to another doctor. If you have any questions feel free to pm me xx
Sephrenia
You could go to the doctors by all means, but be aware that some don't seem to acknowledge that it is a disease...
That's because all of these symptoms can also be related to mental & emotional health issues - and in a significant number of cases anti-depressants can help.
It is unfortunate that in our society we see mental health issues as so stigmatising that many people will reject out of hand that emotional issues can be causing their physical problems - but be only too happy to accept a physical diagnosis.
It's like the mental health issues are your fault and physical health issues are not!
Go and see your GP but keep an open mind that depression and anxiety can cause all the symptoms you describe - and if the GP suggests it he/she is not belittling your problems - but doing his/her job.
*knowitall*
That's because all of these symptoms can also be related to mental & emotional health issues - and in a significant number of cases anti-depressants can help.
It is unfortunate that in our society we see mental health issues as so stigmatising that many people will reject out of hand that emotional issues can be causing their physical problems - but be only too happy to accept a physical diagnosis.
It's like the mental health issues are your fault and physical health issues are not!
Go and see your GP but keep an open mind that depression and anxiety can cause all the symptoms you describe - and if the GP suggests it he/she is not belittling your problems - but doing his/her job.
It is unfortunate that in our society we see mental health issues as so stigmatising that many people will reject out of hand that emotional issues can be causing their physical problems - but be only too happy to accept a physical diagnosis.
It's like the mental health issues are your fault and physical health issues are not!
Go and see your GP but keep an open mind that depression and anxiety can cause all the symptoms you describe - and if the GP suggests it he/she is not belittling your problems - but doing his/her job.
Just because all the symptoms can be caused by other issues doesn't mean that its not a real disease. They should acknowledge its existence.
Sephrenia
Just because all the symptoms can be caused by other issues doesn't mean that its not a real disease. They should acknowledge its existence.
What evidence do you have that there's a specific underlying pathology to this particular collection of symptoms? Until there is any it's a "syndrome". With no evidence based or rationale way of treatment because we don't know that there is, or what is the specific underlying pathology.
Ruling out known organic causes or treating the symptoms including mental/emotional health ones is the best we have until then unfortunately.
Couldxbe - Sure, if you're concerned about the individual symptoms you have go and see your doctor about them.
I wouldn't go in saying 'I have ME' - it's a diagnosis of a syndrome made by exclusion. Possibly just even going in saying that is going to flag "mental/emotional/hypochondria" issues in their head and just send you off to a specialist (who seem to have very little idea what to do either) rather than systematically investigating each symptom to give a useful diagnosis of something that can be treated rather than just a label.Anonymous
What evidence do you have that there's a specific underlying pathology to this particular collection of symptoms? Until there is any it's a "syndrome". With no evidence based or rationale way of treatment because we don't know that there is, or what is the specific underlying pathology.
Ruling out known organic causes or treating the symptoms including mental/emotional health ones is the best we have until then unfortunately.
Couldxbe - Sure, if you're concerned about the individual symptoms you have go and see your doctor about them. I wouldn't go in saying 'I have ME' - it's a diagnosis of a syndrome made by exclusion. Possibly just even going in saying that is going to flag "mental/emotional/hypochondria" issues in their head and just send you off to a specialist (who seem to have very little idea what to do either) rather than systematically investigating each symptom to give a useful diagnosis of something that can be treated rather than just a label.
Ruling out known organic causes or treating the symptoms including mental/emotional health ones is the best we have until then unfortunately.
Couldxbe - Sure, if you're concerned about the individual symptoms you have go and see your doctor about them.
I wouldn't go in saying 'I have ME' - it's a diagnosis of a syndrome made by exclusion. Possibly just even going in saying that is going to flag "mental/emotional/hypochondria" issues in their head and just send you off to a specialist (who seem to have very little idea what to do either) rather than systematically investigating each symptom to give a useful diagnosis of something that can be treated rather than just a label.Maybe I shouldn't have said it was a disease, it is a syndrome BUT doctors don't seem to accept that it is a real condition. My dad was shunted from dr to dr with them saying he had depression or he was overtired etc. Finally he found a doctor who believed him, becuase her uncle had the same condition. Not many doctors accept that this syndrome exists. CFS has completely wrecked my dads life, hes now registered disabled because of it. He hasn't physically been able to work for at least 5 years, and has had CFS for near on 7. There has been medical advances in the diagnosis of CFS IIRC, I can't say what they are because I can't remember. But most of the time the only way to tell if someone has CFS is to rule out all the toher diseases that can cause symptoms like CFS' symptoms.
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=102§ionId=30280
Seraphina - I don't mean that your dad hasn't got ME, just that if the OP went to the GP and said "I've looked up my symptoms on the internet and I've got ME" then she should not be surprised if the GP doesn't say - "that's fine, there's no treatment go and rest".
What good GP should do is consider each of the symptoms and try and work out what is the problem - myaesthenia gravis? brain tumour? Epstein Barr virus? depression? crohn's disease? TB? HIV? multiple sclerosis?
This can take for ever - and that is not being given the run around - that is being taken seriously.
What good GP should do is consider each of the symptoms and try and work out what is the problem - myaesthenia gravis? brain tumour? Epstein Barr virus? depression? crohn's disease? TB? HIV? multiple sclerosis?
This can take for ever - and that is not being given the run around - that is being taken seriously.
yep thats true, i was tested and prodded etc for just under a year before i was diagnosed. And even then all that helped is that they put a name on it, there was nothing they could really do to help (except try and give me happy pills, which i declined). So even if they do diagnose you with it, its not going to go away.
^They've tried to fob me off with happy pills to. It's easier for GPs to call it depression because there's actually a chance that that can be alleviated. I've been ill since the end of September now, and that's not considered long enough to have anything other than hypochondria. As others have said, you won't be diagnosed with CFS until they've excluded everything else under the sun (blood tests! fun!), and even if you are, there's not much that can be done about it appart from knowing your own limits and not pushing yourself beyond them.
heninacoop
^They've tried to fob me off with happy pills to. It's easier for GPs to call it depression because there's actually a chance that that can be alleviated. I've been ill since the end of September now, and that's not considered long enough to have anything other than hypochondria. As others have said, you won't be diagnosed with CFS until they've excluded everything else under the sun (blood tests! fun!), and even if you are, there's not much that can be done about it appart from knowing your own limits and not pushing yourself beyond them.
I get put on anti-depressents when it gets really bad - apparently it's because they help regulate sleep. I find they make things a lot worse and I've thrown really bad reactions. I've found it's as you say - there's nothing really that anyone can do to help. It's about learning to live with it, and eventually it gets manageable. I wouldn't say it's gone for me now, it very definately hasn't. But I push myself constantly (probably a bad idea!!
) and I'm able to lead a relatively normal life. I have found excercise very helpful (against my better judgement) and my muscle pain has mostly gone from keeping up with it. I find that as soon as I stop doing anything that reduces the symptoms they all come flooding back. So it's a complete nuisance when I get a cold or something!!! Fingers crossed they'll find a cure some day... here's hoping!! 
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."
Mark Twain
Only a doctor will know, so ask one.
Mark Twain
Only a doctor will know, so ask one.
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