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I wanted to add that I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome a long time ago. In my own case, I think it was mostly caused by undiagnosed allergies and probably deficiencies and other internal problems--vague, but that's how it is. The fatigue turned into an inability to sleep (another symptom of CFS) and many years later I also developed fibromyalgia.
Luckily, I got so sick that my pcp told me I had to go outside the HMO and he gave me names of two drs who dealt with these issues. The dr that I chose changed my diet, recommended a few supplements--zinc, omega 6 fatty acids-- and told me to avoid most household chemicals (cleaning products, artificially scented, etc) and perfumes...the list is so long and I have done it for so long that I can barely remember. But it's my lifestyle now.
That doctor recommended an allergist, and to my surprise, I had developed loads of allergies, including food allergies. "Loads of" is a good term because the allergist referred to "total load" when she described how the sick get sicker. You get overloaded with allergies until your body can no longer cope.
As for fibromyalgia, each case is different but even after great improvement in my health from the special diet and allergy shots, I developed fibro when we sold our house and I was lifting heavy boxes and moving furniture. It was extremely painful and I think it's somehow related to CFS. After we moved and I got a new job, I had to quit due to the pain in my arms and knees. I heard that if you overdid it, you could injure your joints--maybe since the muscles were so weak now?
A fibromyalgia dr in Boston recommended 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. I did mine in a heated pool under the supervision of a specialist in arthritis and fibro. Many people can get their exercise on land but if you are very weak, the pool is a great option.) I got better in several weeks and WALKED to the office of my PT.
Years later the fibro came back after I was very sick all winter and got run down. But I remembered the aerobics in a heated pool and got started. I recommend that for people with fibromyalgia--do not do heavy exercise, do aerobic exercise. In my case, it was weird--and this is just me or a few others--but due to not being able to sleep, I was always looking online for suggestions. Found a Japanese study about the amino acid L-Glycine for sleep, tried it and was pleasantly shocked that the very next day, I walked--with absolutely no pain. I was hoping it would help with my sleep but it didn't. By luck, it actually cured my fibromyalgia!
(I am an exception because with more online research, I later determined that a medication I had been on many years ago depletes the amino acid L-Glycine!) There's a group that thinks guaifenesen protocol would cure fibromyalgia and I think they are close but wrong. I don't remember now, but back then, I had figured out why they were on the right track but were sort of missing the boat.
Anyway, none of this is made up. Attention deficit disorder is real too.
National Institute of Mental Health: Researchers are not sure what causes ADHD. Like many other illnesses, several factors can contribute to ADHD, such as:
Genes
Cigarette smoking, alcohol use, or drug use during pregnancy
Exposure to environmental toxins during pregnancy
Exposure to environmental toxins, such as high levels of lead, at a young age
Low birth weight
Brain injuries
But all of these somewhat vague illnesses and disorders can be used as catch alls when there is just no known cause or reason. And I do agree that sometimes (especially with kids and attention disorders) it's overdiagnosed.
Last edited by in_newengland; 03-05-2020 at 11:41 AM..
I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome back in the 1990’s. I went to a number of doctors and had lots of tests. I was very ill with it for a year. I had so little energy that I could not walk even a couple blocks without having to sit down to rest. I finally found a doctor who took my symptoms seriously. He prescribed Gamma Globulin shots, which I took for a year. Finally I got better and was able to hold down a job and have a normal life. Now I still tire easily and have to watch not to over exert myself. I do work very hard some days, but I still pay for that with unusual fatigue for some days after.
I urge you to be sympathetic to her and help her find a physician who will try to understand her problem. (Some of my friends were so mean, saying I just needed to get more exercise, and one neighbor suggested I was mentally ill.).
I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Deep down, I knew that they were just symptoms and not the actual problem. I had tons of people telling me I wasn't really sick, it was all in my head, etc. Nine doctors later, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. This was after being damn near bedridden for months. After over a year of a boatload of three different antibiotics, taken at the same time, I was back to 100%. I want to tell every person and doctor who told me there was nothing wrong and it was all in my head to shove it.
I do think chronic fatigue is real, but I also think it is a symptom of something else. In my case, it was a bacterial infection.
I do think chronic fatigue is real, but I also think it is a symptom of something else. .
Exactly right!
So many ailments include poor sleep-- especially in our civilized society where the 9-5 ethic prevents us from sleeping when our bodies prefer sleeping. There's a difference between being too tired to do something and being too weak to do it.
Maybe it's true that 10% of maladies are only psycho-somatic, but that means the other 90% are "somato-psychic"-- you're sick and you feel something about that- anxious, depressed, inadequate, aggravated, poor sleep etc.
Well. Do you doubt your wife? Is her situation making you unhappy? The first thing you need to look at is how invested you are in the answer.
I had FM diagnosed by my RA doctor. One of my other doctors was "if you believe you have that, then that's all that matters" WTF, I have body wide pain aside from RA, my darn hair hurts. I ignore pain that I don't think is RA related, but damn, it is tiring to do that all the time.
That's the other thing. I am damn tired all the time. I used to be super energetic, couldn't sit still. A problem occurs? Let me at it!! Now everything is just too much work. Do I still do it? Yes. But it requires me to pull up all my motivation and deal with it.
I don't know if I have CFS, I'm not even going to go there medically. I have enough medical problems, and I don't see where an official diagnosis will help.
The one saving grace in my life? My husband knows me well enough not to 2nd guess my maladies. His support is unquestioning, because he knows me, and he trusts me.
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Well. Do you doubt your wife? Is her situation making you unhappy? The first thing you need to look at is how invested you are in the answer.
I had FM diagnosed by my RA doctor. One of my other doctors was "if you believe you have that, then that's all that matters" WTF, I have body wide pain aside from RA, my darn hair hurts. I ignore pain that I don't think is RA related, but damn, it is tiring to do that all the time.
That's the other thing. I am damn tired all the time. I used to be super energetic, couldn't sit still. A problem occurs? Let me at it!! Now everything is just too much work. Do I still do it? Yes. But it requires me to pull up all my motivation and deal with it.
I don't know if I have CFS, I'm not even going to go there medically. I have enough medical problems, and I don't see where an official diagnosis will help.
The one saving grace in my life? My husband knows me well enough not to 2nd guess my maladies. His support is unquestioning, because he knows me, and he trusts me.
In the beginning. Yes I’ll be honest, then I started to understand that like with my ADHD people though the same way about me. And I’d watch her struggle get out of bed to go to the bathroom, etc.
I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome back in the 1990’s. I went to a number of doctors and had lots of tests. I was very ill with it for a year. I had so little energy that I could not walk even a couple blocks without having to sit down to rest. I finally found a doctor who took my symptoms seriously. He prescribed Gamma Globulin shots, which I took for a year.
Finally I got better and was able to hold down a job and have a normal life. Now I still tire easily and have to watch not to over exert myself.
I do work very hard some days, but I still pay for that with unusual fatigue for some days after.
I urge you to be sympathetic to her and help her find a physician who will try to understand her problem. (Some of my friends were so mean, saying I just needed to get more exercise, and one neighbor suggested I was mentally ill.).
I had to check that I had not written this.
More tomorrow. Oh, it's effin real alright...like Lyme Disease...sometimes takes a yr
with the wrong MDs to realize it. Ha, and so is ADHD.
So much to say about it, later.
LOL, I wrote this bef I read Carnival Girl's story - they can shove it is right.
I am starting to think I have this or something. I slept for 10 hours last night, went back to sleep twice today, and already feel tired after getting up for the third time not long ago.
Not just physically tired, but almost sleepy. Actual sleepy AGAIN is not far off.
I am going to lay down AGAIN. Which I am really tired of.
You sound like my MIL....if she does not have it.....it does not exist.
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- they can shove it is right.
