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Not everybody experiencing burnout has CFS/ME but enough do that it’s worth pointing out every time there is a burnout discussion. I thought I simply kept burni

Not everybody experiencing burnout has CFS/ME but enough do that it’s worth pointing out every time there is a burnout discussion. I thought I simply kept burning out through overwork for about 10 years before discovering that I actually had CFS and I’m assuming I’m not the only one. I was highly resistant to the idea of having it as I did not identify with the disability and thought CFS people were just lazy. Had I known I would have treated it better sooner.

thenerdhead 5y ago
Is the overworking leading to constant stress and that stress leading to ME/CFS which leads to a number of issues like trouble sleeping, physical/mental symptoms, and depression/anxiety? This seems to be significantly undiagnosed. How do you know? What treatment has significantly helped? Getting good sleep? Mindfulness? Walks? etc? I ask because I'm writing a book about this and want to learn more.
- cjbgkagh 5y ago
  Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) was the first treatment where there was a night and day improvement and from that point I knew I was not imagining my problems as many doctors kept suggesting. I was doing a linear search through all known fatigue treatments before hitting this one. I found out about it from what sounded like a crazy person posting on a YouTube video. I explicitly looked for crazy people posts because I figured if I found something that worked that would be what I would sound like. Doctors kept telling me I was perfectly healthy and were no help whatsoever. A lot of what you’re talking about would come under the category of dysautonomia which certainly plays a part but is not the only part. For many people treating dysautonomia may be sufficient to recover. It’s massively undiagnosed. Doctors in general are rather oblivious.
  - thenerdhead 5y ago
    What about a general anxiety disorder? This sounds similar to what I had. Lots of anxiety, doctors not able to say much but "you're healthy" and then when I worked on my anxiety, everything started to get better.
    - cjbgkagh 5y ago
      Generalized anxiety disorders can certainly cause dysautonomia and treating the anxiety can help treat dysautonomia. For many people this is sufficient to return to normal. For those of us less fortunate we need to keep pursuing additional options. I have a rather severe form of hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome so I need substantial meds to keep functioning.

thenerdhead 5y ago

Is the overworking leading to constant stress and that stress leading to ME/CFS which leads to a number of issues like trouble sleeping, physical/mental symptoms, and depression/anxiety? This seems to be significantly undiagnosed. How do you know? What treatment has significantly helped? Getting good sleep? Mindfulness? Walks? etc? I ask because I'm writing a book about this and want to learn more.

cjbgkagh 5y ago
Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) was the first treatment where there was a night and day improvement and from that point I knew I was not imagining my problems as many doctors kept suggesting. I was doing a linear search through all known fatigue treatments before hitting this one. I found out about it from what sounded like a crazy person posting on a YouTube video. I explicitly looked for crazy people posts because I figured if I found something that worked that would be what I would sound like. Doctors kept telling me I was perfectly healthy and were no help whatsoever. A lot of what you’re talking about would come under the category of dysautonomia which certainly plays a part but is not the only part. For many people treating dysautonomia may be sufficient to recover. It’s massively undiagnosed. Doctors in general are rather oblivious.
- thenerdhead 5y ago
  What about a general anxiety disorder? This sounds similar to what I had. Lots of anxiety, doctors not able to say much but "you're healthy" and then when I worked on my anxiety, everything started to get better.
  - cjbgkagh 5y ago
    Generalized anxiety disorders can certainly cause dysautonomia and treating the anxiety can help treat dysautonomia. For many people this is sufficient to return to normal. For those of us less fortunate we need to keep pursuing additional options. I have a rather severe form of hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome so I need substantial meds to keep functioning.