5 ms·

I am hoping someone can help here because it has been affecting my life every day. I have been extremely fatigued for the past 2.5 years and I've lost so many t

I am hoping someone can help here because it has been affecting my life every day. I have been extremely fatigued for the past 2.5 years and I've lost so many things due to it. I sleep the majority of every day away. How do I know if this is CFS? I guess what I'm asking is, where do I start to cross out other possible causes? Considering so many things can cause fatigue. Thank you

cpncrunch 11y ago
Go to your doctor and he/she should be able to run tests to rule other illnesses out. If it is CFS, there are many things you can do to improve your situation, and perhaps recover.
- snowpanda 11y ago
  Thank you!
lugg 11y ago
I'm not going to downplay how bad it is for you, I was in a similar situation to you a few years ago. I'm relatively sure it was simply a bit of depression for me, regular exercise and improving my diet basically cleared it all up. Definately go see your doctor. Nobody on the internet can really help.
- snowpanda 11y ago
  Thank you!
Erik816 11y ago
I have lived with CFS for about six years now. Step one is to see your primary care doctor and rule out all the things they can test you for. That will take a while. I remember hoping I would have MS because then that would at least explain things. :) Step two, if you have CFS, is to come up with a plan to manage your energy levels and think about how you are going to live your life. For me, not overdoing it is key. You cannot recover like a healthy person, and often each crash makes your baseline even lower. Step three, think about how you want to try to treat the underlying issue. Since it's not clear what the underlying issue is, there's a lot of paths here. I was conservative and didn't try a lot of experimental things. I worked with Doctor Jose Montoya at Stanford (http://med.stanford.edu/chronicfatiguesyndrome.html http://med.stanford.edu/chronicfatiguesyndrome.html) who is an amazing doctor. He's highly recommended if you can make it to Palo Alto. My health has slowly improved over the years and is much better now than it was say 3 years ago. Best of luck!
- j-pb 11y ago
  Trust me you don't want MS. The only case where that's the "better thing",is when you have to pick between MS and a brain turmor. (Lymphoma can look surprisingly similar in MRI.)
- snowpanda 11y ago
  Thank you so much for your help!
superuser2 11y ago
There are some common-ish ones (thyroid problems, iron deficiency, etc.) that can really only be evaluated by a doctor. Seeing a professional is highly recommended.
- snowpanda 11y ago
  Thank you!
rfugger 11y ago
Go see a good doctor that will be thorough in checking all other probably causes of fatigue. You should probably end up seeing a few specialists as well. The major symptom of CFS is post-exertional malaise, meaning you feel worse after sufficient exertion. While you wait through what may be many months of medical testing before everything is ruled out, you might try an experiment. Exercise usually helps depression, but usually worsens CFS. Try a bit of gentle exercise, and work your way up gradually over time until you can sustain some intensity. If that improves your fatigue, that's good news, it could be depression, and keep up the exercise. If you feel worse, more depressed, confused, fatigued, with trouble concentrating, that could be post-exertional malaise. Try taking it extremely easy for a few months (maybe many months). Don't do anything that feels like you're pushing yourself. If you start to feel better, if your fatigue and mood start to lift, and you are able to concentrate better, then it could be CFS, and keep up the gentle pacing. Also, if your fatigue came on after a relatively severe viral infection, that would point to CFS as well.
- snowpanda 11y ago
  Wow I don't even know how to thank you for this, this is so extremely helpful. Thank you so much!
tranquilzen 11y ago
Join our small CFS group on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/ http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/ You will get good help and tips there. You can also explore the FAQ for some help: http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/wiki/index http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/wiki/index
- snowpanda 11y ago
  Thank you!

cpncrunch 11y ago

Go to your doctor and he/she should be able to run tests to rule other illnesses out. If it is CFS, there are many things you can do to improve your situation, and perhaps recover.

snowpanda 11y ago
Thank you!

lugg 11y ago

I'm not going to downplay how bad it is for you, I was in a similar situation to you a few years ago. I'm relatively sure it was simply a bit of depression for me, regular exercise and improving my diet basically cleared it all up. Definately go see your doctor. Nobody on the internet can really help.

snowpanda 11y ago
Thank you!

Erik816 11y ago

I have lived with CFS for about six years now. Step one is to see your primary care doctor and rule out all the things they can test you for. That will take a while. I remember hoping I would have MS because then that would at least explain things. :) Step two, if you have CFS, is to come up with a plan to manage your energy levels and think about how you are going to live your life. For me, not overdoing it is key. You cannot recover like a healthy person, and often each crash makes your baseline even lower. Step three, think about how you want to try to treat the underlying issue. Since it's not clear what the underlying issue is, there's a lot of paths here. I was conservative and didn't try a lot of experimental things. I worked with Doctor Jose Montoya at Stanford (http://med.stanford.edu/chronicfatiguesyndrome.html http://med.stanford.edu/chronicfatiguesyndrome.html) who is an amazing doctor. He's highly recommended if you can make it to Palo Alto. My health has slowly improved over the years and is much better now than it was say 3 years ago. Best of luck!

j-pb 11y ago
Trust me you don't want MS. The only case where that's the "better thing",is when you have to pick between MS and a brain turmor. (Lymphoma can look surprisingly similar in MRI.)
snowpanda 11y ago
Thank you so much for your help!

superuser2 11y ago

There are some common-ish ones (thyroid problems, iron deficiency, etc.) that can really only be evaluated by a doctor. Seeing a professional is highly recommended.

snowpanda 11y ago
Thank you!

rfugger 11y ago

Go see a good doctor that will be thorough in checking all other probably causes of fatigue. You should probably end up seeing a few specialists as well. The major symptom of CFS is post-exertional malaise, meaning you feel worse after sufficient exertion. While you wait through what may be many months of medical testing before everything is ruled out, you might try an experiment. Exercise usually helps depression, but usually worsens CFS. Try a bit of gentle exercise, and work your way up gradually over time until you can sustain some intensity. If that improves your fatigue, that's good news, it could be depression, and keep up the exercise. If you feel worse, more depressed, confused, fatigued, with trouble concentrating, that could be post-exertional malaise. Try taking it extremely easy for a few months (maybe many months). Don't do anything that feels like you're pushing yourself. If you start to feel better, if your fatigue and mood start to lift, and you are able to concentrate better, then it could be CFS, and keep up the gentle pacing. Also, if your fatigue came on after a relatively severe viral infection, that would point to CFS as well.

snowpanda 11y ago
Wow I don't even know how to thank you for this, this is so extremely helpful. Thank you so much!

tranquilzen 11y ago

Join our small CFS group on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/ http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/ You will get good help and tips there. You can also explore the FAQ for some help: http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/wiki/index http://www.reddit.com/r/cfs/wiki/index

snowpanda 11y ago
Thank you!