1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Am I just making a fuss over nothing?

Posted , 12 users are following.

Cae
Cae

Hi,

I recently found out about CFS after Googling my symptoms. I saw my GP about my persistent feelings of fatigue a few months ago, and they had me have a blood test, which didn't show anything abnormal. I still felt there was something wrong, but my parents insisted it was just all in my head and I just needed to do more exercise. Recently though, it's been getting harder to ignore how I feel - constant headaches, earaches; some days during the holidays when I didn't have to be anywhere I would spend most of the day in bed and feel really down.

So I decided to go back to the GP today, who basically told me to do some more exercise and if I didn't feel any better after three or four weeks then they would do another blood test. My mother told me today that she knows someone with CFS, and someone who used to have it, and they couldn't walk for 5 minutes without a rest and had to plan their whole day when they woke up because otherwise they would forget what to do, so she insists I can't possibly have CFS.

So now I feel like perhaps I really just am unfit, and wondering if if I went back to the GP after doing the three weeks of more exercise, if I would just be told again that it was "nothing"? Should I pursue this further? I don't want to self-diagonse, but I can't help feel that there's more to this than just me being really lazy and unfit.

I remember when we had to do two laps around a field in school; I know I shouldn't compare myself to others, but my friend walked the majority of it, and she still beat me. I got the worst time in my whole year group. Another time, we were in groups of 5 and had to take it in turns to run first one, then two, then three, then four, then five laps around the hall. By the fourth and fifth lap, I came VERY close to telling the teacher I just couldn't do any more, because my legs felt like lead and I was dizzy and I just wanted to lie down.

Sorry that this was so long; I just had to get this off my chest. Apologies if I rambled. I just feel so awful.

1 like, 30 replies

30 Replies

Prev
  • olivetree
    olivetree Cae

    Posted

    Hi Cae.

    Sorry to hear you are feeling so awful right now. Just to reitterate about over-doing the excerise - If you do have ME it will almost definately make your symptoms worse. Absolutely don't push yourself too hard with anything. Most of us have faced a battle when trying to find a diagnosis and this can be a lengthy and frustrating process to eliminate all other possible causes besides family resistance and unhelpful, however meaningful, advice.

    There are different degrees of the illness and some poor people really do have it as bad as your mum describes whilst others are still able to manage some  'normal' activities; college, work, even (careful) exercise - although not the same 'normal' as the non-afflicted feel. We still feel awful and often srtuggle to do it. But struggle too hard or for too long and SMACK. Another set-back.

    When my children were young they caught chickenpox. One of them had a good covering of spots all over whilst the other had very few spots. They BOTH had chicken pox.

    good luck with your appointment I hope you get a breakthrough with your diagnosis soon.

    • Cae
      Cae olivetree

      Posted

      Hi olive tree,

      Thanks, I'll take it easy and not push myself with tons of exercise like my GP suggested; maybe I've dodged a bullet here thanks to you guys. I'll be booking another appointment in 3 weeks with my GP (I'll try to book it with a different person; maybe they aren't all so clueless) and just tell them exercise isn't helping and I'd like the possibility of CFS looked into.

      Thanks for all your support.

  • georgeGG
    georgeGG Cae

    Posted

    I ask you! How can doctors think that hundreds of thousands just fancy themselves ill in the same way. They have no idea how cruel they are. 

    Their incredulity is a symptom that the doctors do not have a simple (magic) test. This cruelty has been going on for decades. It is an utter disgrace to the profession of physician.

    • Cae
      Cae georgeGG

      Posted

      Yeah, I agree they shouldn't be so dismissive so easily and should explore every possible option. I'd imagine it's difficult to remember all the different symptoms of all the different ailments people face though, and CFS isn't very well known; hopefully there are lots of very knowledgeable and helpful doctors too!
    • georgeGG
      georgeGG Cae

      Posted

      hi Cae, please browse the discussions. A great deal of progress towards a diagnosis has to be patiently driven by the patient. Some doctors do stand out from their fellows.
  • IngeniumSingula
    IngeniumSingula Cae

    Posted

    Hi Cae,

    Please don't do any more exercise if anything rest more than you think you need to and see if you start to feel any better.  In general someone who is less active for whatever reason will feel better if they move about or do something that increases their depth of breathing and circulation.  This is not the case with cfs, and even health professionals get this wrong.  I found a booklet yesterday that my local hospital has produced for a group of people 'like us' and the advice was just wrong!  It talked about the effects of deconditioning but most cfs sufferers are doing too much and trying to do more and if a virus caused the onset, they didn't have time to become deconditioned due to inactivity.  I've not met one that was trying to under achieve!  Too much exercise will make your muscles ache whilst moving or at rest and the ache will be disproportionate to the exercise or activity.  Also, with cfs you are unlikely to lose muscle bulk even with less activity which is the opposite of decondioning, depression, anaemia or any of the other things tested for before cfs is diagnosed.  Hope that helps.  

    • bronwyn97278
      bronwyn97278 IngeniumSingula

      Posted

      Yes;  this was always something that I thought would happen to me...the Deconditioning of the Muscles, due to my decreased physical exercise.  However, if you look at my muscles, they are still there....even though weaker, and unable to do what I used to be able to do...and that is another reason why people don't see what we are trying to tell them, as we look Normal....but I have found more Younger Professionals seem to know more re CFS & Fibro now...keep up the blogging, and we all learn a little more (should say, more is confirmed), and we don't think we are "imagining" our symptoms.....Bron
    • Cae
      Cae IngeniumSingula

      Posted

      Hi,

      Thanks for the information; that's really helpful. I'm learning a lot just through this discussion.

    • olivetree
      olivetree bronwyn97278

      Posted

      Bronwyn I think that is right about younger professionals. It was a younger doctor that finally listened to me.
  • shesa2
    shesa2 Cae

    Posted

    I didn't if you mentioned your weight or not? Are you relatively fit? If so, i would find new gp that actually listens to you and will at least run more tests. With this gp The worse case scenerio is there is problem that can worsen out of blue, and you end up in icu. Not a chance i want to take.
    • Cae
      Cae shesa2

      Posted

      Hi,

      I'm around 58kg/128lbs, so not overweight or anything. I'm not sure how I can tell if I'm fit or not though.

      I didn't know it could get worse suddenly; thanks for the heads up. Hopefully I'll be able to see someone who will take me seriously ASAP.

  • Sassylass
    Sassylass Cae

    Posted

    Hi Cae,

    You've gotten lots of response and great advice here from people who,like myself, wish someone had listened to them in the beginning too. So no, you are not making a fuss over nothing! Even if it turns out that you dont have CFS, and I hope that is the case, you are right to listen to your body and to question why you feel the way you do.

    Because this illness is tough to diagnose, youwill

  • Sassylass
    Sassylass Cae

    Posted

    So Cae,

    As I was trying to say before my phone sent half my message to who knows where, even if it turns out that you don't have CFS, (and I hope that is the case), you are still right to listen to your body and to question why you feel the way you do until you get answers that make sense to you.

    As someone who has lived with this for many years, I would like to give you a few things that you can easily do for yourself.

    Continue to go to your student health services as you are already doing to take care of your mental health. Very important

    When you go back to yout GP, ask to havr your Vitamin D level checked. This level, if low, can have a big effect on you, and could be the answer to your problems.

    Try to get outside every day and walk just a little bit. Not far, and not really for exercise, but just to stretch a little and be glad you're alive, even if you don't feel that great right now.

    Drink lots of good water

    Keep asking questions until you get answers and get better.

    I live in the USA, in the state of Colorado, and I joined this group just so I could give you a little encouragement. I hope you soon feel well and have answers.

  • Sassylass
    Sassylass Cae

    Posted

    Cae,

    How are things going for you? Have you begun to feel better or gotten any answers as to why you felt so awful?

Back to top
Prev

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.