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any advice?

Posted , 7 users are following.

marymoo
marymoo

hi all,

i'm a 28 year old female and wondered if you could help me and possibly give me some advice.

over the last couple of months i've noticed myself becoming more and more exhausted. i didn't know the meaning of exhausted until recently; not just wanting to go to sleep, but feeling i really NEED to go to sleep. i'm a nurse and work shifts so didn't think anything of it at first, thinking i must've had some tiring shifts lately.

however, the exhaustion got worse and i also kept feeling faint, so went to my doctors for a blood test, expecting to be told i was anaemic. the blood tests (all the usual ones) showed nothing. i've also found myself losing concentration and getting more snappy with people- i'm normally very laid back. my poor boyfriend has had to put up with alot lately- either me snapping at him or falling asleep on him!

after the blood tests came back negative, i predictably logged on and typed my symptoms into google- not always advisable i know! anyhow, thats how i ended up on this forum, just out of interest. looking at symptoms lists and agreeing with several, the one i found interesting was alcohol intolerance. i can never manage more than one drink, my friends laugh when i say i'm tipsy after a sip of wine! a couple of years ago, when i did used to venture out into the world of nightclubs (lol) if i had 3 or 4 drinks, the next day i would literally not be able to get out of bed, and just vomit continously all day. it kind of put me off drinking!

last week my tiredness was really bad, i was in tears of frustration for feeling so tired. this week i feel less tired, although i've just tried to do some studying for a course i'm doing and after about twenty minutes, felt exhausted again.

can anyone tell me how their CFS symptoms first started? or do these symptoms relate to anything else that i can ask my GP about? i'd be very grateful for any feedback. thanks x

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • alicia
    alicia

    Posted

    Marymoo, hello, glad you found us.

    You didn't say if you have been unwell recently, a virus or infection of some sort can usually trigger a post viral fatigue.

    Also has your doctor checked your thyroid function? This would be my first thought as that can cause awful fatigue if it is low.

  • Dale
    Dale

    Posted

    Hi Marymoo

    Have you read through the posts, you are one of a few nurses on here!

    Including me, although I no longer practice.

    My ME began with flu 12 months ago and the symptoms never went. Sore throat, sniffles, sooo tired, poor concentration. Same as you, I went to the GP and all my test results were negative. I was finally diagnosed this April when nothing else was forthcoming. Apparently I was lucky cos I got a quick diagnosid and was able to start pacing myself, which is the only thing you can do to help. Don't fight it cos the ME will win!

    I also Googled ME and wound up here. Best thing I could have done! There is a lot of support and someone always seems to have an answer to your question, no matter how random it may seem. They are a great lot

    Dale xxx

  • katie.k.
    katie.k.

    Posted

    Hi there Marymoo :D

    We were only saying the other day how we hadn't heard anything from a newby recently, and hoped we weren't putting them off with our slightly bawdy behaviour :oops:

    My ME started two and a half years ago with throat and sinus infection - just like Dale's which hung around for months. I was finally diagnosed with CFS/ME and fibromyalgia after six months of feeling horrendous :yuk:

    With my brand new laptop my very first google found me PUK ...... and it has literally stopped me from going insane. As the others have said, we all support one another and have a lot of fun in the process. We invariably start a serious thread and in no time at all, hey presto, it's gone way off topic as you have probably seen if you have looked through some of our old postings :lol:

    But of course, as a Mod myself I am the serious, sensible, intellectual one who keeps everyone well under control :angel:

    You obviously have not yet been officially diagnosed and may not (hopefully for you) be suffering from this illness at all ..... but rest and pacing is the order of the day, as the others have mentioned if you do discover that it is sad

    Take care and feel free to join us when you can :D

  • katie.k.
    katie.k.

    Posted

    PS ... As you can see from my avatar, I was a nurse in the olden days! Not a very flattering pic. of me, I know - bad hair day :lol:
  • LouLou
    LouLou

    Posted

    Hi and welcome. I had a funny dizzy turn, went for a lie down put felt worse, rang to gp and went down, he transfered me to the hospital with a suspition of me having a stroke, due to my slurred speech, dizziness. Had varies tests and they all came negative. After 3 weeks tried to go back to work and survived about 2 weeks before being off again. Before this happened I felt tired most of the time.
  • cats_eyes
    cats_eyes

    Posted

    Hello marymoo, my M E started after I had had a brain abscess, which made me have a stroke, had to have an operation, never really recovered from it had problems, and was recently diagnosed with M E, could not get up in the mornings, stayed in bed because I was so weak, felt like I had really bad flu all the time, its good you found this forum as they are a really good bunch and give loads of really good advice :lol: take care :cat:
  • Trees-r-green
    Trees-r-green

    Posted

    hi marymoo

    first thing you need to do is get your doctor to give you blood tests for everything. my friend had exactly the same symptoms as me, and her diagnosis was thyroid trouble.

    so get the blood tests done first. if they come back clear, try and get signed off work for a bit. my doctor has been very helpful, but she initially told me it could just be a virus and to rest. either way, this is very helpful - if it is a bad virus you need to rest anyway, and if its CFS you need to rest full stop! also, if it is CFS resting in the early stages is one of the best things you can do.

    i was diagnosed when i was still poorly 5-6 months later. i had a lot of the symptoms you mentioned, and actually one of the first things i noticed was alcohol intolerance and extreme coldness. and of course the utter exhaustion sad

    its really good that you found this forum - there's a lot of knowledge here and a lot of nurses! it helped me tremendously when i became sick and everyone is really helpful and lovely.

    i do hope you dont have it

    Trees x

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