Cfs and diagnosis

Hi there, I am luck, I feel okay but it is bgetting me down seeing my husband being so tired all the time, he used to be a sportsman, played a lot of cricket and now can't do anything, its a pity we can't find a cure for everything but we just have to get on with life as best we can. Look after yourself.

Hi linda52539, first may I say you are brave !!! To admit you've all those things worrying you is a very bravething in its self !!!!! Now as far being diagnosed you are right to see a neurologist he can tell you who you might need to see but keep asking the question ( what's wrong with me ???) don't be put off make yourselfherd then you will get the answers !!! Don't worry take one step at a time when you get the right diagnoses.you will feel better in yourself ! Then acceptance is the next step ! What ever is wrong with you , the sooner you accept life is not turning out how you've planned ( that's hard to accept if your like me who lived my whole life planning to better myself ,achieveing my potential then being struck down with this unknown illness !!!! It's hard )

You will get there take your time but please know there is life with cfs you can enjoy life! A different one to the one you'd imagine but a happy one dispite this illness !!! Good luck x

I have had a lot of insomnia problems , I'm using a sleeptime spray , that is used on the pillow , and I gave up caffeine .

You mention feeling jittery , is there any chance you might be drinking coffee a lot? Or any so called special diet teas? Or herbal diet appetite suppressants as these contain usually a lot of caffeine or other stimulants , which would keep you awake .

Feeling jittery is often caffeine or stimulants .

Insomnia causes poor concentration and I think , though I'm not a doctor , that you have maybe stimulant or stress related insomnia.

Hi Linda, your bad side effects from most prescribed medicine is rather specific for CFS, so it's one criterion that speaks for a CFS diagnosis. I had the same problem while doctors were ignoring it, saying some people just are more sensitive than others. For the same reason I could not use antidepressants or sleep medication. Even tiny amounts of melatonin are problematic, though I sometimes take it.

You'd also need to have some other symptoms to be diagnosed. Joint pains/muscle pains are not necessarily there, but you may develop some later. Look for example for the Fukuda criteria for CFS to learn more about symtoms. There are plenty of descriptions on other sites as well.

Like Lansoprazole suggests, jitteriness does not seem to fit in the picture. I'm not even sure what you mean by it. But judging by your sensitivity to drugs, I wonder if you could be using any stimulants either...

My other symptoms were nearly constant low fever, sore throat, strong fatigue (which got worse after exercise, though it took months to realize this), gradual worsening of fatigue STARTING from a very bad case of flu, have developed mild joint pain later on. Already before getting ill I had very dry eyes. Yet symptoms vary a lot individually.

Thank you I am not sure what you mean about what I perceived to be bad side effects from medication- do

you mean that they could be a symptom of cfs ( or something else) and not medication side effects?

They happened immediately after I started taking strong acid suppressing medication for acid reflux but

I have seen other people on other websites whe say that they had si milar side effects from those drugs

which took sometime to go away. By jittery I mean that although exhausted I find it difficult to relax. I have

a sore throat from acid reflux ( checked by endoscopy ) so dont know where that fits in.

The thing is that I was pretty sure that it was depression but as I would like to be able to do things but feel

physically incapable not sure what it is and whether cfs seems more likely. Will see neurologist tomorrow

and ask him. Very confused.

Hi, I mean extreme sensitivity to medication (= bad adverse effects) are typical with CFS patients. For example, I get severe headache from acid blockers, even from just one pill. Or if I take normal amounts of sleeping pills, I'm knocked out on the next day - or even longer. So I didn't remember you wrote about acid supressing medication before.

But as I have read that many people get relief to CFS symptoms (and not only to reflux) with acid suppressors, and on this site that acid blockers seem to have started the illness, it sounds very similar to the effect of vaccination on CFS. In many cases e.g. flu vaccination relieves CFS symptoms for a while, but in some cases the illness has gotten worse - assumably because the dose has been too large for them, and they get an abnormal reaction. (Just like with the narcolepsia epidemic after flu vaccinations a few of years ago).

To me it seems your problem is not plain depression, because in depression people don't feel like doing anything, whereas people with CFS WANT to do things, but they cannot! I hope your neurologist can help you further.

And further, well-absorbing magnesium supplement should help you with jitteriness. Acid suppressors inhibit the absorbtion of most vitamins and minerals that you need, unfortunately. Best would be if you can keep reflux in control with diet.