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CFS at 23 years old?

Posted , 4 users are following.

dan38255
dan38255

Hi guys, so I know I’m reaching a little here by posting on this forum but it’d be good to get some input. 

For a few months now I’ve been having weird strange periods of extreme fatigue. For example, I’ll go to bed normal, and wake up unable to function. Everything seems fuzzy as if I’m really spaced out, and I’ve got an awful headache. The lethargy is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, it literally takes everything I have to climb the stairs. I get these hot flushes but my skin is clammy to touch. It usually subsides after a week or so, but then 3 weeks later or so it’ll be back. 

I’m currently on my 4th day of bout of it, and it’s really really getting me down, it’s stopping me from doing normal stuff. I’ve been to my GP so many times about it, and they just palm me off with “viral infection” or “stress” - I’ve had blood tests to rule out aenemia, ceoliacs, iron deficiency, b12 etc etc. 

I’ve got another appointment with my doctor tomorrow but honestly I’m not expecting anything to come from it. Does this sound like CFS? 

0 likes, 16 replies

16 Replies

  • dan38255
    dan38255

    Posted

    It’s also worth mentioning that I go to the gym every day - I’m saying this because of the “post exercise” thing. I don’t feel like this all the time 
  • antand23
    antand23 dan38255

    Posted

    Very much sounds like CFS.  Looking back I had periodic episodes (which I ignored) until I got to the point when I couldn’t. GP support/understanding is a lottery - mine was beyond useless (retired less than a year later).
  • AndyC77
    AndyC77 dan38255

    Posted

    It does sound like it but if you are doing the gym on a  regular basis and you have a potential health issue i would say give the gym a rest untill you know whats going on. Your doctor will do nothing untill you have had the symptoms for a solid 6 months. You are doing the right thing by seeing the doc regularly so keep going untill the 6 month period and see wht they say. This is what i would do if i where you but obviously i am not expert.
    • dan38255
      dan38255 AndyC77

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply. So I have to be fatigued for a solid 6 months? At the minute It lasts for a week or so then I can go 4 weeks without it happening, and that includes gym everyday. Surely it can’t be CFS? 
    • AndyC77
      AndyC77 dan38255

      Posted

      No, you need to be having the symptoms for 6 months before any medical proffesional will diagnose ME/CFS or fibromyalgia. As far as i am aware this is the norm where i am ( UK ). If you do have it and your are still going to the gym you will most certainly make yourself a lot worse. If you are going 4 weeks without symptoms it does not sound like you have it. i hope i havent confused you at all.
  • philsey
    philsey dan38255

    Posted

    Dan

    It sounds like you are having the typical symptom of CFS which is delayed response to over-exertion. To say it can't be CFS because your symptoms are random is not an answer... having CFS is like a new mobile phone. Its battery is good so it doesn't need daily charging. In fact its charging needs are relatively random for the first few months. Then you get to the point when it predictably needs daily charging, or twice daily. But that battery is gradually losing functionality all the time, even during the initial stage when its new and its charging needs are not predictable. Similarly, if you have a fatigue illness, your body has acquired a limited battery situation; it is losing functionality all the time. At apparently random times it hits you with a bad day, and so you take a rest to re-charge. But f you continue without adapting your lifestyle you will find that the bad days get closer together, and then start to become predictable, and eventually you will have run yourself right down. Believe me its way harder to recover from that stage.

    Do something now.  Find a level where you don't have any bad days at all and stick there. I agree with the other respondent the gym is a bad idea. Its putting an immense strain on your body, and it will hasten your decline. Cutting out the gym may be all you need to do. Trust me, an exponential decline is awful and will tear your life, relationships, work and pleasure to shreds. But take heart. From everything you say it is very early days and you have it only very mildly. Act now and you may save yourself from the severity that some of us have had to battle for 10 or 20 years.

    • AndyC77
      AndyC77 philsey

      Posted

      I agree, take note, never over do it. If you miss a few weeks of gym and you find out you dont have the illness all you lose is a bit of money. When we moved my furniture back to my parents last year i over did it because i didnt want my dad and 70 year old uncle doing all the work. That left me in bed for 2 weeks, i got up for an hour or 2 to get food and that but i would be back in bed shortly after. Two weeks like that left me almost suicidle, trust me you do not want to over do it.
    • dan38255
      dan38255 AndyC77

      Posted

      Hi guys, thanks so much for your replies it’s helped.

      I am a suffer of anxiety and depression, so I’m struggling to differentiate between that and the CFS. This seems to happen when I have a big stress, such as an argument or something, my doctor is literally useless and I’m at my wits end with trying to get help 

    • AndyC77
      AndyC77 dan38255

      Posted

      I get depression and anxiety also, although the anxiety is a symptom of my ME, loud noises make me anxious. A lot of doctors will be an obstical rather than helpfull as there is no way of testing for ME and as they are people of science they tend not to believe what they cant see. Thats how i see it anyway. I had one doctor complain to me about "being like a social worker" because of the sick notes she was giving me. If your doctor doesnt give you the help you need then change doctors straight away otherwise you will be waisting your time. I hope you get to the bottom of it and it is something that will pass.

    • philsey
      philsey dan38255

      Posted

      Well maybe you are suffering from anxiety and depression. BUT, anxiety and depression are also symptoms of M.E.. Fatigue illness muck up your adrenals, and they over-respond. I am on antidepressants and other medications for this,

      Here is a test to see if you have M.E./CFS or depression/anxiety: 

      What happens if you laugh too much, or talk too long with your friends? If you find laughter AS WELL AS sorrow, jokes as well as tears, exhausts you and makes you shaky, then you probably have a fatigue illness. CFS doesn't distinguish between exertion from happiness or exertion from sorrow. They both cause adrenalin and agitation. 

  • dan38255
    dan38255

    Posted

    I honestly just don’t know. Anxiety and depression has been a part of my life for a long time, before this weird fatigue thing started. Anxiety has done some pretty crazy things to my health and I have a strong suspicion/hope that it is this. I go to the gym every day, and I’m not like this all the time. Is there any alternatives it could be that I. Could suggest to my doctor? 
  • antand23
    antand23 dan38255

    Posted

    In my experience depression brings with it a lethargy and lack of desire to do anything - even the things you once enjoyed. With CFS you still have that desire, but the body often doesn’t play ball due to the undue fatigue. Other than the fatigue CFS symptoms do vary somewhat between different people, but there are common symptoms - sore throat, aversion to light and/or noise, sinusitis, muscle soreness etc..
    • dan38255
      dan38255 antand23

      Posted

      I don’t have any of the symptoms you mentioned at the end ;/ 
    • antand23
      antand23 dan38255

      Posted

      Neither did I initially. But I ignored the fatigue (which was periodical)  pushed myself too hard - mainly in terms of work, but also over- exercising.  I think the fact that you are getting fatigue/low energy in phases may well be a warning  sign  to ease up a bit.
    • AndyC77
      AndyC77 antand23

      Posted

      Yeah same here, my first symptom was that i slept a lot and that really was it but over the years the symptoms have built up.
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