Symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome
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I have been struggling with exhaustion for over a year. It started with pain in my jaw and face. I broke out with a herpes blister which turned into a secondary infection. I treated it with Valtrex but every time my face would start hurting the blister would return. The symptoms associated with the outbreak were sore glands in neck, arm pits and groin with low grade fever and flu like symptoms. After a few months it all went away. A new symptom emerged and it was awful. I developed intolerance to diary products and shortly after I developed chronic diarrhea with colon spasms. I would have severe bouts of this tree or four times a week and when they occurred I would visit the toilet 30 plus times and the majority of the time i would pass nothing. It was like dry heaves on the reverse end. Then after a year it just disappeared. During this time the fatigue was progressively getting worse. The came neurological symptoms of being off balance, walking into things, extremely tired and a new excruciating headache showed up. Went to a neurologist who did 2 MRI's one of head and one of neck. I told him about the weird head pressure and my balance issues but both MRI's were clear. He ordered blood work for Lyme disease, heavy metals, celiac diseas, thyroid, cancer you name it. The final diagnosis was B12 deficiency. My doctor started b12 shots bi-weekly and the first two shots brought relief for the biting and tingling in feet and hands and my balance issues have almost completely disappeared. Doctor redid blood test and b12 at 1270. So during the next three months things have become worse and not better. My fatigue became so sever that I had to drop out of my masters program. Whenever I started doing my work the mental fatigue seems to create extreme physical exhaustion and headaches. I would forget what I just read and would get very stressed because my mind wasn't working the way I knew it should. It would take days to recover physically from doing my course work. I quit my job for 30 days in hope that maybe I was just doing too much but after 30 days of just taking it easy and spending the majority of time in bed I just felt like my body was just not recovering from what I did the day before. I returned to work and do my best to get through the day. It is difficult and concerning. I take several breaks a day and my lunch break consists of me lying down in the back of my SUV. If I stand too long in one place the physical fatigue starts and is overwhelming. One day I thought I just need to push through it. It was the worst mistake I ever made. I thought a shower would help alleviate the symptoms but when I got in the shower things got much worse. I tried to lift my arms up to wash my hair but it felt as though my muscles have been completely exerted like I had lifted weights all day. Then my whole body began to feel the overwhelming exhaustion. I crawled out of the tub and laid down on the floor because I just did not have the energy to move one inch. I was terrified my mind a little foggy but I thought to myself my body is dying, literally dying. I didn't have trouble breathing but I knew with every breath I took It was demanding more energy than I had in me. I felt as though from my neck down that my body was wrapped up tightly in a wet sheet and I couldn't budge. Since this experience scared the daylights out of me I knew it was time to take it easy. My doctor ordered or bloodworm T3 and T4 , cortisol and MGravis disease. Everything came back normal so my doctor referred me to a rheumatologist but they cannot see me for 6 months. I am very concerned that I will not be able to hold down my job for much longer. Every day is a struggle and my employer is getting upset that I am continuously taking breaks and cannot keep up with my work load. My question to this board is could this be chronic fatigue syndrome? My doctor just told me she doesn't know what is wrong and maybe we will never know. Please I need help with this issue. It isn't that I don't take pleasure in things it is just that the exhaustion prevents me from doing even the basic things in life
3 likes, 43 replies
magen0820 heidi86995
Posted
I have been experiencing the same thing for several years but it has gotten a lot worse over the past 2-3 years. I have been to several doctors and specialists without any positive results. My primary physician says she believes I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, which tend to run hand in hand. I don't know if this helps any. I know how hard it is to go through all this and how much worse it is when a doctor or several can't tell you what's wrong. I've even had doctors imply that it's just anxiety and in my head..... Don't ever accept that or listen to them because it is very real.
rihanna52936 heidi86995
Posted
LyLy heidi86995
Posted
Hi heidi,
Just wondering how you are doing? Has any of your symptoms imoroved and have you gotten a diagnose from a doctor yet?
I am going through the same thing with same symptoms. Trying to rule out everything, as mg doctors thinks I have cfs and some fibromyalgia.
I too have weird head pressure and pain right in back of the neck. The fatigue and exhaustion is the worst. Brain fog, lack of concentration, body pains, numbness and heaviness in hands and legs.
My rhuematologist says there's no cure and not much he can do. Which is very discouraging. He says his patients are suffering from cfs 5 years or more.
I've been supplementing with magnesuim, b12, vitamin c, and dessicated liver capsule. There is some improvement so far as I've only been on this regiment only a month. It's been a year of feeling unwell and I do agree with pacing and rest is so important.
I just can't imagine living like this forever like a life sentence.