Top Ten Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a designer disease. It etches a unique signature into each of its sufferers. My worst symptoms are different from someone else's. But certain things remain a common experience. The following symptoms seem universal.
1. Cognition Problems
There are days spent as a CFS vegetable, and times when everything in our heads is tumbling like clothes in a dryer. Thoughts dissolve before they're fully formed, thinking is disjointed, short-term memory evaporates. We may experience difficulty in talking, and understanding speech. We may have problems with dyscalculia (dyslexia with numbers).
2. Unrefreshed Sleep
Some have insomnia, others can't stay awake. Sleeping hours may be erratic, whether short or long. Night - day, sleep - wake, may be reversed. Whatever the CFS sleep dysregulation, many of us never wake refreshed.
3. Muscle and Joint Pain
Pain can be pervasive. Joints and muscles become stiff and sore, and sometimes stop working at all, seemingly for no reason. These symptoms can take weeks or months to ease -- or move right in and never go away.
4. Vertigo
Vertigo comes in many forms. Dizziness, mental disorientation, tinnitis, vision fractured and blurred, I have seen the world through all these prisms. I've seen floors rise up, and walls undulate inwards and outwards. Some people with CFS are bumping into things, falling down, unable to move, overcome with nausea and vomiting. The cause of these symptoms is uncertain, cure -- you guessed it -- unknown.
5. Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM)
PEM really makes life with CFS unpredictable. Will I be bed-ridden tomorrow because I spent an hour doing paperwork today? Will I awaken in pain because I went for a walk? I can go to the store tomorrow if I don't do anything now. That's because two days in a row of "extra" activity can cost six weeks recovery-time.
6. Increased Sensitivity to Sight and Sound
A ticking clock, flashing lights on a jazzy website, the busyness of a TV screen. People talking in another room. Any of this -- and more -- can send CFS sufferers to their room with neurological symptoms swirling.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
Add a Comment5 Comments
Goodness, that’s scary! Was wondering about the insomnia bit though. Isn’t insomnia a reason behind CFS? Or is it the other way around?
September 4, 2009 - 5:27amFrom personal experience, I have found that the best way to deal with CFS is to get medical help as soon as possible!
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This Comment
Hi
Insomnia is not a cause of CFS, it can be a symptom of it.
You referred to personal experience. Do you have CFS or know someone who does?
September 4, 2009 - 2:50pmI don't think it's necessarily that CFS is different for everyone, but rather the current thinking is that CFS is a heterogeneous disorder which is comprised of subsets, and each of these subsets is a distinct clinical entity which merely presents similarly. So people who belong to different subsets might not have all the same symptoms, but people who are of the same subset most likely would.
For instance, my illness had a gradual onset with no sore throat, no swollen lymph nodes and a progressive disease course, so this would most likely be different than someone who had a sudden 'flu-like' onset, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat and stable, though poor, illness course.
September 4, 2009 - 11:14amHi
I have heard that theory and it appears to have merit. It certainly makes it easier to deal with the variety of symptoms.
September 4, 2009 - 2:54pmMan, so true, i just want to hit the computer screen reading it! Give me a tumor anyday, at least id know what the heck was wrong with me.
October 21, 2009 - 4:05pm