Criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Brain and nerves
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Criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Severe disabling fatigue of at least a 6-month duration that:

Affects both physical and mental functioning

Is present for more than 50% of the time

Other symptoms, particularly myalgia and sleep and mood disturbances, may be present.

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Additional Symptoms:

Although the symptoms heretofore listed are the official diagnostic criteria, many patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome present a variety of other symptoms, including:

Pain (almost universal in chronic fatigue)

Allergies

Chemical sensitivities

Secondary infections, including Candida and viral infections

Cognitive impairment, including short-term memory loss, difficulty concentrating and doing word searches and math problems

Digestive disturbances, such as chronic constipation or diarrhea

Night sweats or spontaneous daytime sweats, unaccompanied by fever

Headaches, migraines

Weakness (paresis), muscle fatigue, and pain (fibromyalgia)

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Sleep disorders, including excessive sleep (hypersomnia), light sleep, or an inability to sleep for more than an hour (hyposomnia), disturbing nightmares

A period of 1-3 hours after awakening during which patients are too exhausted to get out of bed (dysania)

Cystitis (inflammation of the urinary bladder), particularly interstitial cystitis in which urine cultures are negative

Vision and eye problems, including sensitivity to light (photophobia), dry eyes, tunnel vision, night blindness, and difficulty focusing

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if i have most of these conditions should i consult a health professional, every time i go to the doctors they say its depression that makes me tired constantly!

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Hi Kim

It might be worth seeing another GP ..... there are still a number who refuse to believe CFS/ME is a real illness.

Good luck

4

Thanks for that Alicia .... it contained several things that I have not read anywhere else before :?

The downside is that I can tick EVERY single one of those sad

And I bet most others on this forum can too sad

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The only good thing is ...... I can now blame my non-existant understanding of maths on ME :lol:

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that allergies one is interesting - since having this ive also had itchy bumps and rashes all over my body. my doctor has just said it's eczma or allergies.

does anyone else get that?

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Hi Trees

Yes, two of the boys who haven't been on for a while suffer from this.

It's just another nice little irritation that ME can throw at us :roll:

Take care and do hope you have a better week.

The sun is SUPPOSED to shine today We shall see :roll:

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It doesn't mention the intolerance to alcohol which a lot of us have. When I went to the N.ME.C Dr Mitchell said to me that it is a common one.

I was astounded as it explained why I couldn't even take the communion wine at church without my legs feeling heavy and squiffy. I thought it was ridiculous, then I understood. :roll:

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yup, with you on the alcohol intolerance. loving that one :roll:

Trees x

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Agree with others on thread in having most of symptoms Alicia listed, which l,m sure gps would be cynical about, as they often are. Also the added alcahol intolerance.

l also get chronic nausea and loss of appetite, dont know if that comes in with digestive disturbances, probably would. My main condiiton being i.c., but all linked to immune problems, and many of immune triggers increasing 

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I had most of these symptoms and had ME for 26 years, first curing it with massive Vitamin C therapy to bowel tolerance—i.e. just enough to avoid diarrhoea. I took increasing amounts of Vit C every 2 hours while awake, working up to 30 grams every two hours. Very expensive and tedious, but it worked and I felt great. I may have reduced back too quickly, to taking ten grams over a whole day in only 2 or 3 lots because twelve years later it returned after my now ex-husband bashed me. This time, with a young child and depression, I couldn’t get properly organized to take it often enough.

 

I’ve always been interested in natural remedies and reading about the benefits of Turmeric in helping Alzheimers' patients, I thought to try it to help my deteriorating short term memory. I took a heaped teaspoonful with a pinch of black pepper which magnifies the effect 20 times. The SECOND DAY I did this, the chronic fatigue was gone. I’ve taken it every day since and given up most of the vitamin supplements I used to take. Ground Turmeric is available cheaply in bulk at the Asian foods section of large supermarkets. That’s the kind I used. You can also get expensive capsules from health food stores if you dislike the taste, or fresh root from green grocers which can be juiced.

 

The cheapest method worked for me. I had water handy, scooped up the Turmeric, added the black pepper, shoved it in my mouth and drank water, swirling it around until everything was swallowed. I did sometimes take too much and coughed or sneezed before swallowing, forcing some of the powder into my lungs. That was very painful and took much coughing to clear. I’m more careful now.

 

For dry eyes, take Evening Primrose Oil, 4 caps a day. Also cures dry mouth and painful lumpy arthritis in hand knuckles. For the later, take 12 to 20 caps per day, then 4 caps a day as maintenance, increasing the dosage for a while when the hands feel stiff, usually in Autumn and Spring. At thirty I had lumpy sore finger joints from wearing lots of gold rings. Gold is a heavy metal and poisonous. It is used in homeopathy to ease arthritis symptoms and by conventional medicine for rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus, but only for a limited time because of its toxicity. Now at over 60, my fingers are smooth, straight and pain-free and I wear lots of silver which is an analgesic. vera71307