Mild CFS/ME?

Brain and nerves
1

Hi all. Newbie to the site, looking for some advice.

So I've had a period of roughly 6 months of general ill health. Had the flu jab in October 17 (may well have nothing to do with my symptoms) and ever since have struggled with episodes of flu symptoms, fatigue, nausea and headache. The symptoms seem to follow a cycle and seem to be directly linked to exercise, which I have only recently discovered. I have played football twice a week ever since I first noticed the symptoms, even at times where I haven't felt my best and have noticed that after a game, the following day I generally feel fine, however, the day after that I feel quite fatigued and run down. This is then followed by flu symptoms, headache and nausea the following day and sometimes into the next. The day after that, everything seems to return to normal and I feel fine. I only discovered that the symptoms completely disappeared after I was unable to play football for two weeks, due to work commitments. These then returned and followed the same cycle as before, when I played football again last week.

The strange thing is, the fatigue symptoms is really only present two days after exercise and isn't really there when the flu/headache symptoms appear. I don't feel fatigue during my regular day and I don't feel any real impact on my stamina. It's just that one day 48 hours after exercising that the fatigue seems to appear.

I'm well aware that cfs can be a devastating condition and that many struggle to even perform basic tasks during the day, however, the fatigue so far has probably been the least problematic symptom I have experienced. It's more the flu symptoms than follow that are the problem.

I've been to numerous doctors and have had numerous blood tests and an MRI done, all of which were normal. One doctor had suggested post viral fatigue syndrome but that's as close as I've gotten to a diagnosis.

Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

2

What you describe does sound like Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), which is a key symptom of ME/CFS. This can come a couple of days after the exertion. It might be a good idea to give up the football for a while until this symptom abates. If you do have mild ME/CFS, and push beyond your boundaries and crash, you may be lessening your chances for a full recovery, and you could even make yourself worse. The good news is, you're well within the time frame where you can get totally better again.

 

3

 Do you have a known virus, I’ve been dealing with fatigue recently and A tested positive for Epstein-Barr virus, and am awaiting results of HSV-1 and HSV-2 tests after a recent sexual encounter .

4

Wow! Finally someone else who may have gotten it from a flu shot!! So shocked there arent many more! Same here, had cycles of the flu on and off for 6 months after shot. Then after pushing myself thru Europe backpacking adventure that was already planned far back, i crashed and was very sick, bedridden for week or two. Never got better 27 years later! But i never took antivirals or other new meds back then. So like jackie says , you have hope! Try all thats out there - diets , herbs, supplements but don't push yourself. Rest alot. Good luck!