Symptoms of ME/CFS
Myalgic encephaloypathy and
chronic fatigue syndrome

Fatigue
Exhaustion
Tiredness

- Myalgic Encephalopathy/Encephalomyelitis. (ME/CFS) can cause a wide range of rather strange and baffling symptoms. The primary and most distinct one is extreme and debilitating exhaustion.

- People with ME/CFS experience profound, overwhelming exhaustion, both mental and physical, which is worsened by exertion, and is not relieved (or not completely relieved) by rest. This kind of tiredness is usually made worse with exercise. This fatigue is often so severe that activities such as taking a shower, brushing your teeth or even just talking to somebody may be too strenuous and exhausting.

- It has been said that "everyday 'normal' fatigue compared to chronic fatigue syndrome / myalgic encephalomyelitis-fatigue is like a match compared to an atomic bomb!"

- According to the Fukuda-definition*, the fatigue state must last for at least six months or more to receive a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Cognitive problems
Short-term memory loss
Brainfog
Aphasia (Aphemia)
Agnosia

- Sufferers of ME/CFS often experience considerable loss of short-term memory, mental confusion, forgetfulness, difficulty thinking, concentration problems and mental fatigue, mental confusion or brain fog.

- Sufferers regularly report sensory overload, leading to increased fatigue and even migraine or seizures.

- Additional signs may be experienced according to the 2003 Canadian Definition. These include aphasia, agnosia, and loss of cognitive body map:

Aphasia:
Aphasia (or aphemia) is a loss or impairment of the ability to produce and/or comprehend language, due to brain damage. It is not a result of deafness or muscle paralysis.
Aphasia, Aphemia (Wikipedia)

Agnosia:
Agnosia (a-gnosis, "non-knowledge", or loss of knowledge) is a loss of ability to recognize objects, persons, sounds, shapes or smells while the specific sense is not defective nor is there any significant memory loss. It is usually associated with brain injury or neurological illness, particularly after damage to the temporal lobe.

Agnosia (Wikipedia)

Pain
Fibromyalgia (FMS)
Muscle soreness
Joint pain
Swollen lymph nodes

Fibromyalgia-related pain-symptoms are often a part of the ME/CFS-symptoms:

- The body aches with muscle and migrating joint pain (without redness or joint swelling, and may be transitory), headaches (particularly of a new type, severity, or duration for example sore eyes. Patiens often describe that "it feels as somebody continually pushes with a sharp object from behind the eyes"), lymph node pain, sore throats, and abdominal pain.

- Patients also talk about testicular pain, bone pain, neuralgia and painful skin sensitivity. Chest pain that has been attributed variously to microvascular disease or cardiomyopathy (a disorder of the heart muscle) by researchers, and patients also report painful abnormally rapid heartbeat (tachycardia).

I had excellent results in fighting Fibromyalgia symptoms with magnetic field therapy!

Hypersensitivity
Sensitivity to light (Photophobia)
Sensitivity to noise
Sensitivity to odors
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)
Dizziness
Nausea

- People with ME/CFS are often sensitive to light (photophobia), sound and multiple chemicals (MCS: Multiple chemical sensitivity) and .

- Lots of ME/CFS-patients talk about an increase in allergic-type sensitivity to foods, scents and perfumes and odors.

- Patients with pre-existing allergies like asthma or similar conditions often report a worsening of symptoms.

- Patients often experience dizziness and/or nausea.
(I have good success treating dizziness and nausea with ginger!)

- There are also many reports of a sensitivity to medications. This of course often complicates treatment.

Multiple chemical sensitivity MCS:

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also known as "20th Century Syndrome", "Environmental illness", "Sick Building Syndrome", Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance (IEI), can be defined as a "chronic, recurring disease caused by a person's inability to tolerate an environmental chemical or class of foreign chemicals"...

:.."MCS patients do not have either somatic or psychologic symptoms under chemical-free conditions, and symptoms may be provoked only when exposed to chemicals."...

...However, all agree that exposure to chemical irritants precipitates sometimes disabling symptoms such as migraine headache, sinus congestion, itchy eyes and throat, nausea and vomiting, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, bloating, rashes, asthma, muscle aches, joint aches, bladder problems, fatigue, flu like symptoms, depression, irritability, anxiety, mania, inability to concentrate, stupor, sleepiness, insomnia, tremor, paresthesia (loss of sensation), orthostatic hypotension...
Multiple chemical sensitivity MCS (Wikipedia)

General Malaise
Fever-like symptoms
Poor temperature control

- ME/CFS patients often frequently run a low fever, or report sweating, feeling too cold or too hot. (Usually without measurable fever temperature.) This could possibly be due to involvement of the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus regulates body temperature.

For the possible involvement of the thalamus in ME, CFIDS, CFS see the ongoing clinical study in Berne, Switzerland (Dr. med. Stefan Begré 2006)

- Many CFS sufferers talk about feeling "as if the caught the flu that never goes away". Some report of "sometimes or often being so sick that the actually feel like dying".

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Diarrhea, constipation, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas and nausea.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

...In gastroenterology, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or spastic colon is a functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits which are not associated with any abnormalities seen on routine clinical testing.

It is fairly common and makes up 20–50% of visits to gastroenterologists. Lower abdominal pain, and bloating associated with alteration of bowel habits and abdominal discomfort relieved with defecation are the most frequent symptoms...

... IBS may have an acute onset and develop after an infectious illness characterised by two or more of the following: fever, vomiting, acute diarrhea, positive stool culture. This post-infective syndrome has consequently been termed "post-infectious IBS"...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Wikipedia)

Sleep problems
Unrefreshing rest and sleep
Feverish dreams / Nightmares

- A classic ME/CFS symptom is unrefreshing sleep, rest and/or insomnia.

- Maintaining a proper sleep schedule is difficult for many patients.

- Feverish and vivid dreams (often nightmares) are another classic symptom in many people with CFS. This obviously makes an unsdisturbed sleep pattern even more difficult to achieve.

- Patients report that exercise actually worsens the insomnia and the unrefreshing sleep.

Disturbances in the hormonal system

- Hormonal abnormalities may include abnormal vasopressin metabolism and a blunted ACTH response, leading to hypothyroidism and/or low cortisol.

- Disturbances in the hormonal system also lead to a reduced ability to respond to physiological and emotional stress. Patients sometimes show abnormally low levels of testosterone and/or growth hormone and other important hormones.

Orthostatic hypotension

Some people with ME/CFS develop a condition in which the heart rate increases and the blood pressure drops when they stand or sit up from a reclining position. It's often described as feeling "lightheaded", feeling faint or dizzy.

Orthostatic hypotension

Orthostatic hypotension (also known as postural hypotension and, colloquially, as head rush) is a sudden fall in blood pressure, typically greater than 20/10 mm Hg, that occurs when a person assumes a standing position.

Symptoms, which generally occur after sudden standing, include dizziness, lightheadedness, headache, blurred or dimmed vision (possibly to the point of momentary blindness), and syncope (temporary loss of consciousness).

Orthostatic hypotension (Wikipedia)

Psychological / Psychiatric symptoms

- Emotional lability, anxiety, depression, irritability, and sometimes a curious emotional "flattening" (most likely due to exhaustion), may manifest in ME/CFS patients.

- Many of these symptoms can be directly caused by the ME/CFS mechanism or may just be secondary symptoms created by the syndrome, as many chronic pain or illness patients also show similar psychiatric issues.

- CFS/CFIDS/ME patients with pre-existing psychiatric symptoms may report that their symptoms worsen with the onset of CFS.

- Treatment for psychiatric symptoms alone does not relieve the physical symptoms of CFS, indicating that the disease is not psychological in nature. (!)

* Fukuda definition:
Fukuda K, Straus S, Hickie I, Sharpe M, Dobbins J, Komaroff A (1994).
"The chronic fatigue syndrome: a comprehensive approach to its definition and study. International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Study Group.". Ann Intern Med 121 (12): 953-9.