FAQ About ME/CFS

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a long-term illness that weakens numerous body functions. ME/CFS is a serious disease,difficult to diagnose, detect the cause, and apply the adequate treatment. CDC reports show that over one million Americans struggle with this disease, and even one-quarter of them are dysfunctional and bed-bound during one stage of the illness. Most of them never entirely recuperate their pre-disease abilities, and it is four times more diagnosed in women.

Patients suffering from ME/CFS usually go through at least six months of devastating memory loss, poor stamina, extreme exhaustion, fatigue, and cognitive issues.

The disease also causes severe joint and muscle pain, tender lymph nodes,headaches, non-restorative sleep, and sometimes even a sore throat. ME/CFS is known for Post-exertional malaise (PEM). Patients have a prolonged recovery process after any physical or mental activity. Worsening symptoms show up between 12 and 48 hours, and can last for days or weeks, which additionally weakens the patients.

Low motivation, tiredness, and lack of energy all describe fatigue. Fatigue is more than just being sleepy, it is a condition that can last for a long time, and in that case is diagnosed as chronic fatigue. Sleepiness and drowsiness, however, can be fatigue symptoms. ME/CFS patients, on the other hand, show many other symptoms that people with only chronic fatigue do not have. The additional symptoms of ME/CFS that you can look for are:

• Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is a unique symptom of ME/CFS. It is extreme exhaustion after performing any mental or physical activity with prolonged recovery time.

• Non-restorative sleep (unrefreshing sleep, waking up tired)

• Cognitive issues like brain fog, lack of concentration

• Lymph node inflammation 

• Non-healing sore throat

• Severe headaches 

• Extreme sensitivity to light, smell, sound, food

• Total organ system shutdown 

• Neurological anomalies

You need to know that all of these symptoms are also common for other illnesses, and many ME/CFS patients are diagnosed with multiple diseases that share the same symptoms. Conditions that commonly occur with ME/CFS can be the following: 

• Chronic pelvic pain

• Fibromyalgia

• Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)

• Orthostatic intolerance

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Interstitial cystitis 

• Temporomandibular joint disorder

• Multiple chemical sensitivity disorder

• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is a severe worsening of some or all symptoms of ME/CFS in patients after performing even minor mental or physical effort. The symptoms can worsen within 12-48 hours, and the recovery process can last days and even weeks. Read more in detail in this article.

There is no test to diagnose ME/CFS, but experienced clinicians can diagnose this disease based on the symptoms. Check out the CDC reports and learn more about ME/CFS diagnosis.