Symptoms
for Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a tricky disease
to diagnose because many of its symptoms are similar to the
symptoms of other types
of disorders. As the name suggests, chronic fatigue syndrome
involves excessive tiredness (or fatigue) that develops over
a period of time and can become debilitating to a person’s
quality of life.
However fatigue or prolonged fatigue
which it really is in this instance, is a factor inliterally
hundreds
of different kinds of illnesses and therefore isolating the
one trait that makes this disease that of chronic fatigue
syndrome is not easy for doctors and healthcare practitioners. For example
10 to 25 percent of all patients suffering from one type of
health
problem or another find themselves experiencing fatigue. It is important to differentiate that
fatigue that accompanies CFS from regular fatigue that strikes
everyone from time to
time. It is normal to feel over tired after a few sleepless
nights
or after a stressful event or if one is really nervous about
something that is coming around the corner.
The fatigue of
chronic fatigue syndrome is incapacitating
and intense,
bordering on
severe and it is not improved upon by a good night’s
sleep or even a couple of good night sleeps. As well taking
naps and
catching up on rest in every way possible will not make the
condition go away.
Chronic fatigue syndrome can be made worse
by other
kinds of mental or physical problems and it can drastically
affect an individual’s quality of life as energy levels
quickly can become depleted which can decrease the sufferer’s
level of stamina. With little or no energy, a person will begin
to
change the way she lives her life and often many activities
that a person once enjoyed disappear.
CFS affects all areas
of a person’s
functioning and this includes their personal life, their social
life, their occupation and so forth.
A diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome
can only be made conclusively after a series of tests has been
done on
the patient, however
if a person has been suffering from unexplained and prolonged
fatigue for a period of six months or longer then CFS is
likely to blame. If the patient also exhibits a number
of other characteristic
symptoms then the doctor is inclined to lean towards a diagnosis
of chronic fatigue syndrome.
The characteristic symptoms of chronic
fatigue syndrome are often referred to as primary symptoms
and there are eight
in total.
First of all if a person suffers from
cognitive dysfunction, which includes problems concentrating,
or impaired memory
or even memory lapses then CFS could be to blame.
If
a person suffers from “post exertional malaise” that
lasts for more than a 24-hour period and it occurs after
a strenuous mental
or physical exercise then it is likely caused by CFS. If
a person wakes up feeling unrested and unrefreshed morning
after morning
that is another symptom of CFS.
Other characteristic symptoms of CFS include
persistent pain in the muscles, pain in the joints that does
not
include any degree of inflammation or swelling, headaches
that
are
different
than any a person has experienced before or headaches
or a more intense variety, a sore throat unrelated to
a cold
or
other respiratory
condition and cervical or axillary lymph nodes that are
tender.
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Healthcare
Article 
Health
Article - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome guide
