Characteristics of CFS

Symptoms

With little information available for patients through medical channels - at least until a diagnosis of CFS is made, bouts of severe depression are to be expected. It is hard to stay positive and focused during the onset of this condition as the patient has to deal with the uncertainty of finding out what is causing their symptoms. Even once a diagnosis is made however, due to the chronic nature of this illness, bouts of depression are inevitable as the patients struggle to find a way of managing the symptoms.

The diagnosis of CFS by a medical professional must include:

Extreme, prolonged fatigue
Absence of other causes of chronic fatigue (excluding depression)
At least 4 of the other symptoms listed

This means that in order to receive a diagnosis after months of blood tests and physical examinations, 4 of these symptoms must also be present:

Fatigue or tiredness, never experienced to this extent before (new onset), lasting at least 6 months and not relieved by bed rest
Fatigue that is severe enough to restrict activity (serious fatigue develops with less than one-half of the exertion compared to before the illness)
Fatigue lasting more than 24 hours after an amount of exercise that would normally be easily tolerated
Mild fever (38.3 degrees C/ 101 degrees F or less)
Sore throat
Lymph node tenderness in the neck or armpit
Muscle weakness, all over or multiple locations, not explained by any known disorder(can range from a dull all over ache to sharp insistent localised pains)
Muscle aches (myalgias)
Feeling unrefreshed after sleeping an adequate amount of time
Headaches, different from previous headaches in quality, severity, or pattern
Joint pain, often moving from joint to joint (migratory arthralgias), without joint swelling or redness
Forgetfulness or other similar symptoms including difficulty concentrating, confusion, or irritability

The symptoms listed above are those deemed the most consistent throughout the illness by the NHS and our American and Australian counterparts within the medical profession.

However, when talking to other sufferers you will soon find that there are many symptoms not on the 'official' list, this is because everyone with this condition has a different mix of ailments - both in type and intensity.

"I feel like a fake, a malingerer. I felt like crying as I was trying to describe my frustrations with everything happening to me. I heard myself and part of me doesn't even believe what I was saying. What was the doctor going to think? I sounded like a raving lunatic. I was trying to squeeze so much information out in as short a time as possible."
Mark McConchie

It is not uncommon for a patients personal symptom list to fluctuate throughout the course of their illness depending on how they manage the recovery process. It is also quite normal to feel like a complete hypochondriac. The trick is not to give into this feeling and ignore your symptoms in the hope they will just go away.

The main point on which all carers and sufferers can agree is that it takes a great deal of time and patience to discover just what does work for the patient.
It is a very complex and difficult illness, not only to live with but to treat - it is however not impossible to recover from, It is just a long process that does not benefit from a known cure. This process can be hampered by pessimism and depression the longer a patient suffers - especially in areas where there is still little in the way of medical recognition with regards the illness itself.

Other symptoms mentioned by patients include:

Feeling generally unwell, mainly sore throat and cold symptoms but can manifest as severe and prolonged nausea
Poor temperature control, skipping between too hot and too cold
Blurred vision, occasional loss of sight for several seconds at a time
Difficulties with balance, vertigo and dizziness
Numbness/ tingling/ pins and needles
Sleep difficulties
Hearing problems
Sensitivity to things like noise, light and odours
Walking can be painful, sometimes impossible
Stomach problems - acid/ wind etc
Extreme mood swings
Constant thirst
Shakiness
Muscle 'jumping'
Appetite comes and goes without warning, one moment not hungry - the next a raging hunger, quite painful in intensity
Alternate craving for sweet and salty foodstuffs
Exacerbated asthma
Strength comes and goes (sometimes can't even lift an empty kettle)
Decreased libido
Tendency to drop things
Persistent need to urinate.
Slight agoraphobia which previously was not a problem
Eczema like rash/ itchiness/ very sensitive skin
Ultra sensitivity to slight knocks or bumps anywhere on the body - akin to the feeling of a badly stubbed toe

It is important to note however that even when you have a diagnosis of CFS it is imperative that any new symptoms be reported to your doctor as they may be something other than CFS, it is easy to put everything down to the one illness - but that is not necessarily the case, you are still susceptible to all the other delights the medical profession deal with regarding the human body.
Don't just assume that a new and different thing is part and parcel of a diagnosed illness, get it checked.