Doc says I have CFS but it has only been 4 weeks!

I'm a 20 year old female college student. I have medium to heavy school and extracurricular load and have been a fairly active individual.

I have been diagnosed by with Peptic Ulcer that has been occurring for the past couple of months, then since 4 weeks ago I started feeling irregular chest pains, back pains, muscle pain (on shoulders, legs and arms), pins and needles kind of numbness on fingers and legs, debilitating fatigue after some work that is sort of relieved by naps but not completely, shortness of breath (climbing stairs and walking long stretches are a challenge), occasional dizziness, lack of concentration and sometimes poor memory. It's hard to sit still and focus. I also have anxiety attacks about petty things, though I've always had a calm and cool personality.

I don't know if this has something to do with anything but I also noticed that whenever I'm in class taking notes, I have the correct spelling of some words in my mind but I write them down wrongly. Of course this happens to every one once in a while but it has been oddly happening more often to me now. I don't have trouble sleeping just body pain when I wake up. At the end of each average-activity day, there's also too much tiredness unlike before. All these symptoms are fairly recent unlike my persistent duodenal ulcer attacks.

My sisters guessed anemia but my RGB count is not significantly low. It's low but not enough to cause these symptoms and to officially pass as anemia.

I saw two doctors already. Doctor A said it's stress related or psychosomatic, but really I'm the least stressed among my colleagues and I've a good disposition and I manage time and activities better than most people I know. I'm also thinking, all these just because of stress? It's hard to accept. Then doctor B, a gastrointestinal specialist who diagnosed my peptic ulcer, also passed it as stress and/or CFS when I consulted him lately. I also had my CBC taken, with slightly low hematocrit and hemoglobin levels beyond normal count (but not low enough for anemia) and also slightly low WBC count even though I don't have apparent viral infection. I have slightly high seg count and low leukocyte count, both also not on the "normal" range. Though when Doctor B saw the CBC, he wondered why I had low WBC but didn't really consider it in his assuming CFS.

Help! Should I settle for that diagnosis or consider hyperthyroidism etc instead?

P.S. Some parts of my neck are tender. I don't know why. Maybe I'm a hypochondriac? 'Cause I'm aware it might suggest thyroid disease.

First of all, you aren't a hypochondirac and second, I would not settle for the diagnosis you are being given - something is going on with your body and it is being shown in your bloodwork. Each person's body is different and while the labs you have might not create symptoms in someone else, they may be causing problems for you.

I just wrote in another post how frustrated I get when doctors pass off everything as anxiety, depression, or psychosomatic when they can't get answers right away. You know your body the best and you know whether you are depressed or if you are sick. I told my docs early on when they tried to tell me I was depressed that I wouldn't feel down if I had the energy to do the things I had always loved to do.

I agree that 4 weeks is a little soon to be diagnosing CFS and that the docs need to look more deeply into what might be going on. Do you know if the doctors did a lab called an ANA to test for any autoimmune disease like lupus? IF not, it would be worth asking about it. I don't know if you have seen any specialists or not, but it might be worth it to see a good endochronologist or infectious disease doc. If nothing else, a good internal medicine doctor might dig a little deeper to try to figure out your symptoms and your labs. Your labs are telling some kind of story, but your current doctor doesn't seem to want to take the time to try to figure it out.

I hope you keep us updated on what you find out. THe CFS forum is really slow, so you might not get a lot of responses.

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Thanks, hippiemom. Your post really kept me up. You're right, I have to get another doc's opinion. I really think something is going on but the docs are telling me there aren't and some people actually think I know too much about different diseases' symptoms out of researching that's why I'm feeling all of them.

I'll tell you more. Maybe I'll get a newer CBC to make out a pattern or something. Thanks again! God bless.

Unfortunately CFS has become a kind of "dump bucket" for any cfs related symptoms. After 2 and a half years with this, doctors still haven't performed all the test that they should have in order to eliminate other problems. Have your doctors check your thyroid, not just TSH but free T3 and T4, reverse T3....ask them to test you for lymes disease (tho these tests aren't always reliable) - candida, parasite (have you been out of the country?)...this may be a digestive disorder....wheat allergy (celiacs?). You should go to an allergist. It sounds like you have a virus tho given your blood tests. This is how CFS starts a lot of the time, so you might want to take some immunoboosters (natural) and antioxidents. 10 years before I came down with CFS, I had a period in college where I was just floored. Same symptoms as CFS...but I recovered and was fine for 10 years. Have they checked you for mono? Your doctors should rule everything out b4 giving you cfs diagnosis, also, you should have symptoms for 6 mos before they give you cfs diagnosis. that's the criterion. Unfortunately, for most people, by the time 6 mos passes, their life has already changed dramatically. Still, I wouldn't just assume that you have CFS and are "doomed".....

Yes, thank you so much. I haven't seen the doctor again though. The symptoms have lessened over the past few weeks, or maybe I just got used to it. When I think about it, I realize I still have them, but I'm not as incapacitated. I learned how to deal with it somehow. You're right, I should still take those TSH, T3 and T4 tests. Although a friend who's not a doctor but also in the medical profession said since I don't sweat a lot and I have no bulge on my neck, it might not be a thyroid disease. She suspects I have parasite, but I really don't have diarrhea. I don't know what to think anymore. Honestly, I don't want to see another doctor. They disappoint me a lot. But maybe if people who care really insist, I'll go.

Thanks for your help! :)