How to diagnose CFS

Hey everyone i have been usually posting questions in the anxiety forum and i barely noticed today that there is a CFS forum on this website
so i just had a couple questions for you out there who are suffering from CFS

So about 2 months i noticed my energy levels were going way down and seem to still be going down, I sleep for like 12 hours and then wake up and stay awake for about 4 to 5 hours before i start feeling tired and want to go to sleep again, and having trouble doing small tasks without getting tired, such as walking to the mailbox, washing clothes, doing homework, even getting up to turn off the light. I have been suffering from unusual symptoms that are commonly associated with CFS such as sore muscles, sleep disorders, digestion problems, dizziness, night sweats. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid about 4 months ago, so i am wondering if it is my hypothyroid that is causing all these symptoms but i have been checked out and my thyroid levels are normal, and i read somewhere online that hypothyroid patients often develop CFS. So i guess my question is how difficult is it to get diagnosed with CFS? i know you have to have the symptoms for at least 6 months before a doctor can diagnose you with it, and i hear doctors frequently mis-diagnose it to be something else like anxiety and stress, so what can i do now if i really have CFS? are there other diseases and illnesses which share almost the same symptoms with CFS that i should get checked out for? Thanks!!!

Hi there,

Perhaps your first step would be to read the Canadian Consensus Document for CFS-A Canadian definition. Have your doc read it too. It's excellent. There's no one test for CFS and other illnesses such as Lyme Disease (have you been tested through Igenex?) and a myriad of other illness overlap. It is THEORIZED that CFS is caused by viruses however none have been found to be the main cause. What we DO know is that in CFS and possibly Lyme is that the immune system takes a hit, and viruses, bacteria and other pathogens take hold as opportunistic infections. That's why so many people undergo such extensive testing, to find the "cause" of their illness.

Some do say that when treated for those pathogens over a long period of time they begin to see improvements in cognition, pain and fatigue. Good luck to you and I hope that's been somewhat helpful.