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Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.
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About two weeks ago, I had a bad fall and twisted my ankle almost 180 degrees. Luckily, I think my ankles are extremely flexible so the sprain could have been far worse. It's bruised pretty bad and I still have some swelling, but it seems like it's healing well.
However, it seems like it triggered an ME/CFS crash from the fall and it could be the worst one I've had so far. I also got a terrible headache the day I fell down. I know I didn't hit my head, but maybe the fall was jarring on my spine/neck (I have severe scoliosis).
The fatigue is almost unbearable and I've been fighting my body to keep going to work every day. Has anyone else experienced worsening of ME/CFS fatigue after a physical injury?
Some people develop ME/CFS after a surgery. This is what happened with me. I developed ME/CFS after a major surgery.Wow @Sidney, thanks for sharing your experience and the well-wishes. I had no idea injuries and surgeries could cause the PEM, but I thought it was too well timed to be a coincidence.
Wow @Sidney, thanks for sharing your experience and the well-wishes. I had no idea injuries and surgeries could cause the PEM, but I thought it was too well timed to be a coincidence.
RIGHTYea @Sidney, it's so weird - I definitely felt PEM starting a day or two later - can't remember when it really started. Although, the day of, I felt a little like I was in shock right after - I kind of embarrassed myself in a meeting because I got confused (but covered it up well with a joke - I'm good at that with all my brain fog!) and then had a terrible headache that evening.
The good news is my ankle barely hurts anymore, swelling is down, and just a little bruise left. Unfortunately, I'm still in a bad ME/CFS flare. My arms are so sore that I had to swap out a heavy fork at dinner the other night for a smaller, lighter one. Felt like I was doing reps with a 20 lb barbell with every bite.
I know better than to use the word 'cause' as well, I should have said 'related to' or 'associated with', but we're casual here, right?