Hello, I am looking for a little advice. I am new to all this CFS stuff and at this point am not even sure I have it, but with no answers from my doctors, my research as lead me in this direction. I will try to keep it short. I am a 36 year old healthy female and typically an energetic person. I live fairly healthy with the exception of many years of binge drinking on the weekends and such. In the spring of 2008, I came down with what I thought may be Swine Flu (never found out for sure) as I was sick as I had ever been and Swine Flu was going around at the time. I was sick for almost a week but slowly recovered. After that, every 3-6 weeks, I started having recurring boutsI called them my fluish episodes. The episodes would be mild and as short as a day or as long as 4-5 days and put me in bed for a couple of days. I can not stress how sick I feel during these episodes, there is a reason I call them my FLUish episodesI feel like I just want to die. I take motrin which helps a little with my symptoms, but I can only take so much motrin. My symptoms with these episodes are always the same and come on suddenly:
- Often starts with a sore throat
- Severe brain fog, head feels heavy
- Fatigue
- Muscle aches (mild and usually just the first day)
- Weakness
- Headaches
- On and off nausea
- Dizzy spells
- Hot and cold spells
- Feel like I need to pass outSO TIRED!
- Often IBS issues
I just feel extremely out of it and not right. At times I will go 3-4 months without any severe episodes, just mild bad days that never turn into a full blown episode. That went on for 3 years until this Feb. In Feb I started having panic attack type episodes. I didnt know what was going on and went to the ER 3 times. I had many tests done and have always been told they cant find anything and that it was probably panic attacks. I was confused because I was not panicky but I was told (and read) your body can set off panic attacks from illnesses, stress, and viruses. For 4 months I was having these recurring attacks that often would afterwards put me in bed for several days. I was told it was my body recovering from the panic attacks, but now I realize it was the fluish episodes maybe set off from the stress on my body from the panic attacks. Right now I am in the midst of a 4 day episode after a panic attack 4 nights ago and have been in bed for most of it. In between episodes I often forget how bad I feel and how scared it makes me. Even when I am not in an episode, I dont feel real greatI still seem to have symptoms but at a muted level. I am not really sure and like I said, just looking for direction. I have been to the cardiologist, endocrinologist, and internal medicine. I have a follow up appt at internal medicine and I am considering bringing up with my Dr the possibility of this being CFS. Looking back, I really didnt feel the best for a lot of years, but I was drinking so much and running myself into the ground so much so I just thought it was that. For those wondering, I have cut my drinking to an occasional glass of wine, so I know now for the first time in my life that feeling like crap all the time is not a result of drinking. This really has taken a toll on my lifeI am grumpy all the time because I dont feel well and I have had to quit my job. I am trying to think positive, but it is hard when you are suddenly sick with no answers as to why. Thanks to anyone who has read this and can offer any insight.
- Often starts with a sore throat
- Severe brain fog, head feels heavy
- Fatigue
- Muscle aches (mild and usually just the first day)
- Weakness
- Headaches
- On and off nausea
- Dizzy spells
- Hot and cold spells
- Feel like I need to pass outSO TIRED!
- Often IBS issues
I just feel extremely out of it and not right. At times I will go 3-4 months without any severe episodes, just mild bad days that never turn into a full blown episode. That went on for 3 years until this Feb. In Feb I started having panic attack type episodes. I didnt know what was going on and went to the ER 3 times. I had many tests done and have always been told they cant find anything and that it was probably panic attacks. I was confused because I was not panicky but I was told (and read) your body can set off panic attacks from illnesses, stress, and viruses. For 4 months I was having these recurring attacks that often would afterwards put me in bed for several days. I was told it was my body recovering from the panic attacks, but now I realize it was the fluish episodes maybe set off from the stress on my body from the panic attacks. Right now I am in the midst of a 4 day episode after a panic attack 4 nights ago and have been in bed for most of it. In between episodes I often forget how bad I feel and how scared it makes me. Even when I am not in an episode, I dont feel real greatI still seem to have symptoms but at a muted level. I am not really sure and like I said, just looking for direction. I have been to the cardiologist, endocrinologist, and internal medicine. I have a follow up appt at internal medicine and I am considering bringing up with my Dr the possibility of this being CFS. Looking back, I really didnt feel the best for a lot of years, but I was drinking so much and running myself into the ground so much so I just thought it was that. For those wondering, I have cut my drinking to an occasional glass of wine, so I know now for the first time in my life that feeling like crap all the time is not a result of drinking. This really has taken a toll on my lifeI am grumpy all the time because I dont feel well and I have had to quit my job. I am trying to think positive, but it is hard when you are suddenly sick with no answers as to why. Thanks to anyone who has read this and can offer any insight.