xks201
Senior Member
- Messages
- 740
M.E. stands for myalgic encephalitis. Myalgia meaning 'muscle pain' and encephalitis meaning inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
Labeling everyone with chronic fatigue as having M.E. is dangerous because not everyone with chronic fatigue has brain inflammation, spine inflammation, and muscle pain.
There are many doctors who are seeking one cause for all chronic fatigue. See the H2S hypothesis, or hypovolemia, or low serotonin, hormone deficiencies, or other chemical brain imbalance as examples. This is a dangerous label. CFS can have many causes. It is the job of the doctor (or if your doctors are unwilling to put in the time to properly diagnose you, it is your job) to find out the real root cause.
In my experience I know that when an allergic response is generated (this can involve mast cells), I get extremely tired. My only ostensible symptoms of dairy allergy (all dairy) were dizziness and fatigue. Anxiety and or ADHD seemed to be omnipresent in my life. Only when I began developing stomach inflammation in response to any dairy product (even a small slice of butter on a potato) did I begin to suspect a dairy allergy. I was not aware that an allergy could manifest itself ONLY as fatigue. I had no stomach issues.
I had intermittent allergic symptoms all my life. I remember mucous running down my throat once after drinking milk. At that point in my early life it did not cause fatigue though. I was a straight A student.
The symptoms morphed! From just phlegm in my throat in turned into fatigue for several years, and then after probably 10 years of off and on symptoms it turned into stomach inflammation with frequent bowel movements after exposure to dairy. Stomach bloating was also present.
I am on a lot of hormones probably because this undiagnosed allergy screwed with my endocrine system. I don't know if I wouldn't have needed to be on replacement hormones if I wasn't having constant allergic reactions to dairy.
Now if I eat dairy I am irritable and extremely sleepy for hours after even a tiny bit of butter. I can't eat most things outside of my house that I don't make because butter is used on a lot of things as are other dairy products.
I thought this personal anecdote would help illustrate the way allergic symptoms can mutate. They can be there, yet remain not severe. In my case at one point the only symptom was fatigue.
Earlier I have posted on how I began to feel better. Well that was cyclical (probably varying with my dairy exposure). Now I have been feeling good consistently.
Test yourself for allergies. Listen to your body. I went the long way and started putting bandaids on the problem. Eliminate the obvious but overlooked.
Labeling everyone with chronic fatigue as having M.E. is dangerous because not everyone with chronic fatigue has brain inflammation, spine inflammation, and muscle pain.
There are many doctors who are seeking one cause for all chronic fatigue. See the H2S hypothesis, or hypovolemia, or low serotonin, hormone deficiencies, or other chemical brain imbalance as examples. This is a dangerous label. CFS can have many causes. It is the job of the doctor (or if your doctors are unwilling to put in the time to properly diagnose you, it is your job) to find out the real root cause.
In my experience I know that when an allergic response is generated (this can involve mast cells), I get extremely tired. My only ostensible symptoms of dairy allergy (all dairy) were dizziness and fatigue. Anxiety and or ADHD seemed to be omnipresent in my life. Only when I began developing stomach inflammation in response to any dairy product (even a small slice of butter on a potato) did I begin to suspect a dairy allergy. I was not aware that an allergy could manifest itself ONLY as fatigue. I had no stomach issues.
I had intermittent allergic symptoms all my life. I remember mucous running down my throat once after drinking milk. At that point in my early life it did not cause fatigue though. I was a straight A student.
The symptoms morphed! From just phlegm in my throat in turned into fatigue for several years, and then after probably 10 years of off and on symptoms it turned into stomach inflammation with frequent bowel movements after exposure to dairy. Stomach bloating was also present.
I am on a lot of hormones probably because this undiagnosed allergy screwed with my endocrine system. I don't know if I wouldn't have needed to be on replacement hormones if I wasn't having constant allergic reactions to dairy.
Now if I eat dairy I am irritable and extremely sleepy for hours after even a tiny bit of butter. I can't eat most things outside of my house that I don't make because butter is used on a lot of things as are other dairy products.
I thought this personal anecdote would help illustrate the way allergic symptoms can mutate. They can be there, yet remain not severe. In my case at one point the only symptom was fatigue.
Earlier I have posted on how I began to feel better. Well that was cyclical (probably varying with my dairy exposure). Now I have been feeling good consistently.
Test yourself for allergies. Listen to your body. I went the long way and started putting bandaids on the problem. Eliminate the obvious but overlooked.