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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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What Types of Fatigue Do I Experience Poll

What Types of Fatigue Do I Commonly Experience?

  • Post-exertional Malaise - Symptoms increase significantly after relatively mild amounts of exertion

    Votes: 623 84.4%
  • Brain Fog - I experience significant difficulty concentrating, speaking with ease, etc.

    Votes: 594 80.5%
  • Wired But Tired - Feelings of low energy along with a sense my system will not calm down

    Votes: 502 68.0%
  • Molasses Fatigue - Feelings of heaviness in the limbs are common

    Votes: 467 63.3%
  • Flu-like Fatigue - flu-like feelings accompanied with fatigue are common

    Votes: 474 64.2%

  • Total voters
    738

IamME

Too sick for an identity
Messages
110
How the hell is post-exertional "symptoms increase" just another "type of fatigue"?!

Is malaise now a euphemism for fatigue? (god knows it's vague eneough also)

This just demonstrates perfectly everything that's wrong with the concept of fatigue in lieu of disease and the fake non-disease cover-up of "CFS".

So chest pain, blurred vision, muscle spasm ex are now all types of fatigue, huh.

The poll is really bad because it tries to force people into having "fatigue" regardless of what they do have.

Once upon a time doctors used to recognise that fatigue and weakness were totally, importantly different things. But it seems the trainwreck of CFS has put paid to that.

Ask the wrong questions and receive the wrong answers.


Whomever came up with the "molasses fatigue" joke (some doc iirc) should be shot, that's meaningless in comparison with a recognised medical term like "muscle weakness".
 
Messages
28
That was a bit limited.

How about:

- severe drowsiness after eating fatigue

- difficulty reading/understanding something written for more than a few seconds type fatigue

- muscle-twitching, all aching after minor exercise or food fatigue

- mind-numbing, slurry-speaking type fatigue zzzzzz

- very sore burning eyes can't keep them open fatigue

- my neck hurts from holding my head fatigue
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
How about:

- severe drowsiness after eating fatigue

Yes, that's a common problem for those who have some type of Orthostatic Intolerance with blood pooling in the abdomen after eating (splanchnic pooling). My solution for this is to rest with my feet up after eating.

All the other options you listed were interesting, too! I don't get all of them (lucky that I can read and understand things pretty well most of the time) but I do get muscle twitches (fasciculations) frequently.

It's amazing to find muscles twitching that you never even thought about before. Right now there's one twitching on the bottom of my foot, in the arch, but I've had them all over - arms, legs, back, etc. At least this is one symptom my doctor can see....she has no answer for what caused it, and no solution for it, but she can see it. :D

After 20 years of this d*** illness I've learned to accept and ignore so many symptoms that are mere irritation. But this symptom, while it does not worry me at all, is much harder to ignore than, say, a background level of pain that you can tune out. It's like someone tapping you on the shoulder constantly in an irregular pattern. On my own I've tried magnesium supplements and I think that might have reduced it somewhat.
 

Tulip

Guest
Messages
437
Flu-like Fatigue and brain fog are my worst two. I have an all over flu-like body feeling which leaves me feeling dreadful on a daily basis, doing anything physical or mental leaves me feeling worse.

My illness is like always having the flu, 24/7 with joint & muscle pains, brain fog, nausea and lymph node swelling thrown in.

It feels like I've ran a marathon with the flu.

This describes me - Just add in organ pain/swelling and slurred speech in the afternoon/evening. I have felt like that for 19yrs.
 

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
I have the sore burning eyes tired too...they hurt so badly sometimes I just have to keep them closed. This happens out of the blue and then go away just as quickly.

I never had the brain fog or the flu like fatigue....all the others though especially the tired but wired...my body never seems to be able to shut down and relax EVER
 

svetoslav80

Senior Member
Messages
700
Location
Bulgaria
The closest match which describes my fatigue is "flu like fatigue", which includes the brain fog. But I don't have body aches so it's not quite acurate. I only have fatigue , heavy head and brain fog. If you allow me to introduce another fatigue type - it's a hangover like fatigue.
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
What about the continuous low energy level that in not improved by sleep type of fatigue? Exertion exacerbates it, but it never goes away.
 
Messages
2,565
Location
US
A study found five different types of fatigue present in people with ME/CFS, only one of which commonly occurred in healthy people.

Which one?

All of them. Are there any more kinds of fatigue, I might have those, too, :)

Same here. I remember trying to explain the different types to friends. I'm sure I had more than 5. But this is a good list describing different main types.
 

rydra_wong

Guest
Messages
514
sorry - maybe I should not have answered since my ESR says I don't have ME, but I do have many many genetic defects in the methylation cycle.
 

CAcfs

Senior Member
Messages
178
This poll doesn't include the feeling of drowsiness, like where you feel like your eyes are about to loose focus because of tiredness in the brain.

That is my primary type, my main problem, and I feel like none of the above describes me. I wouldn't really say I have brain fog, because I feel like I'm still thinking pretty sharply, still can watch the news, follow plots in movies, talk politics, use big words with ease.....it's just that I feel like I have that tiredness in the brain like I'm fighting to stay conscious (almost like narcolepsy, but not that extreme). So I guess **fighting to stay conscious and alert*** is another way to describe it, and that feeling is 24/7.

I am wondering if it's some kind of seratonin issue. If anyone has thoughts, feel free to PM me.
 

PhoenixDown

Senior Member
Messages
456
Location
UK
Tired but wired is one of my worst problems, signals just won't shut up, and there's an artifical anxiousness that doesn't feel a part of me but is there. I'm very twitchy too.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I have the sore burning eyes tired too...they hurt so badly sometimes I just have to keep them closed. This happens out of the blue and then go away just as quickly.

Soxfan.. the sore burning eyes. When I get that and its not from tiredness... its from chemical attacks (eg you may of just gone into a room in which someone was previously wearing perfume in but is now gone..but the chemical residue remains). I find it comes on fast (almost instantly) and can also go fast too eg you may of just left that room and then it will stop very fast.

Pay close attention to if you can smell anything around you or in the air, next time it occurs. Pay attention to how the air seems (I also find there is a thickness in a room in which has got too many chemical residues in).

Shutting the eyes helps as it then stops the chemical in the air from affecting them. You may find your eyes also tear up if its too bad.
 

xks201

Senior Member
Messages
740
The fatigue will vary from person to person and even day to day for most people. I guarantee you that everyone here has had concentration problems and has also felt like their limbs weighed a thousand pounds and probably experienced all of the above.
 
Messages
13
A study found five different types of fatigue present in people with ME/CFS, only one of which commonly occurred in healthy people. Please click on the types of fatigue that you experience to a significant degree in your daily life.
Cort-
I'd like to set up one of these polls. Is that possible? Or do only administrators have access to this function.

Namely, I'd like to get a poll on the type of diet people eat. I personally saw a great improvement in symtpoms (not neared cured though) when I changed my diet. Could be very useful to members.
 

Allyson

Senior Member
Messages
1,684
Location
Australia, Melbourne
Yes I agree with Greg f s comment; i did the poll but actually on reflection none of these symptoms are really fatigue - which just means mild tiredness of shirt duration to most people.
Malaise, brain fog flu like symptoms, limb heaviness are not fatigue and too mucn medical abuse occurs when that f word is used in my expereince. yesterday I said i have orthostatic intolerance ( which I do ) to a doc and got a totally different reacton to the on ME usually evokes.

Intereresting research though Cort, keep up all the good work.
20 years ago HIV aids was a fatal disease, so a cure in our lifetime is possible.
 
Messages
84
Location
Tennessee
This poll doesn't include the feeling of drowsiness, like where you feel like your eyes are about to loose focus because of tiredness in the brain.

That is my primary type, my main problem, and I feel like none of the above describes me. I wouldn't really say I have brain fog, because I feel like I'm still thinking pretty sharply, still can watch the news, follow plots in movies, talk politics, use big words with ease.....it's just that I feel like I have that tiredness in the brain like I'm fighting to stay conscious (almost like narcolepsy, but not that extreme). So I guess **fighting to stay conscious and alert*** is another way to describe it, and that feeling is 24/7.

I am wondering if it's some kind of seratonin issue. If anyone has thoughts, feel free to PM me.

CAcfs,
That is EXACTLY how I feel. Mine starts out subtle and then becomes more intense. I have NO choice but to lay down. There is no "pushing myself through it". If I do not lay down, I feel as though I will drop to my knees. I feel like I am the only person on the planet who has this weird sensation. I don't have it 24/7. I have days that I am completely fine. But it always comes back. I have had POTS ruled out. I would just like to know what is causing this. I am being tested for Lyme through Igenex. I found a doctor who is a LLD and told me there are some people with only neuro symptoms. Thanks for your post and I know I'm not crazy