Doctors are failing to spot the brain injury that could be behind 30,000 cases of 'chronic fatigue'

[Valentijn]

When I was 9 I was at summer day camp and we were having a boys versus girls type war. I went to eat alone in a little open cabin (empty doors and windows), and someone threw a rock through the window and hit me in the back of the head.

It didn't hurt or anything, but I blanked out for a couple seconds and had fallen forward from the built-in bench to land on my hands and knees on the floor.

 

[alex3619]

Almost all of us will have had head injuries, particularly older patients. Even if you don't remember an injury, that doesn't mean you never had one, you might still have pituitary issues, particularly given viruses can also induce the problems. There is no substitute for testing.

 

[justy]

Hey @Valentijn I read this opening bit as when I was 91 at summer camp!!!

When I was 9 I was at summer day camp

I was always under the impression summer camp was for kids

 

[Snow Leopard]

I had scans when I was first diagnosed, so *shrugs*. I had plenty of bike crashes as a child too, but nothing immediately before I became ill.

 

[alex3619]

About the only thing scans are good for with the pituitary is diagnosed a tumor. It tells us nothing about the biochemistry.

 

[Hell...Hath...No...Fury..]

They often used to say that ME followed trauma, often car crashes and whiplash etc. i used to think non of that applied to me but i've just remembered from this thread about a year before getting ill, i was attacked from behind on the tube train.
Punched in the back and side of my head many, many times (and i was already a severe migraine sufferer back then before the ME) i was dragged by my hair to the ground and punched some more. I could hear my brain rattling inside my skull. Couldn't brush my hair for a week because of the scabs. I never got that seen to but the migraines did get progressively worse after that and then after the virus and tetanus jab when i became bedridden i had a non stop migraine 24/7 for the first 2 years of the ME.

It would be interesting to see how many of us had some form of 'head bashing' before the ME kicked in

 

[A.B.]

It would be interesting to see how many of us had some form of 'head bashing' before the ME kicked in

I had a heavy mattress tilt and fall on my head (it was leaning againt a wall). I heard crunching sound in my neck and it hurt for weeks but I didn't go see a doctor because everything seemed to be fine. Mattress sounds harmless but this one was so heavy and large and adult man would have problems lifting it off the ground. Around that time I started having extreme morning fatigue. A year later I suddenly became fatigued full time for no reason (no infectious symptoms) and never recovered. Things gradually got worse over time

I think we need a study on how many CFS patients were hit on the head before the first appearance of symptoms.