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This is what I believe to be the cause of PEM in the case of my illness please give this a read and tell me if any of this is relevant to your condition.There's already some of that information, and a poll, in the slightly earlier thread 'Stress Makes PEM Worse?'
I'm not sure what aspect of stress makes PEM worse. It might be the additional neural demands, or maybe stress hormones, or both, or something else. I've had the effect from activities that require extra alertness, even though it's wasn't what I would call stressful. Driving a garden tractor (snowblowing) at extra slow speed didn't trigger extra PEM or even regular PEM. Driving it a little bit faster and having to take more care in steering, to avoid catching on the snowbank, did trigger cerebrally-induced PEM. Playing a FPS computer game, which does require extra processing, and should trigger some stress hormones, doesn't trigger PEM; I find it relaxing.
For me, stress seems to make my regular PEM symptoms worse. It's hard to identify one symptoms being elevated more than the others.
OK thanks for the adviceThis is what I believe to be the cause of PEM in the case of my illness please give this a read and tell me if any of this is relevant to your condition.
I think most people with ME do not have an auto immune condition, how ever I am fully confident that I do. My symptoms are fully dependent to the relation of the activation of the HPA axis, how do I know this?I'm unclear about which subgroup your theory fits, but it doesn't seem to fit all subgroups. For me, physically-induced PEM has a consistent ~24 hr delay. Other people have much shorter delays. See how that fits your theory.
Also, I've taken prednisone, and it didn't trigger extra fatigue. The first two times, it triggered temporary remission. I don't know whether the immune system would differentiate between cortisol and prednisone. Prednisone does reduce production of cortisol, but I don't think a small reduction in cortisol would cause a significant reduction in autoimmune response.
Do your symptoms rise and fall with the cortisol cycle? My PEM symptoms don't seem any worse in the morning (peak cortisol). My overall ME symptoms get worse in the afternoon.
Try thinking your theory through with timing in mind: cortisol peaks, autoimmune response times, etc. You might find that it fits, or you might find an obvious flaw.
Another thing to keep in mind: temporary remission. Does your theory explain why an ME victim can, over the space of minutes, switch back to full health, stay that way for hours, and then switch back to ME? I don't think autoimmune reactions work that way, but I'm not an expert.
Personally, I don't think ME is an autoimmune response. I think there's something interfering with the 'return to normal' state after an immune response.
Anything that stimulate the response of the HPA axis will make me worse, negative emotions, change in temperature, sun light, loud noises, etc. This response is automatic however you can hinder this response by movement this is seen in people with autism as it works to stop stimulation of the HPA axis.One thing that might be useful is a list of responses to various types of stresses. Does a fright trigger PEM, or make existing PEM symptoms more severe? Does the stress of frustration do it? Anger? Grief?
All responses welcome. Maybe something interesting will result. I live a pretty low-stress lifestyle, so it's been a long time since I've had significant emotional stressors. Maybe someone else has been scared by something, been angry (at a lousy doctor?), or lost a loved one, and noticed a major change in their symptoms.
who experience PEM and what the resulting symptoms are from PEM.
tell me if any of this is relevant to your condition
It's almost like my body is too drained to mount a proper stress response any more
I'm waiting for the researchers to figure out the core dysfunction.
For whatever reason, the starved for oxygen seems so key.
there's impairment of neuron operation
I do respond to stress poorly. Not mentally but physically. My heart problems are my worst symptom as it is, but every now and then when I'm getting carried away with the progress I've made over the past few years, a moderate stressor will appear and knock me back down to reality.
My heart will increase it's pounding and rate but it feels like it doesn't have the energy to do so. It's almost like my body is too drained to mount a proper stress response any more. I will feel very weak and when I was at my worst this lead to full blown heart attack like symptoms including numb limbs, aching up my left chest and down my left arm, freezing cold but sweating, and an intense feeling of imminent doom.
I would speculate that my heart is already struggling pumping blood around my body at rest, then when a stress appears, certain hormones/signals tell the heart to do more work and it tries but it cannot keep up.