How was your Onset? Acute infection or Gradually?

[Banana94]

Im intersted how your disease started?
Acute or gradually?

 

[Rebeccare]

Both, actually! I had experienced two or three flu-like illnesses in the spring before I first experienced crushing fatigue. A few months after those illnesses I slowly realized that I wasn't feeling quite right, and by the end of the summer I was barely functioning. However, after a little over a year of CFS symptoms I gradually recovered. But then after a year of being mostly well, I woke up one morning feeling terribly fatigued, and that's how I've been ever since.

 

[Dechi]

I put acute but both for me as well. I had 2 viral infections but I was able to function for a little over a year after the first one. Then came the second one and it got me down this time.

 

[wastwater]

Acute EBV

 

[rosie26]

I was gradual with acute time points. The time points were the beginning of each stage.

@Banana94 Can you add a gradual and acute option to the poll. I have voted gradual but would prefer to vote for both happening.

 

[alex3619]

I could argue any of the three, acute, gradual or staged, which was not on the option list. I had a different ME, measles encephalitis, at age 7. That was acute, and is the probable trigger, but I cannot be sure. My issues crept up on me over many years, so super gradual. However this fits better with staged than gradual ... each major event, such as a probable enterovirus infection in 85, pushed me a lot further into severity. So did exercise, expending too much mental effort, and so on. Crash by crash I kept getting worse. The most likely scenario is not one but many acute events over decades.

This is much what @rosie26 said.

 

[Ravn]

Similar to @rosie26 and @alex3619. Crept very slowly up on me, over years I suspect. Then came a couple of major acute crashes, one caused by a flu-like illness, the other by a lumbar puncture gone wrong (plus numerous lesser crashes due to excessive physical exertion, before I knew I was dealing with ME and that pushing myself was a really bad idea), always with periods of slow creep between. I think "staged" is the best expression. Will vote for it if you add the option.

 

[Peter Trewhitt]

My initial onset was with glandular fever some twenty five years ago, there was no clear distinction between the acute episode of glandular fever and the ongoing ME. However with gradual improvement I thought I had made a complete recovery after some five years.

But I then got the Millenium bug, a severe bout of flue over the Millenium new year. This triggered a major relapse which though varying has persisted since, with each episode of deterioration worse than the previous.

 

[ChrisD]

''Stress''/Insomnia/Adrenal Fatigue -> Flu -> CFS & Fibro -> Crash (no infection at this point) -> M.E. (Fibro has gradually waned)

(I now realise that even the early stages were caused by metabolic issues or pathological issues in M.E. patients)

 

[maybe some day]

Acute..
I think the month of june back in 91' I was feeling a little light headed. When I walked, seemed like the floor had dips in it.
Shortly after came down with a flu. Got over that for the most part, went back to work. Then a week later I got slammed again but harder. Life as I knew it utterly collapsed. Ive been dealing with this shit since

 

[boombachi]

2 days ill followed by 5 days well which progressed to 4 days ill and 3 days well and so on until I was ill every day. I think this pattern went on for about 2 or 3 years before becoming permanent.

 

[Learner1]

After surgery and chemotherapy for cancer, auto accident and the loss of my sister, my immune system was dysfunctional and several chronic infections reactivated/worsened.