ME /CFS from Stress?

Messages
5
Is it possible to get ME/CFS from chronic stress? When my symptoms started 8 months ago, I thought this was all related to stress and I started exercising to combat that. I eventually saw a pattern of PEM (along with insomnia and anxiety) and that’s what led me to believe I have CFS. Anyway, my fatigue has gotten worse over the last few weeks. I’m not sleeping at all. I am suspecting that my CFS will develop as the next few months go by. I’m so scared.

But I’m just curious about the people who have CFS from chronic stress and any experiences or advice they would like to share with me. Is there any possibility of a recovery? Are there things I can do now to limit the severity of my symptoms.

Thanks for any input. Have a great day!
 

AnnieT

Senior Member
Messages
157
From personal experience I would definitely say yes. I had to take drastic measures to remove stress from my life, but it did eventually help break the cycle of crashing to severe.

Even things that shouldn't be stressful... such as having friends, I found too much, and still do when people enquire how i am. But then avoiding stress wont cure it, ... it's just about finding the balance of what you feel you can live with.
 
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37
Location
Canada
(Traduction google)I know that ME is variable in terms of expressions and reasons that could cause it. There are still basic symptoms to diagnose it. Also after 30 years of personal illness and readings on the subject, I know that ME can come from different factors.

Science has only been around for a very short time. Of course we would like to have a very clear answer from science. But there are so many angles from which we can analyze this disease that we will have to wait again to find real answers, scientifically proven.

The issue of stress comes up regularly to be an explanatory factor for ME. I believe that to try to understand this disease, one must remain open to this possibility and not put one's head in the sand.

Personally, I had a very stressful life before I got sick 30 years ago. As a couple, with children, work, home, activities, etc. I often got the flu. Unfortunately it all fell apart one day and then I got sick. At the start of the illness, I continued to fight. I felt in a fog with great difficulty in functioning, but I continued. I was going to see my doctor to tell him about it but told me that it was a bad time to pass. And so I continued to force myself. But I was crying a lot and my condition was deteriorating. And 5-6 years after this difficulty of functioning is there, I fell but really at the lowest. And there it was the years of bedridden life .... crash .... inability to exercise to get up ... very very great difficulty in functioning in my daily routine. So, I had to mourn my whole life around me and I had my 2 children in this decor. How they suffered without being able to express it.

Yes, honestly, I think the stress of too many things I was doing surely played into the illness. Too much has surely weakened my body. And I was not aware of taking care of myself. My goal was rather to reach the levels required by society: productivity, training, equipment that comes with .... I was aiming for that. And I realized that I had missed the essential which is to learn to love, to share, to live with others around me. I was rather selfish and focused on my little business. After 30 years of illness, the hindsight allows me to see that there is that in my illness but up to what percentage it contributes to it, I don't know. Maybe one day science can tell us a little more.

Since 30 years, I went from very severe to moderate EM with always improving. But I still have to be careful.
 
Last edited:

Wishful

Senior Member
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6,039
Location
Alberta
Even things that shouldn't be stressful... such as having friends, I found too much, and still do when people enquire how i am.

For me it's not stress, I think. It's the specific cognitive exertion of socializing. Chatting about non-stressful stuff is just as bad for me as stressful socializing. Driving triggers my PEM in the same way, and it increases with driving difficulty (icy roads at night trigger much worse PEM), though I'm not sure whether that's the extra stress or the extra neural processing.
 
Messages
5
(Traduction google)I know that ME is variable in terms of expressions and reasons that could cause it. There are still basic symptoms to diagnose it. Also after 30 years of personal illness and readings on the subject, I know that ME can come from different factors.

Science has only been around for a very short time. Of course we would like to have a very clear answer from science. But there are so many angles from which we can analyze this disease that we will have to wait again to find real answers, scientifically proven.

The issue of stress comes up regularly to be an explanatory factor for ME. I believe that to try to understand this disease, one must remain open to this possibility and not put one's head in the sand.

Personally, I had a very stressful life before I got sick 30 years ago. As a couple, with children, work, home, activities, etc. I often got the flu. Unfortunately it all fell apart one day and then I got sick. At the start of the illness, I continued to fight. I felt in a fog with great difficulty in functioning, but I continued. I was going to see my doctor to tell him about it but told me that it was a bad time to pass. And so I continued to force myself. But I was crying a lot and my condition was deteriorating. And 5-6 years after this difficulty of functioning is there, I fell but really at the lowest. And there it was the years of bedridden life .... crash .... inability to exercise to get up ... very very great difficulty in functioning in my daily routine. So, I had to mourn my whole life around me and I had my 2 children in this decor. How they suffered without being able to express it.

Yes, honestly, I think the stress of too many things I was doing surely played into the illness. Too much has surely weakened my body. And I was not aware of taking care of myself. My goal was rather to reach the levels required by society: productivity, training, equipment that comes with .... I was aiming for that. And I realized that I had missed the essential which is to learn to love, to share, to live with others around me. I was rather selfish and focused on my little business. After 30 years of illness, the hindsight allows me to see that there is that in my illness but up to what percentage it contributes to it, I don't know. Maybe one day science can tell us a little more.

Since 30 years, I went from very severe to moderate EM with always improving. But I still have to be careful.

Hi Florriane - Thank you for responding to me. I understand that a lot of ME cases started by some type of viral infection. As far as I know, I did not have one and the only thing I can think of is the chronic stress that's been building up for the last 5 years. I think my body had enough and now I am starting to develop ME. I am having a hard time not just with what's happening to my body but understanding how this will impact my wife and kids. We just started our lives and now this happened.

But I'm really grateful you responded to me. I have been so emotional about this and having just the hardest time.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
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17,796
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Texas Hill Country
@Marty04 - I think very long-term (lifelong) stress did a number on my immune system, making me susceptible to EBV and HHV-6, maybe other viruses associated with ME/CFS. I never had a severe flu as many do, my symptoms came on gradually over a period of years.

Have you seen any health care practitioners? Most MDs seem to be pretty useless when dealing with this illness. They generally run standard blood work, find nothing wrong, and send you home. Because of the chronic stress and not sleeping, I think it's worth investigating the state of your adrenals and cortisol levels. A naturopath or functional/integrative medicine doctor might be best for this. At one time I had high cortisol levels at night and Seriphos (phosphorylated serine, not phosphatidyl serine) was extremely helpful with this. Also an adrenal glandular product helped my energy a great deal when my adrenals were wiped out. My chiropractor who does muscle testing gave me Drenatrophin PMG by Standard Process. I had to take a very high dose in the beginning because I was so weak.

I don't think it's certain you have ME/CFS but I do think it would be very good for you to do some more investigating. I'm sure there are things that can help you. And of course it's important to eliminate stress as much as possible, or find constructive ways of dealing with it. I've found meditation to be very helpful.

Also, fwiw, I tried to exercise my way out of stress, only to learn years later that exercise actually raises cortisol. :sluggish: i'm not saying exercise is not important, but you have to know what you're doing, and I didn't. And I didn't know anything about cortisol, adrenals, etc., way back when.
 
Messages
7
Is it possible to get ME/CFS from chronic stress? When my symptoms started 8 months ago, I thought this was all related to stress and I started exercising to combat that. I eventually saw a pattern of PEM (along with insomnia and anxiety) and that’s what led me to believe I have CFS. Anyway, my fatigue has gotten worse over the last few weeks. I’m not sleeping at all. I am suspecting that my CFS will develop as the next few months go by. I’m so scared.

But I’m just curious about the people who have CFS from chronic stress and any experiences or advice they would like to share with me. Is there any possibility of a recovery? Are there things I can do now to limit the severity of my symptoms.

Thanks for any input. Have a great day!
 

Dechi

Senior Member
Messages
1,454
I may be wrong but I don’t think you can get ME from chronic stress only. Chronic stress plays a big role in it because it weakens the immune system and body, which makes you more vulnerable to catching viral infections that might lead to developing ME.

But chronic stress alone ? I don’t remember reading anything to that effect.
 
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