Monday, August 4, 2014

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms

8. Can a person who has always had a low energy level have CFS?
No. A person with CFS fatigue experiences a big change in energy and activity that can be sudden or gradual.

9. Is CFS similar to Epstein-Barr, fibromyalgia or other autoimmune diseases?
Many chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms resemble those of infections, fibromyalgia and autoimmune diseases. But these other diseases in their entirety aren't like CFS. ^[1]

For instance, fatigue, sore throat and painful lymph nodes also occur in mononucleosis, which can be caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). But mononucleosis or EBV infections don't usually cause the other symptoms that can come with CFS.

The muscle and joint pain and fatigue can be similar to fibromyalgia and some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus ^[2]. With fibromyalgia, the joint and muscle pain are the most prominent. In CFS, fatigue is the most severe symptom.

10. What treatments or drugs are available?
Since CFS has no known cause, doctors treat the symptoms rather than the illness. For example, tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitryptilline can help the mood and sleep problems and joint and muscle pain.

There are more medications used to treat other CFS symptoms as well. (Consult your physician immediately if additional symptoms appear after you've started a prescribed drug.)