Ten Things You Need To Know About Chronic Fatigue
Also called ME, PVFS, SEID and a number of other terrifying acronyms, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a medical condition whose characteristic symptom is long-term fatigue. This fatigue is a form of constant exhaustion which is not helped by sleep, and which gets significantly worse after exertion. And if you think that sounds like no big deal, it turns out that it really isā¦
2. Fatigue is a lot more than being tired.
If asked to describe the feeling of fatigue, Iāll say that itās like having the flu: all you want to do is go to bed and not think about anything. My limbs feel like lead weights and a part of me is always waiting for my next nap. But unlike the flu, chronic fatigue never goes away - you canāt put your life on hold until you recover, you just have to power through it. Fatigue can make every day feel like a marathon.
Although fatigue is the distinguishing symptom for the condition, itās far from the only one. Sufferers might experience pains in their muscles and joints, headaches, sore throats, memory problems, insomnia, vertigo, irritable bowel, difficulty concentrating and more. Every case is different: few suffer every possible symptom, and their severity can vary hugely too, leaving some sufferers bed-bound while others lead relatively active lives.
4. Exertion isnāt just physical.
All the symptoms of the condition become worse after exertion, making it important to take things slow and steady. But hard work isnāt only in the body - periods of focussing hard on a problem or doing intense mental arithmetic can also bring on a bout of increased symptoms. And those symptoms are mental too - when youāre struggling with mind fog and memory problems, it can be impossible to follow anything more complex than the plot of a Disney movie.
5. Small effort = huge consequences.
Although walking to the shops may seem like a small task to you, to me it would be disastrous. After exertion, every symptom gets worse - every muscle aches, concentration becomes impossible, and my fatigue makes it difficult to move. For me, the effects of a single bout of over-exertion can take up to three days to fully recover from, and that time extends exponentially if I over-exert again before Iām completely recovered.
6. Depression is closely related.
If youāve ever been to a therapist, youāve probably been asked if you have trouble sleeping or feel tired most of the time, because these are common symptoms of mood disorders. As you can imagine, when your answers are always āyesā, it can be difficult to have a positive outlook on life. Some doctors think depression might actually be a symptom of the disease, but even if itās not, itās definitely a frequent visitor alongside it.
7. There is no treatment.
There are no pills you can take or exercises you can do to cure chronic fatigue. Although it sometimes vanishes on its own, the only option while you have it is to manage your symptoms, and try to increase your activity levels so you can manage more without over-exerting. There are a number of methods to do this, but most focus on the need for consistency and gradual change; there are no easy solutions.
8. No-one knows the cause.
In some ways, chronic fatigue is a mystery illness: no-one is certain of the root cause of the syndrome. Although symptoms are often triggered by a virus, there is no definite diagnostic test - instead, a diagnosis is given if symptoms persist after every other possible diagnosis has been ruled out. In fact, research into the condition is woefully underfunded, and as a result very little information about chronic fatigue has been experimentally tested.
9. It can happen to anyone.
Before I developed chronic fatigue, I was a healthy and active university student with no family history of the condition - I had never even heard of it. The symptoms developed very suddenly - only a couple of weeks after I first felt unwell, I was struggling with tasks that had once been well within my abilities. My whole life was turned upside down within only a couple of months. Chronic fatigue can happen to anyone, at any time, and itās no-oneās fault when it does.
Although this may sound obvious given everything Iāve just told you, chronic fatigue syndrome is a chronic illness and is legally and ethically entitled to the same reasonable accommodations as any other disability. The reason this might not be so obvious is that chronic fatigue is often invisible - while some sufferers might use wheelchairs or other mobility devices, many do not look ill while out and about.
When it comes to invisible illness, itās vital to remember that you never know who might be disabled - whether parked in a handicapped bay, or choosing the lift over the stairs, never assume you know the level of help a stranger needs to live their day-to-day life.