What are the symptoms of CFS/ME?
The onset of symptoms can be fairly sudden (over a few days or so), or more gradual.
Fatigue
The most common main symptom is persistent fatigue (tiredness). The fatigue is of new onset. That is, it has not been life-long but started at a point in time and causes you to limit your activities compared to what you were used to. It is often felt to be both physical and mental fatigue, and said to be 'overwhelming', or to be 'like no other type of fatigue'. For example:
- It is very different to everyday tiredness (such as "after a days work").
- It is not eased much by rest.
- It is not due to, or like, tiredness following overexertion.
- It is not due to muscle 'weakness'.
- It is not 'loss of motivation or pleasure' which occurs in people who are depressed.
The fatigue is often made worse by activity. This is called 'post-exertional malaise'. However, the post-exertional malaise may not develop for several hours or more following the activity. It may even develop on the following day.
Other symptoms
In addition to fatigue, one or more of the following symptoms are common (but most people do not have them all). In some cases, one of the following symptoms is more dominant than the fatigue and is the main symptom.
- Mental ('cognitive') difficulties such poor concentration, reduced attention span, poor memory for recent events, difficulty to plan or organise your thoughts, difficulty 'finding the right words' to say, sometimes feeling disorientated.
- Sleeping difficulties. For example, early waking, unable to sleep, too much sleep, disrupted sleep/wake patterns.
- Pains - most commonly muscular pains (myalgia), joint pains, and headaches.
- Recurring sore throat often with tenderness of the nearby lymph glands.
- Intolerances and sensitivities to foods, alcohol, noise and bright light.
- Gut symptoms similar to those that occur in 'irritable bowel syndrome'. For example, excess, wind, bloating, alternating diarrhoea and constipation, abdominal pains, nausea (feeling sick).
- A range of other symptoms have been reported in some cases such as dizziness, excess sweating, difficulties with balance, and disordered temperature control of the body.
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Charlotte Hounslow, over 2 years
I found this helpful as i have not yet been diagnosed with m.e/ c.f.s, i am undergoing tests to rule everything else out. But for my sake it has shown me that i do have alot of the symtoms. the tiredness mainly but i couldnt understand why i felt sick all the time. reading this article has shown me that it can be a main symptom of m.e so i can stop panicking that it could be something else wrong with me. thankyou !
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