Chronic Fatigue Symptoms

One of the earliest chronic fatigue symptoms is central nervous system damage. Often, chronic fatigue retrovirus, a chronic infection or exposure to a toxin results in this damage, which leads to symptoms like a change in blood pressure, breathing irregularities, irritable bowel syndrome, visual disturbances, burning sensations, chest pain and hypersensitivity. Since these are such wide-ranging symptoms, one can see how it's easy to misdiagnose chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Of all the symptoms, fatigue is the best known. This tiredness syndrome involves more than slumping down in a chair after work or falling asleep while studying rigorously for a test, however. The exhaustion is severe, incapacitating and all-encompassing. Often a patient will wake up feeling just as tired as when he or she went to bed. A mental fog descends over the sufferer, making it difficult to focus, concentrate, remember words or perform daily tasks. Some patients say your mental faculties are so numbed, it feels like you've got the flu all the time. The most severe cases cause a person to quit work, stop going out and essentially remain bedridden.

For sufferers of chronic fatigue symptoms, strenuous exercise is not a good cure. While moving around and getting oxygen into your blood stream does typically provide a burst of energy, CFS virus sufferers experience post-exertion malaise, which is a prolonged exhaustion and worsening of symptoms after mental or physical exertion. The symptoms will worsen for 12 to 48 hours after strenuous activity and it will take a very long time for the individual to recover. No amount of sleep seems to do any good either.

If left untreated, chronic fatigue symptoms often lead to depression and anxiety. Dr. Leonard Jason of DePaul University published a 1999 study that concluded 60% of those diagnosed with CFS had never experienced a psychiatric illness before. Some of the depression likely comes as a result of being unable to perform tasks that used to be so easy, as well as the feeling that no one else truly understands what this syndrome entails. Depression, anxiety and stress can exacerbate the related symptoms of CFS, so it's important that the mental effects be treated as well.

Next related article about chronic fatigue symptoms
What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ?
Learning "what is chronic fatigue syndrome" will help you decide whether or not you may meet the chronic fatigue syndrome medical definition. Next you may be wondering about various treatment options. Unfortunately, there is no known cure for CFS, only suggested treatments to relieve some of the medical symptoms like mental fatigue and body pain.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatments
Since the root cause is so mysterious, many CFS treatments are pharmaceutical in nature so the symptoms can be treated. Sleep aids, muscle relaxants and stimulants are given to help with sleep disorders and fatigue. Antidepressants can help with depression, sleep difficulty and pain.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms
Diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms involves ruling out all other diseases and conditions that cause fatigue, such as a stressful lifestyle, cancer, adrenal disorder, thyroid disorders, HIV, AIDS, drug dependence, immune disorders, infections, muscle/nerve disorders (multiple sclerosis), endocrine diseases (hypothyroidism), disease of the heart/kidney/liver, psychiatric illness, depression and tumors. The diagnosis is primarily based upon symptoms, but the doctor may also conduct a brain MRI and blood tests to check white blood cell count or type.