Do you feel too tired to get out of your bed every morning?
Is going through the day’s chores too exhausting for you?
Do you have unexplained muscular aches and pains every now and then?
If you always feel tired and miserable, then chances are high that you may be suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Does it sound new to you?
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a condition in which you feel fatigue followed by other symptoms. It is difficult to diagnose it early on. This is because you may feel tired due to a lot of other ailments too. Diagnosing chronic fatigue condition becomes all the more challenging as its symptoms appear for a few days and go into remission in the following period. This may happen in a cycle.
How to recognize Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Chronic fatigue syndrome can be diagnosed by your health care practitioner. Its symptoms last for atleast six months. There is no particular test to diagnose this condition. However, there are eight main symptoms that help diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome-
- Extreme fatigue:
Feeling tired most of the time is one of the major signs of chronic fatigue syndrome. You feel too exhausted to pull yourself through the day. If you indulge in any physical or mental activity, you feel too drained out in comparison to normal people without this condition. After any physical activity you feel extreme exhaustion that lasts for more than a day.
- Lack of restful sleep:
No matter how many hours you sleep, it never seems enough. You feel too groggy every morning even if you sleep early. The sleep never seems to refresh you.
- Joint pain:
You experience pain in your joints that keeps shifting from one joint to another for no reason. Unlike arthritis, there is no swelling or redness in or around the joint areas in your body.
You will find yourself popping painkillers for relieving frequent headaches. The intensity and type of pain keeps on varying from time to time. There is no fixed pattern for the headache.
- Muscle pain:
You frequently experience aches and pains in the muscles of your body. The muscular pain is persistent and appears out of the blue.
- Sore throat:
You may have a sore throat often. You’ll find yourself frequently taking medication or remedies for treating sore throat.
- Enlarged lymph nodes:
You may feel the presence of enlarged lymph nodes in your throat area or under your armpit.
- Low levels of concentration and memory:
You will find yourself often forgetting mundane things like where you put your house keys or having trouble remembering an address or a phone number. Your memory gets adversely affected. You cannot focus on the given task for a long time like reading a book beyond a couple of pages or working in the office. Your ability to concentrate well goes down.
Besides these eight major symptoms, there are certain other symptoms that people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome may experience. These symptoms vary from person to person. They are as follows:
- Vision problem:
You may have pain in the eyes, blurring of vision or your eyes may become too sensitive to light.
- Night sweats and chills:
You may feel cold suddenly or break into a sweat in the middle of the night despite proper ventilation.
- Irritable bowel:
You may experience irritable bowel syndrome that leaves you feeling more exhausted.
- Brain fog:
You may sense brain fogging where you feel confused and forgetful. You feel as if your mind has lost its sharpness and you are not able to think or focus with any clarity.
You allergies may crop up too frequently. Food, medication, weather, chemicals or smells can trigger an allergic reaction.
- Losing body balance:
You may have difficulty in sitting or standing upright and maintaining your body balance. You may also feel dizzy and faint.
You may have signs of depression, anxiety, mood swings, panic attacks following extreme tiredness that point towards chronic fatigue syndrome.
What makes you prone to developing chronic fatigue syndrome?
Age: If you are in your forties or fifties, then your risk for developing chronic fatigue syndrome is higher than in your twenties and thirties. The risk factor goes higher as you age.
Gender: If you are a woman you are more likely to be diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in comparison to men. This may be due to the fact that women are more vocal in expressing their symptoms than men.
Stress: If you are continually exposed to stressful conditions and not able to manage the stress effectively, you may end up with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Alternative therapies like practicing yoga, tai chi and acupressure therapy help in treating CFS. Try these yoga tips to get back all your lost energy levels: Visit Yogajournal.com
It’s time to put your wellness on first priority!