Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

[Dune]

Bear with me, thought it might be useful to spell out some thoughts which might be interesting to other long-sufferers.

I was wondering how many of you feel you might have CFS (or Fibro which is a variant of CFS) rather than pure GAD, etc.
Did you know apparently 20% of people with CFS have GAD - but that doesnt work the other way round.

Also CFS is thought to be a autonomic dysfunction disorder (similarly to Fibro) and GAD can also be seen in that light although of course there are the main mood disorder aspects. GAD and CFS are similar in that they both need triggers.

I am convinced I have a combo of CFS and GAD but not full blown CFS where you can hardly get out of bed - although it may progress, who knows.

I have been tired for over a year now - like tired nearly all the the time, my muscles ache, they burn easily with exertion. I'm always bloated - like always, no let-up. I always really feel the cold, shiver alot and cant also tolerate heat that well either. I get alot of sore throats, gravelly voice (people call me 'Barry White' at work sometimes when my voice deepens...lol...although thats where the similarity ends) and colds. My attention to detail isnt what it was and my powers of concentration are diminished. I am in effect a shadow of the person I was.

Lately I have re-read the symptoms of CFS - I havent read them for a while having convinced myself I just had 'plain ole' GAD - and this has made me re-think the basis of my condition.

All medical tests I have had have shown nothing. Zilch. Believe me I'm well read and experienced in medicine and the nervous system and I'm sure that GAD is not a primary diagnosis although of course I have elements of it. My condition has been lingering on like this physically for far too long without any let-up. It just doesnt make sense for it to be only GAD and nothing else, it doesnt quite fit.

In my case, I believe CFS came first through too much stress, long hours, various worries and pushing myself far too far physically. I think this weakened my immune system, affecting my nervous system and allowing a threshold to be crossed which allowed GAD to then flourish - or in other words I was too weak to fight GAD by that stage. I have thought all along I have some form of autonomic disorder - i.e. the systems that regulate your normal processes go haywire. Heart rhythms, heat/cold regulation, weight regulation, sleep, etc. I have previously thought my thyroid might be to blame as that is another aspect of autonomic control but my TSH levels are not abnormal. If you look at symptoms for hypothyroidism, CFS, GAD and fibro there are major overlap areas - obviously for a reason.

So yes I believe GAD/Fibro/CFS/thyroid issues are very closely interlinked due to overlap of somatic symptoms with disturbances of the stress processing areas of the brain leading to sympathetic and parasympathetic, i.e. autonomic, nervous disturbances. In theory this can cause just about any physical symptom you can think of. And these issues dont disappear overnight.

I know this as I have relatives who have had autonomic issues - my mother's sister had CFS for 12 years, her mother had thyroid issues for years and years until her death, and her other sister had thyroid dysfunction too. Just to balance the maternal vs paternal sides of the family my dad is a life long panic sufferer, and his dad had PTSD from WWII (although maybe thats not to be linked here), and his mother had GAD. So perhaps I was predisposed to get autonomic disturbance and GAD? Who knows.

Anyway, I was wondering if other people feel similarly about possibly having CFS as a primary issue rather than GAD as a primary issue? Or just have thoughts about this topic. Alot will depend on the circumstances of how you 'got into' GAD - i.e. mental vs. physical reasons, most people here will probably have GAD without other CFS/fibro/thyroid/other autonomic issues.

Sorry for the long and winding post, thanks for listening
Dune

[cynarra]

Hi Dune!  Yes I feel I have something more going on too.  Well , when I was 21 about 5 years ago I was diagnosed with MVP syndrome, which has an autonomic dysfunction aspect to it.  Well anyway, about 2.5 years ago I started having stomach problems and reflux.  Anyways I got really worked up about it and all my tests would come back fine except reflex showed on the barium swallow.  Anyways I turned to the internet to find out why in the hell I had stomach pain and reflux all the damn time.  This gave me the most horrible anxiety I have ever had in my life.  I'm talking like a breakdown.  Anyways yes I know have muscle twitching, also the burning like when I do physical things.  And I still have the reflux stomach pain, I think it might be a little gastroparesis.  Since everything else has been ruled out.  I am also like you I have many of the symptoms of CFS or Fibro, but I don't have the horrible Fatigue nor do I have the tender points or horrible muscle pain like Fibro.  Anyways I went to an integrative doc and he put me on yeast diet and supplements and I just did an adrenal stress index test, haven't got the results yet.  So yeah I definitely have physiological issues going on.  I can't help my anxiety, it just feels like my body can never rest I also have horrible cold intolerance like you said, and other little things that I know are not normal.  So yeah I know exactly how you feel. Well thanks for listening to my rant also.

[jcp]

Cynarra, do you have constant muscle twitching?  I have MVP too, and have been twitching for a year!

[cynarra]

Yeah, it does seem to be better now.  But I still have it alot.  I think I have felt twitching in every muscle of my body, even my butt alot! Do you have it everywhere too?  If you search on the mvpsupport site, you will find alot of others have it too.

[jcp]

Totally, my twitching has been going on for 14 months now....ever since a bunch of stressful situations all lumped in one.  I have had many neurological, blood, etc tests and nothing.  I find mine get worse with stress and illness, what about you?

I did check out that MVP site by the way, thank you so much!

[Always Dying]

I think this topic should be under the Hypochondriac section personally, you may be right, or you may just have anxiety and all these symptoms are just resulting from your over worked and shot nervous system.
Maybe stay away from medical study for a while (like i should) and see if it goes away.

[Dune]

Thanks for all your answers.

I see alot of posts about MVP - what is its relationship to anxiety?

Presumably anxiety can bring out MVP?
But is there a direct physical link the other way round other than mental worry about having MVP?

Did anyone here have MVP before they got anxiety disorder? i.e. did your MVP cause anxiety disorder through a direct physical link?

I thought my post kind of straddled both GAD and HA (but then GAD and HA overlap enormously and are treated the same way) but I put it in GAD as there is huge comordity between GAD and CFS.

Yes, I would say I'm physically and mentally shot but its been going on for over 18 months now so I dont see it going away anytime soon (CFS type conditions typically last between 2 to 6 years).

[bijous111]

i do no one thing..long ago i was dx'd with eptein barr ..then it was fibro...yet, i was clued in earlier in my days, that i was a gad disorder trainwreck, those other disorders brought out, so to speak, the severe gad....or it could've been turned back around...remember a long time ago, i was bed ridden, flu like syptoms all of the time, i was basically in bed for 1 year with a child that was 6 years old.
i took me for a loop..until someone told me that prozac was good for other things, just not for depression...i'll never forget when i went to my doc, which he told me i had epstein barr's syndrome, i saw on his notes......DEPRESSION....long story....i was totally in a state of fibro, or chronic mono, etc. .....when they say the word syndrome, then, they have no clue.
the prozac worked wonders for a few years, then the anxiety attack, fibro attack, etc. kicked in, to the present time..i feel strongly that stress can bring out the hidden things that attack our immune systems...........been thru too much.
my anxiety attacks , thinking back, started at 6 years old, no sexual abuse, nothing, except screaming, vivid dreams...i wish i knew what i know now,,,,,,,,,i needed help at 6, now i'm nearing 50 years old. sorry about the spelling, i'm very upset.