I am recently diagnosed with this crazy thing and have a lot of questions. I have always been an extremely active mother of two boys, involved in every part of thier lives, now I have no energy at all, I'm exhausted unloading the dishwasher, do the syptoms go away or am I going to be like this the rest of my life? I have recently been remarried and we were planning on trying to have a child together is that out of the picture? How do I continue being that mom thats always there? my boys are now 14 & 15 and need me more than ever. All the searches I do are just so depressing, I feel as though I am so disconnected with my family, all I do is sleep! This is so frustrating.
Tired Mom :confused:

You must rest, do only what you are able to. Don't over do it, it could cause you to relapse.
Having a child is not out of the picture, there is someone i know who has had twins and is doing ok.
You must ask your boys and husband to help more often now.
When i first got diagnosed I just carried on pushing and pushing and ended up bedbound. I'm still in the wheelchair, that relapse happened last april/may. The illness will go one day, but it could take years, you will never be totally 100% better but be about 95-99% better. But it may also only take 6 months to go for some people.
xx

I just wrote on the nearby question. I have had CFS for 10 years. I finally found a doctor that figured it out. Then I found a specialist. Find one quickly. Check out getting B12 shots. That helped me. I had almost NONE. I had damaged the nerves in my brain and my blood was showing it too. VERY serious. Find someone that can tell you what vitamins to take. CoQ10 is excellent. I take many things. You need someone to tell you though. Please to not start anything new. Do what you have to and no more. REST is NUMBER ONE> I was bedridden also. Docs and others tell you to exercise. That will cause a relapse. I had vertigo, exhaustion, nausea, and could not tolerate any noise. I had many many problems. I have been recovering for THREE years. I have a long way to go, but I have a great life now. REST and get to a GOOOOOOD doctor nutritionist that specializes in this. If you do not like one, find another. Only you can help yourself. I figured that out also. BEST of luck. :)

I have done all of that. I started getting better when I finally found a specialist in CFS> The doctors I had before were very bad about CFS. They knew nothing and one didn't believe it existed. One that did believe, said there was nothing to be done! I also STOPPED being a vegetarian. That didn't cause it, but made it worse. Beef is critical. I take many supplements and B12 shots monthly. I am improving, but it is slow.

do the syptoms go away or am I going to be like this the rest of my life? This is so frustrating.
Tired Mom :confused:
This is a very frustrating illness, for many reasons. One, most doctors haven't a clue what it is or how to treat it. Two, the rest of humanity doesn't understand it which makes it difficult to feel supported. Three, because CFIDS hasn't been legitimatized as a serious illness, research is negligible.

I suggest you check out the CFIDS home page. There is a lot of good information there. This is what I have gleaned, though, about the length of time the illness lasts. There are usually 3 courses:
1) eventually you get better, but not 100%
2) you get worse
3) and this applies to the majority of CFIDS patients, you get neither better nor worse but continue to have "flares" that last varying lengths of time.

I just read in a reference book at the health food store that because CFIDS is triggered by so many different factors, one can go, for instance, 6 or 8 months or even a year or two without a "flare" and think they are "home free" but as soon as they encounter something in their inner or outer environment that is a trigger, i.e. perfume or other odor, undue stress, anger, certain foods, smoke, etc. they can easily find themselves in another "flare". This, supposedly, is because the virus is embedded in the body and, to date, there is still no known cure.