My mother has had on-going health problems and has yet been diagnosed with any specific illness.
She does have High Blood Pressure so has been on blood pressure medication.
The Dr's have said she has a Low Immune System.
Her list of symptoms are-
*weight gain (although doesn't overeat and has cut out processed food.)
* heart palpatations (had bad chest pains, checked heart and all is fine there)
* Fatigue
* swollen neck
* pain in lower back/spine
* dizziness (especially at night)
* she has been diagnosed with glaecoma (sp?) but has eye pain
* short term memory loss
* tingling sensations/pin and needles
* sometimes has rash/small lumps on face/arms etc
* has suffered with migraines since teenager
As far as I can remember these are her symptoms.
She is very worried that it may be multiple sclerosis but I wanted to know what others thought about the CFS theory for her situation.
Sally, what I can tell you is that CFS is not an easy diagnosis to make. The problem, as you may already know, is that there are no diagnostic tests for this illness. This means the only thing her doctors can do is explore all the other possible causes of her problems first. If she is concerned about MS, she needs to explore this further.
From the list of symptoms you provided, it looks like something neurological could be wrong and MS needs to be ruled out. Has she had an MRI of her brain performed? How well is she sleeping? Was there ever a sleep study done?
These would be good things to do before considering a CFS diagnosis. Hope that helps.
She has had her thyroid checked as far as I know and she got the all clear although thyroid problems do run in our family so maybe they have missed something here.
Mum is off to the Dr today and demanding she get an MRI in case it is MS so will see how that goes.
Good luck to you and will post to inform you of how she goes today, thanks again.
I would also check the thyroid board here where you will find more definitive information about thyroid tests and what docs often miss in the thyroid panel. My research of late indicates that many people are deficient in iodine (not the kind in Morton's salt, which is very bad for you) and that this deficiency can often lead to thyroid problems. I am no longer taking thyroid meds but a combination of Iodoral iodine and Modiflan which is natural brown seaweed sold in capsules. You can do your own research if interested . Just thought I'd mention.
how old is your mother. some of these symptoms could be perimenopause. has she had her hormone's checked?
Go to [url]www.cfids.org[/url] and take the questionaire. See symptoms and then you'll know what to ask your Doc for the age you are regarding CFS/Me. I tend to think it may be hormones, however if you are experiencing any of the CFS/ME symptoms and the questionaire shows you may be in that category, then if your Doc does not know anything about the illness I would go to someone else. Alot of MD's do not know anything regarding CFS/ME.~~Beauty
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