gknee

My primary care physician thinks I have CFS. She is sending me to a Rheumatologist and off for a sleep study. After reading information on the internet and your posts here I think she may be right. What do you all think?

Symptoms- Beginning around the 1st of January

• Body aches/muscle pain- Feels like the flu 24/7, constant horrible muscle aches of every muscle in my body, Ibuprofen etc. or heat gives no relief.

• Fatigue- I feel extremely exhausted 24/7 even after sleeping. Nothing I do can relieve the fatigue. To do normal household chores is overwhelming. Work takes all I have. Just sitting on the couch doing nothing is exhausting. It seems an effort to "lift arms". I feel like I need to lie down after doing the simplest things. I hung a picture on the wall and cried from exhaustion for 10 minutes. Walking the dog means exhaustion that can last for hours. I went back to work after 3 weeks vacation (I am a teacher) and the next day I couldn't get out of bed I was so tired/sick it was unbearable. I am now able to work but spend most of my time sitting because I am so tired. Lunch and breaks are horrendous. My body totally crashes and It’s all I can do to power up to teach the rest of the day. I went grocery shopping for about 10 items and about halfway through I couldn’t push the cart anymore I needed to sit down. I had to ask for help to push the cart and put the 10 items on the register belt and of course take them out to the car for me. I sat in the car for a bout 15 minutes trying to get the energy up to drive. I need to take a nap daily around 3-4 because I just can't make it though the rest of the day. Sometimes I'm not sleepy at this time but just need to lie down and rest. If I sleep it gives me enough energy to make dinner and I crash again around 7. If I don’t nap I’m done for the day.

• Difficulty sleeping- I can't get comfortable! I wake up to 5-8 times a night I ache so badly. (I have always woken up at 3 o’clock for the bathroom.) I fall easily back to sleep but will wake up soon after. I wake up in the morning still exhausted. I'm not necessarily sleepy still just exhausted.

• Sleep apnea- I think I do have a problem with sleep apnea. I will at times wake up with a loud gasp as if I’m catching my breath. I think have experienced this for many years. I sleep alone so no one has told me I stop breathing in my sleep. I have been told I snore loudly every night. My sons can hear it down the hall. (Both my children as infants were diagnosed with sleep apnea and were on apnea monitors. My eldest son was on one for 9 months.) My Dr. requested a referral for a sleep study for myself. I am waiting for approval from my insurance company.

• Tingling in both hands- especially in the fingers of my right hand

• Morning/all day stiffness- I'm stiff more than just my Osteoarthritis knees (Dr. Michelle Ward is trying to put off knee replacements with Synvisic injections. I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in my knees when I was 17 [32 years ago!]) and my Plantar Fasciitis heel (seeing Dr. Moellmer). My first few dozen steps after resting make me look like an OLD lady. I will start loosening up as I continue to walk around. When I wake up in the morning I can't close my right hand for the first few minutes. After a while I can bend more although not all the way closed. My hand will hurt horribly and continue to hurt throughout the day if I close it into a fist or grasp something small. The hand will regress to a claw if not kept actively moving. I have stiffness in my left hand also although not to this extent. Through out the day other joints will become stiff and then feel somewhat better. The stiffness seems to jump around.

• Allergies- My allergies to my cats and dust seem to be much worse? Itchy, dry eyes and stuffy nose. (Swollen and plugged feeling rather than runny or bogery)

• Smells- For some reason smells seem so much more pungent. ie. I can’t stand the smell of the cat box. Typically this didn’t really bother me. I have a poor sense of smell. ie. It takes a whole bottle of perfume in odor for me to smell perfume. This past few weeks smells of all kind bother me.

• Headaches migraine and tension (almost constant headache up through the back of my neck, up and around to my forehead). When I’m really exhausted I tend to get a migraine (light and sound sensitive). I used to get migraines maybe once every 2 months. The past month this has increased to approximately 4 times a week. Some migraines are basically headache with some pain behind my left eye with light sensitivity other are full-blown horrible hide in a dark room migraines with light and sound sensitivity sometimes-even nausea.

• Intensive lower back pain after chores or walking the dog. Heating pad and rest does help.

• Weakness and shakiness in thighs when standing or walking for periods of time.

• Yeast infection- I had my first yeast infection in 17 years on the first of April.

• Feels like bugs crawling on my skin. Not biting but itching or tickling. Dry skin?

• New achy joints- (Old pain due to Osteoarthritis in knees, hips, right shoulder, right index finger.) Now pain mostly in all right side finger joints, knuckles, wrist, elbow, and shoulder hurts even worse. I can't completely close my right hand all the way now. My hand hurts to write with a pencil or pen. Difficult to pick up a cup of coffee.

• Sore jaw muscles- I’m not sure if this has anything to do with all this but I have clenched my teeth in my sleep for the past 10 years and during the day at times. Now, I find myself constantly clenching my jaws to the point my jaw muscles ache and I have a headache from the tension. I have to force myself to relax my jaw.

• Vision- I’m not sure if this has anything to do with all this but 3 times while reading for a long period of time it seemed as if my eyes were focused on the reading and when I looked up it was if my eyes wouldn’t focus on things in the distance. Everything was very blurry for 3-4 minutes. Afterwards my vision was fine again.

• Sore throat since April 1st

• Diarrhea- I have been getting diarrhea a few times a month. It will happen once and then nothing for another few weeks. No other stomach symptoms during these episodes. I have had more gas than usual the past few months.

• Weight gain- I have gained 18lbs in the last 3 months

• Positive for Epstein-Barr Virus- I was diagnosed with Mono twice as a teen. Blood test taken in March showed positive for EVP. No other testing at the time was positive or deemed as a worry by Dr. Tampoya. My thyroid is fine according to the blood testing.