USA: Arthritis Foundation: Understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Sly Saint · Aug 28, 2023

a bit muddled.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex illness marked by profound exhaustion that lasts at least six months. Symptoms get worse with normal mental or physical activity and are not relieved by rest. It’s different from the deep tiredness you may feel from a demanding job, too many late nights, stress or depression. Exhaustion in CFS is long-lasting and may not have a clear cause.
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Post-exertional malaise (PEM), worsening symptoms after physical or mental activities that didn’t previously cause problems. Recovery from PEM can take days or weeks. According to the National Institutes of Health, PEM is also the predominant symptom of long COVID.
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not quite right; and PEM is main symptom of ME not predominant symptom of LC.

ME/CFS is diagnosed when someone has four of the five main symptoms listed above. Symptoms must be moderate or severe at least half the time.
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??

Dubious History
ME/CFS, once called neurasthenia, has an unfortunate but familiar history. Beginning in the mid-1800s, severe exhaustion was believed to result from a society that had become too fast-paced for the human body’s own good. Although men could develop neurasthenia, it was diagnosed far more often in women, especially those who “thought too much” or worked outside the home. It was either ignored and ridiculed by the medical establishment or, more often, treated with lengthy rest cures and dubious tonics. Chronic fatigue still isn’t included in most medical school curricula, and some doctors continue to dismiss it as a psychosomatic illness. Yet ME/CFS is a real physical disorder with potentially life-altering symptoms.
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Who Gets It
About one in eight people is believed to have ME/CFS, although as many as 90% of cases may be undiagnosed. It can affect anyone but is most common in younger adults and those assigned female at birth. It’s also more common in people of color than in whites.
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Physical pacing. This is one of the most important but also most challenging aspects of treating ME/CFS. Patients first must figure out what level of activity triggers post-exertional symptoms. Then, working with a physical therapist or personal trainer experienced in ME/CFS, they can begin a gentle exercise program that aims to increase in intensity while preventing PEM. Research shows that ME/CFS patients feel and sleep better and have more energy with exercise.
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https://www.arthritis.org/diseases/chronic-fatigue-syndrome

Jonathan Edwards · Aug 28, 2023

More than a bit muddled. Pretty much drivel as far as I can see.
Even the emphasis on pacing is about doing exercises. Then it goes to Chinese herbs.
The stuff on causation is nonsense.
The diagnostic account is nonsense.

Ash · Aug 28, 2023

Oh yeah, that technique where you increase your exercise without triggering PEM. The evidence based way to exercise that for some reason or other so many of us are choosing not to do.

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USA: Arthritis Foundation: Understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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