I received in my email today a “medical alert.”  I was feeling a bit on the edgy side already but having this come in as an “alert” was more than a little irritating.  The medical alert, which is supposed to be about news and research, was titled, “What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?”  Slow news day I guess.
The only thing I took from this was a good solid list about what needs to be ruled out before a diagnosis of CFS can be made.

alcohol or substance abuse
autoimmune disease
bipolar affective disorders
cancer
chronic mononucleosis
eating disorders
hormonal disorders
hypothyroidism
major depressive disorders
multiple chemical sensitivities
myalgic encephalomyelitis
neurasthenia
obesity
reactions …read more

CFIDS is another way of saying CFS or chronic fatigue syndrome. CFIDS stands for chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome, which many feel is a more accurate name – at least in the United States. The rest of the world calls chronic fatigue syndrome, ME or myalgic encephalomyelitis. It seems to me that a name defines an illness and determines how seriously physicians take the patient, not to mention the rest of society. But that is a topic for another day.
The next few days I am going to be talking about awareness. Awareness of CFS, CFIDS, …read more