Imagine being constantly exhausted, like you're physically and mentally depleted for months — even years — and no one can figure out why.
1. CFS kind of feels like one day you just "woke up in a fog."
2. It's not the same as feeling tired or lazy.
3. And no, sleeping doesn't help the fatigue at all.
4. Even small amounts of activity can wipe out CFS patients for days, or even weeks.
5. It also causes specific physical symptoms like muscle and joint pain, headaches, or a sore throat.
CFS can affect many different parts of the body and organs, causing debilitating physical symptoms. These can include muscle pain, pain in the joints with no obvious swelling or redness, frequent headaches, tender lymph nodes in the neck and armpits, and a sore throat.
Many of these symptoms are self-reported, but Rowe says CFS patients can also have more severe or obvious physical abnormalities that show up when doctors do a physical exam. These can include tingling or numbness in limbs, bowel issues, abnormal flexibility, purplish discoloration of the limbs, and irregular heart rate or blood pressure when standing.