How do you know if you have CFS or depression?

[Guest guest]

(Note: Email received by the CF-Alliance)

Lately I have been feeling in a daze of very tired fog so to speak it

is like I go through my days and I feel so tired and I know I did

stuff but I tend to forget the stuff that I did. I mean I know I did

it but it just feels like I did not kinda thing. I went to my doc

yesterday and told her straight I think I have CFS and she agreed. But

Does this sound Like CFS or depression? Also when my blood preasure

it was like I believe 94/60 something and I felt so calm and relaxed

and tired like almost in a dream or a very intense thinking state so

to speak I guess. When they check my heart was at 59 beats a min, Is

this all normal or is this Signs of CFS?

Also can CFS make you have numbing surges like if you strech your hand

it go kinda numb for just a couple seconds and okay then next?

Just askin,

[Guest guest]

hey karin

granted, i am not a doctor, but from what i've read and from what i've

personally experienced - depression is a symptom of a consequence of CFS. Not to

say you wouldn't otherwise be sad. Being chronically ill is no picnic in the

park. It would depress anyone. I think, however, when you have CFS, it can

exxaterate it, however I also think it's certainly possible to manage it IF you

are aware of it.

Which i think is really important because there has been studies that have

shown that depression lowers you immune system and such, so if you have CFS and

become depressed and then you get more tired and thus might exxaterate your CFS,

which might exxaterate your depression and it becomes this vicious cycle. Just

my personal theory.

someone had posted a really excellent website for CFS/ME and I think it might

be helpful

http://www.ahummingbirdsguide.com/index.htm

hope this helps!

--michele

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I'm not a doctor but to me your symptoms, are more like Fibromyalgia symptoms

than CFS.

See link

http://www.fmnetnews.com/pages/basics.html

Good luck

[Guest guest]

,

This may help:

http://www.cfids.org/resources/provider-info-1.asp

It sounds to me like you have CFS. I'm not a doctor; but, I've had

CFS for over 20 years and have done quite a bit of reading on it.

Sue B.

>

> Lately I have been feeling in a daze of very tired fog so to speak it

> is like I go through my days and I feel so tired and I know I did

> stuff but I tend to forget the stuff that I did. I mean I know I did

> it but it just feels like I did not kinda thing. I went to my doc

> yesterday and told her straight I think I have CFS and she agreed. But

> Does this sound Like CFS or depression?

[Guest guest]

> Also can CFS make you have numbing surges like if you strech your

hand

> it go kinda numb for just a couple seconds and okay then next?

>

>

OK, now that is just too weird not too make a comment about...

I've always wanted to know how to describe that feeling...you said it

perfectly.

But...what is it?

[Guest guest]

Hello, I am new to this group, but wanted to comment on this one.

Self diagnosis is dangerous. You could have a lot of serious

diseases that should be tested for and eliminated. Basically,

eliminating all other diseases is really the medical way to diagnos a

Syndrome.

I have done a lot of research and am very confused myself. Even if

tests have eliminated other diseases, you still have CFS,

fibromyalgia, and Depression to deal with. Many believe depression

is just a part of either of the other two, and it can be, but

Depression can also stand on its own. But what about CFS and

fibromyalgia. Many believe they are 1 and the names should be

combined. Where do you all stand on this? Up until now I have

thought they were separate, but as I start having more pain, I begin

to wonder. And then someone referenced www.hummingbirdsguide.com and

I started to get angry. It says CFS does not exist at all.

Any opinions or experience with CFS vs. fibromyalgia?

>

> (Note: Email received by the CF-Alliance)

>

> Lately I have been feeling in a daze of very tired fog so to speak

it

> is like I go through my days and I feel so tired and I know I did

> stuff but I tend to forget the stuff that I did. I mean I know I

did

> it but it just feels like I did not kinda thing. I went to my doc

> yesterday and told her straight I think I have CFS and she agreed.

But

> Does this sound Like CFS or depression?

[Guest guest]

Put me down for that one too!

STL Jane

bulldoggergal wrote:

> Also can CFS make you have numbing surges like if you strech your

hand

> it go kinda numb for just a couple seconds and okay then next?

>

>

OK, now that is just too weird not too make a comment about...

I've always wanted to know how to describe that feeling...you said it

perfectly.

But...what is it?

[Guest guest]

Hi , I agree with you on the confusion, I think everyone here probably

will. I personally have never been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and at the

beginning, after I was Dxd with CFS/CFIDS, pain really wasnt' an issue. But

that has changed in the last few years and now the pain is almost unbearable. I

will see my CFS doc tomorrow and am going to ask her about it.

I'm with you on the hummingbird site, about a year ago when I found it (thru a

reference here) I felt pretty positive about the whole syndrome , but lately, I

get pretty ticked off reading the info there (not to mention, MORE confused then

I was!) Then I get to thinking,.....does it really matter what people call it?

All I want is some help. I've been hellbent on changing the name CFS/CFIDS

until recently, while it's getting more publicized. I'm almost afraid if the

name changes NOW, what kinda mess will we be in next?

Hang in there,

STL Jane

lrolf23 wrote:

Hello, I am new to this group, but wanted to comment on this one.

Self diagnosis is dangerous. You could have a lot of serious

diseases that should be tested for and eliminated. Basically,

eliminating all other diseases is really the medical way to diagnos a

Syndrome.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Well I have had CFS/ME for 25 yrs and only diagnosed with Fibro about 2 years

ago. My Rheumatologist does not believe in CFS-not that he has said that but

his face is enough. I was diagnosed with Lupus about 10 yrs ago which is

getting worse just at the moment. I don't think that depression necessarily

goes hand in hand with CFS or fibro. I think that at times you can get down

because you have a chronic illness and there seems to be no end to it but I am a

positive person and the doctors have never given me anti-depressants but I have

been down at times-like when I have had this flare with the Lupus-the fatigue

was unreal, bad enough with the CFS but add the Lupus fatigue as well sigh. Not

sure if this will help. Certainly I had the CFS for a long time and the

Fibro-well for a few yrs before the Rheumatologist diagnosed it but maximum of 5

yrs.

Regards Nerida

lrolf23 wrote:

Hello, I am new to this group, but wanted to comment on this one.

Self diagnosis is dangerous. You could have a lot of serious

diseases that should be tested for and eliminated. Basically,

eliminating all other diseases is really the medical way to diagnos a

Syndrome.

I have d

[Guest guest]

Daring to get into the same trouble I got into at another Yahoo group

on this same topic, I'm going to reply by saying that some experts

(Goldenberg, Clauw, Teitelbaum) consider that FM and CFS " may be " the

same disorder, and each of them has written on this subject and

Goldenberg in particular no longer separates the two in his

treatments. (I said this much better this time than I did on the

other group! lol!)

There are other types of doctors who say that neither syndrome exists

at all. Which is IMO just ridiculous!

As for depression and pain from depression... I read somewhere that

pain from depression is " vague " , as opposed to pain from FM or CFS

which is anything BUT vague.

This is all just MY OPINION, based on stuff I've read. Please don't

put any weightedness onto it, it's based purely on self-education and

a ton of reading, reading, reading.

K2

Many believe they are 1 and the names should be

> combined. Where do you all stand on this? Up until now I have

> thought they were separate, but as I start having more pain, I begin

> to wonder.

[Guest guest]

My hands & fingers go numb frequently, and my feet and legs too.

K2

> > Also can CFS make you have numbing surges like if you strech your

> hand

> > it go kinda numb for just a couple seconds and okay then next?

>

[Guest guest]

Some people do consider Fm & Cfs to be the same, but for me i have Fm and a

friend has Cfs.

I have alot of pain more than tiredness

and my friend has extreme tirednesss and no pain

but we both have similar symptoms with brain fog, trmors, light and noise

sensitivity etc etc

no doubt the debate will go on and on until it is proved either way.

Personally i believe them to be separate but with similarities.

sandy

K2 wrote:

Daring to get into the same trouble I got into at another Yahoo group

on this same topic, I'm going to reply by saying that some experts

(Goldenberg, Clauw, Teitelbaum) consider that FM and CFS " may be " the

same disorder, and each of them has written on this subject and

Goldenberg in particular no longer separates the two in his

treatments. (I said this much better this time than I did on the

other group! lol!)

[Guest guest]

I feel that you DO need to see a doctor who is capable of running tests

to competently diagnose CFS/ME and/or Fibromyalgia; those are physical

ailments. (Please note here that I always say CFS/ME; I was diagnosed

with ME and Fibromyalgia; I already HAD depression for which I was in

treatment and taking medication for.)Depression is something which

isn't nesecarily -or not so far- a physical ailment and needs to be

diagnosed seperately. My doctor had a rule, in fact, that new patients

meet with apsychiatrist; this was mostly so as to see how they felt,

how they weredealing with the diagnosis and also to see if there

weresigns there of depression. it is something which is best treated by

someoneho is familiar with treating such things; in other words not the

same kind of doctor one would see for such medical problems/symptoms as

one encounters with CFS/ME (sore throats, swollen glands, really bad

fatigue, headaches which are 'different' and so on).

Jane, the one with the hound

>> Hi , I agree with you on the confusion, I think everyone here

>probably will. I personally have never been diagnosed with

>Fibromyalgia and at the beginning, after I was Dxd with CFS/CFIDS,

>pain really wasnt' an issue. But that has changed in the last few

>years and now the pain is almost unbearable. I will see my CFS doc

>tomorrow and am going to ask her about it.

> I'm with you on the hummingbird site, about a year ago when I

>found it (thru a reference here) I felt pretty positive about the

>whole syndrome , but lately, I get pretty ticked off reading the >info

there (not to mention, MORE confused then I was!) Then I get >to

thinking,.....does it really matter what people call it? All I >want

is some help. I've been hellbent on changing the name >CFS/CFIDS until

recently, while it's getting more publicized. I'm >almost afraid if

the name changes NOW, what kinda mess will we be in >next?

>> Hang in there,> STL Jane

[Guest guest]

I also read, read, read too much! My Mom has fibromyalgia but not

accompanied with fatigue. At the moment she is pain free thanks to a

lot of detoxing. From my own observations and later hearing the same

thing from some more progressive doctors in Germany and people in

the nutritional field, I've concluded that most, if not all, people

with FMS and CF are severely malnourished and have lots of allergies

and weakness as a result. If you look in the toilet and see chunks

of food, this is what's happening.

Dr. Sherry ' books show this and so do the results when

people's digestive systems get repaired and food and nutrients are

absorbed and utilized again. She recommends a macrobiotic diet.

Same results can be had with a raw food diet but you need to consume

enough calories and blending the food is easier to absorb. This way

you can take in large quantities of nutrients that are easier to

assimilate.

I've also seen a man with one of his country's worst cases of ME do

a complete turnaround using magnetic energy. He stopped his pain

meds, he stopped stuttering and he went back to public speaking all

within a short period of time. He loaned me a video from a medical

conference in Ireland and the experts there links CF to something to

do with calcium not being correctly utilized. It was very medical

and I really don't remember the details but they talked about blood

pressure and why people with CF get so tired after their bouts of

energy. Now, the reason I mention this is that calcium is formed by

using magnetic energy. They use it in some hospitals for speeding

up bone growth and many people overcome osteoporosis using magnetic

energy.

Here's what helped my Mom:

-magnets for sleep (body only repairs itself during sleep)

-Devil's claw for pain (can't be taken continually though)

-drinking lots of alkaline water

-detoxifying with an ionic footbath (about 25 to see good results)

-using a probiotic superfood to heal her bowels

-after all this she still had migraines and recently started on

liquid zeolite to remove further toxins. She hasn't taken it that

regularily but did report at the beginning that she was having less

pain. Then her best friend died and she forgot to take it for a

while. I'll report on that in the future if it continues to get

better.

-she made no dietary changes unfortunately. I think she needs to

avoid food additives and dairy too but she's my Mom and since when

do Moms listen to daughters, lol? Well, she did listen to me and

tried a series of 10 colonics with zero results. Maybe that's why

she won't listen to me about diet either!

As far as depression goes, according to The Diet Cure, it may just

be a lack of amino acids in the brain.

It seems that out of all the people I know with FMS, the ones on

medications have the worst pain and the worst diets and drink the

least amount of water. To be fair, they've also endured a lot of

stressful situations.

FMS almost always seems to occur with a shock to the body, something

like whiplash for example or a death or divorce. Dr. Hamer's theory

about cancer is that it starts with a shock. Perhaps it's the same

with FMS too.

You're right about it being ridiculous that some people (like

doctors and spouses!) say it doesn't exist! They shouldn't exist

either, lol! Welcome to the group. You'll learn a lot here and

we're pretty tolerant.

Sharon

[Guest guest]

Yeah, I definitely had depression before anything else. And even now

I can tell if I am feeling down because of the CFS or because I need

depression meds changed.

My sister (a degreed RN) had CFS and Fibromyalgia and always felt

they were related, but I don't remember if she thought they were the

same. She had more problems with the FM. She was 8 years older than

I, and kept insisting that I was following her pattern at the same

ages she had them. Right before she died, she told me " You have FM,

you just won't admit it. " She was right, I guess. When I got sick

this round (Oct. 2006) it seemed to be just CFS. Met the CDC def. to

a T, and I just didn't have the pressure point pain, or any pain to

speak of. In the last couple of months, the pain has started showing

up, although I'm not sure they relate to the pressure points. The

pain is either all over, or in my legs.

Over the past 6 years, I have had skull and neck MRI's, EEG, evoke

potential for vision and hearing (they were just sure I had MS for a

while), chest xrays, sinus CT scan, stress EKG, and most recently a

sleep and sleep latency test. Oh, and all the blood tests you could

think of. By CDC definition therefore, I have ruled out the chance

it could be lots of other diseases. Therefore, the CFS diagnosis, to

me should be a definite. However, I am still trying to convince my

disability insurance company and SSA-Dis of that.

To finish the story, my sister went on to develop a very rare cancer

called lyeomiosarcoma which attacks muscle tissue. She lived 3 years

with it after they gave her 24% odds of living 2 years. That was 2

years ago and I miss being able to ask her about some of these things.

This is also why I am concerned when people decide they have CFS/ME

without testing for other things, and why I think they are separate

but related.

>

> I feel that you DO need to see a doctor who is capable of running

tests

> to competently diagnose CFS/ME and/or Fibromyalgia; those are

physical

> ailments. (Please note here that I always say CFS/ME; I was

diagnosed

> with ME and Fibromyalgia; I already HAD depression for which I was

in

> treatment and taking medication for.)

[Guest guest]

Hi all-- This was quite a long post and there were things in it with

which I did not quite agree, BUT this is the experience of the poster.

However, I DID find the statement about this so-called doctor Hamer to

be incredibly offensive!! 'Cancer starts with a shock,' huh? I

acknowledge that this was taken out of context; you were making a point

in a comparison of stress (or life changing event) with FMS, but also

took this 'doctor' Hamer's statement. I have ME/CF/FM. AND I know a

great many people, some alive, some not who had cancer. One close

friend, in fact, has (of had?)a rare form seemingly disappeared via

chemo. However, it could always come back. I smply cannot buy

this 'shock' theory on cancer and I KNOW that this isn't what you wrote

the post on, but it was there, and I am damn sensetive about this

topic; my friend has two small children. I had cancer myself a long

time ago and it was from that virus they now allegedly have a vaccine

for. THAT wasn't shock, was it? This is actually more directed

at 'doctor' Hamer, I guess.

Jane, the one with the hound

---

>>> It seems that out of all the people I know with FMS, the ones on

> medications have the worst pain and the worst diets and drink the

> least amount of water. To be fair, they've also endured a lot of

> stressful situations.

> > FMS almost always seems to occur with a shock to the body, something

> like whiplash for example or a death or divorce.

>>>>>Dr. Hamer's theory> about cancer is that it starts with a shock.

[Guest guest]

Please resend the article on this topic. Iam very interested and have asked

myself this questions many times.

thanks so much

ANNE

[Guest guest]

CFS Psychological or Physical?

by Dr. Myhill, MD*

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/7606

>

> Please resend the article on this topic. Iam very interested and

have asked myself this questions many times.

> thanks so much

> ANNE

>

[Guest guest]

I couldn't agree more, other than the waking time.............this is it to a

tee for me!

cf_alliance wrote: CFS Psychological or

Physical?

by Dr. Myhill, MD*

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/7606

>

> Please resend the article on this topic. Iam very interested and

have asked myself this questions many times.

> thanks so much

> ANNE