Are You Just a Tired Mom or is It Chronic Fatigue?

Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as CFS is a condition that chronic fatigue doctors say have become very widespread in the United States. There are many chronic fatigue symptoms and many of them are quite unpleasant.

Symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome include aching muscles and joints, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, fever, headaches, intestinal problems, irritability, jaundice, loss of appetite, mood swings, muscle spasms, recurrent upper respiratory tract infections, sensitivity to tight and heat, sleep disturbances, sore throats, swollen glands (the lymph nodes. The condition is also associated with sleep disturbances, memory loss and also extreme disabling fatigue.

The probe with chronic fatigue syndrome is that the symptoms are very similar to those of the flue and other viral infections. This leads to a lot of problems as a person searches from help for a doctor. This is because it is often misdiagnosed a hypochondria, psychosomatic illness or depression. This reason this type of diagnosis is so common is because routine medical tests are unable to detect any problems.

The syndrome is also three times more prevalent in women than in men and it is also more likely to affect young adults between the ages of twenty and forty years.

The major criteria that is used to establish a chronic fatigue disorder are —
• Persistent fatigues that does not resolve with bed rest and that is severe enough to reduce average daily activity by at least fifty percent for at least six months.

• The presence of other chronic clinical conditions including psychiatric disorders.
The exact causes of chronic fatigue syndrome are not very well understood. Some people believe it is linked to contracting an infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that is a member of the herpes virus family. This same virus also causes mononucleosis. This belief is based on the fact that many people with chronic fatigue syndrome have been found to have high levels of EBV antibodies in their blood and that many people date the onset of symbols to a prolonged bout with a viral infection. However no absolute connection between EBV and chronic fatigue has ever been proved.

There have been many other suspects in what causes this disease including the theory that it might be triggered wily a yet-to-be-indentified immune system problem or problems to do with blood pressure. Other causes that have been conjectured include chronicle mercury poisoning form dental fillings, hypothyroidism, and infection with the fungus Candida Albans, and sleep problems

Chronic fatigue is also linked with fibromyalgia, a muscle disorder that causes muscle weakness. The two conditions do seem to come hand in hand when the disease is present in anybody living with chronic fatigue.