I have struggled for over ten years with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (although not formally diagnosed). I was told as I was entering my twenties that I had CFS by a doctor filling in for my PCP while he was on vacation. He had run a battery of tests before leaving to find out why at 19 years old I was struggling with extreme fatigue. I have been a patient of my PCP since I was eleven and until that point I had always been very physically fit and active. The tests came back positive for Epstein-Barr, but I had never had Mono or any other illness related to Epstein-Barr, not even chickenpox. The long and short of it is, I struggled for five more years after researching CFS believing that nothing could be done to help me, but I became desperate and decided to go back to the doctor to see if there was anything we could try to offer some relief. My PCP then informed me that he didn't think that was it CFS at all, and that the diagnosis I had received was given hastily and based on the assumption that Epstein-Barr "caused" CFS, and that he no longer believed CFS to be a valid disease. He prescribed more tests and sent me to an internist that told me I was merely tired because I had a small child and I would become more tired if I had more children. I have lived on both sides of the spectrum; "normal" and not, and I was incredibly fatigued before children, so that statement has no merit. I have had several "crashes" since then and no longer want to put myself through the emotional toll of being told that I'm simply depressed, because I am not, or that the fatigue is all in my head. I take 10 mg of Adderall twice daily, which helps significantly, but when I am getting close to a "crash," I can sleep all day even with the meds. I have come to a place in my life where I just want to have an educated conversation with my physician about what to do when I am "crashing," without having to submit to a psychiatric evaluation to prove that I'm not depressed. I have accepted that I have limitations due to CFS but I am fighting to lead a normal life despite it all. I am tired of "jumping through hoops" and having the same tests run repeatedly to arrive at the same conclusion. I am a fighter by nature, and the lifestyle that I lead is proof of that; I have children, am married, and am a junior at a top University that I commute to attend. I simply need to find a doctor in the Houston area that understands that I do not want to be confined by this disease and will help me fight it! Please help me!