cfs

this is a comment rather than a question - my daughter was diagnosed with cfs about ten yars ago and told she probably wouldn't be able to work full time. She then went gluten free. A year later she was teaching full time, working in her partner's restaurant at night, studying for a degree and pregnant!

[VaBreeze]

That's great to hear.  Since the diet obviously worked she must have had Celiac Disease as well.  We do have other Members who had good results with a gluten free diet, however, their CFS continued in spite of this.

I hope she continues to do well.

[PlateletGal]

Many CFS patients do better on a gluten free diet. Also, the same goes for people who have autism and various autoimmune conditions.

I'm happy to hear that your daughter is doing so much better. Do you think she was misdiagnosed or does she still have some CFS symptoms ?

[bevh]

If she eats gluten she gets tired. I suspect she was misdiagnosed and it makes me wonder how many other people are too. We've noticed an amazing change in the medical profession in even the last 5 years in terms of willingness to even consider diet as the cause of problems like this, they are much more willing to accept it now thankfully.

[PlateletGal]

If fatigue was your daughter's only symptom, then your daughter does not fit the criteria for Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. It certainly sounds like your daughter, along with many, many others, was misdiagnosed. On the other hand, there are many quite ill people with CFS who have been misdiagnosed as well. Its quite a shame that the CDC hasn't taken CFS more seriously and that they felt competent enough to call this disease, "Chronic Fatrigue Syndrome", when they didn't even believe at the time that it even existed ! It has hurt us quite a bit.

As the name chronic fatigue syndrome suggests, this illness is accompanied by fatigue. However, it's not the kind of fatigue patients experience after a particularly busy day or week, after a sleepless night or after a stressful event. It's a severe, incapacitating fatigue that isn't improved by bed rest and that may be exacerbated by physical or mental activity. It's an all-encompassing fatigue that results in a dramatic decline in both activity level and stamina.

People with CFS function at a significantly lower level of activity than they were capable of prior to becoming ill. The illness results in a substantial reduction in occupational, personal, social or educational activities.

A CFS diagnosis should be considered in patients who present with six months or more of unexplained fatigue accompanied by other characteristic symptoms. These symptoms include:

cognitive dysfunction, including impaired memory or concentration
postexertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours (exhaustion and increased symptoms) following physical or mental exercise
unrefreshing sleep
joint pain (without redness or swelling)
persistent muscle pain
headaches of a new type or severity
tender cervical or axillary lymph nodes
sore throat
Other Common Symptoms

In addition to the eight primary defining symptoms of CFS, a number of other symptoms have been reported by some CFS patients. The frequency of occurrence of these symptoms varies among patients. These symptoms include:

irritable bowel, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or bloating
chills and night sweats
brain fog
chest pain
shortness of breath
chronic cough
visual disturbances (blurring, sensitivity to light, eye pain or dry eyes)
allergies or sensitivities to foods, alcohol, odors, chemicals, medications or noise
difficulty maintaining upright position (orthostatic instability, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, balance problems or fainting)
psychological problems (depression, irritability, mood swings, anxiety, panic attacks)
jaw pain
weight loss or gain

http://www.cdc.gov/CFS/cfssymptomsHCP.htm