Symptoms & Signs
Symptoms of CFS are similar to those of most common viral infections (muscle aches, headache, and fatigue). They come on within a few hours or days and last for 6 months or more.
Main symptoms:
- Fatigue or tiredness, never experienced to this extent before (new onset), lasting at least 6 months and not relieved by bed rest
- Fatigue that is severe enough to restrict activity (serious fatigue develops with less than one-half of the exertion compared with before the illness)
Other symptoms:
- Fatigue lasting more than 24 hours after an amount of exercise that would normally be easily tolerated
- Feeling unrefreshed after sleeping an adequate amount of time
- Forgetfulness or other similar symptoms including difficulty concentrating, confusion, or irritability
- Headaches, different from previous headaches in quality, severity, or pattern
- Joint pain, often moving from joint to joint (migratory arthralgias), without joint swelling or redness
- Lymph node tenderness in the neck or armpit
- Mild fever (101 degrees F or less)
- Muscle aches (myalgias)
- Muscle weakness, all over or multiple locations, not explained by any known disorder
- Sore throat
Diagnosis & Tests
Physical examination may show:
- Fever
- Lymph node swelling
- Lymph node tenderness
- Redness in the throat without drainage or pus
A diagnosis of CFS must include:
- Absence of other causes of chronic fatigue (excluding depression)
- At least four of the other symptoms listed
- Extreme, long-term fatigue
There are no specific tests to confirm the diagnosis of CFS, although a variety of tests are usually done to rule out other possible causes of the symptoms.
There have been reports of CFS patients being found positive on the following tests:
- Brain MRI showing swelling in the brain or destruction of part of the nerve cells (demyelination)
- Higher levels of specific white blood cells (CD4 T cells) compared with other types of white blood cells (CD8 T cells)
- Specific white blood cells (lymphocytes) containing active forms of EBV or HHV-6
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Chronic fatigue syndrome : Overview, Causes, & Risk Factors
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Chronic fatigue syndrome : Symptoms & Signs, Diagnosis & Tests
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Chronic fatigue syndrome : Treatment
Review Date : 2/7/2010
Reviewed By : Mark James Borigini, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
