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Page 11
| your illness seriouslyespecially a year or two later when you are still complaining of a multitude of seemingly unrelated problems from some undetermined disease. No wonder it has been suggested that CFS be renamed "chronic frustration syndrome." |
| In her book Running on Empty Katrina Berne, a clinical psychologist specializing in CFS, lists ways her patients describe their disease: |
| My brain is on strike. |
| I feel like a camera lens that can't focus. |
| I've been short-circuited. |
| I feel like there is an infection in my brain. It just isn't working rights. |
| Considering all these road blocks, diagnosing CFS takes a last-ditch approach. Everything else that causes fatigue, such as low thyroid or Lyme disease, is eliminated first. Once disorders with similar symptoms are ruled out, the Center for Disease Control declares that if you have had serious fatigue for at least six months and experience four out of eight common symptoms (see page 8), you are a likely candidate. This is especially true if your symptoms are new ones that came on suddenly. Although the diagnosis may be upsetting, most people are glad finally to have their seemingly bizarre condition named. |
| Even with these guidelines, not everyone fits the usual profile. Few people have all the symptoms, nor does everyone manifest the disease in the same way. Undoubtedly, some people who think they have CFS really have another ailment that causes exhaustion. Likewise, many people may blame symptoms of CFS |
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