Quotes on "How Did Your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Start?"

CFS Victims Relate Their Personal Experiences

Not everyone experiences the same symptoms -- nor the same "triggers" -- that lead up to a diagnosis for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. On this page, read quotes pulled from posts on a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Forum that show how some with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome relate what led to their CFS diagnosis. (The links associated with the Forum nicknames will take you to the complete text of the message from which a quote was pulled.)

"About 1 month after getting a mercury filling removed I suffered my first bout of exhaustion. I became too exhausted to eat! Then about 1 month later I was shopping when I became too weak to walk! I found a bench nearby and had to sit down for a while before I could get up so that I could drive home." -- 1deadinbed

"I had two infected teeth that went unnoticed, which lead to infected sinuses, which lead to a cold that lasted for over six months. Take your pick, all I know is that everytime my sinuses flair up, my CFS gets worse and doesn't recover." -- TigerLilea

"My illness started with a viral infection that was going around my dorm. Everyone else recovered from it. At the time, I had significant exposure to toxins (I was in art school) so perhaps this was a factor." -- nancyhallatr

"Woke up one morning with vertigo - no other symptoms - in 1984. Vertigo went away in a week or so but was left with profound fatigue and weakness, and a list of symptoms including sore throats, low-grade fevers, etc." -- grannycfs

"I had a severe reaction to the anaesthetic, Articaine,... Within two weeks, I couldn't read or understand words, nor could I speak or walk properly. In bed for about two months then developed fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome. Within six months, I had a diagnosis of CFS, Fibro, and MPS, as well as mild brain damage. I've had allergic reactions to mercury in other forms (contact lens solution, etc.). My quality of life definitely improved after switching to non-amalgam fillings but nothing like a cure." -- solarsail

"I went from years of having chronic ear infections to having chronic sinus infections. Then in 1989, I found out I had gall bladder problems when mine exploded! (Well, a duct erupted or something, but an explosion sounds more dramatic.) I've often wondered how much that resulting peritonitis etc. played in my getting CFS. ... Just prior to the diagnosis (and about a year after the surgery), I had a severe bout with mono, too. ... Several months prior to coming down with mono, I'd moved from an all-electric home to a natural gas-heated one. I'm now severely sensitive to gas heat, etc. (In hindsight, I realized that the most productive times in my life had been when I'd lived in all-electric homes. I'm in no ways living in my ideal home now, but it's an all-electric one again.) ... [Note: During this time, I changed dentists and the new one discovered that I had a pocket of infection in the area above an improperly done root canal. That problem was later corrected, but no overall improvement in my health occurred.] ... Sometimes I think it would be easier if I could point to one single thing that caused my problems." -- Pamela Rice Hahn