Chronic Fatigue Quotes

“This sort of sickness is a nothingness, really – a state of limbo; neither well enough to be a functioning member of society nor possessing a sign of illness that signals to the world you are sick. There’s no broken arm. Not even a sore throat and hacking cough.”
― Frances Ryan

“I’m really tired”, you come to understand, is meaningless, giving the impression all will be well with a good rest and that if you’ve ever been tired, you know what it is to be exhausted.”
― Frances Ryan

“During my time of need, the medical system failed me.”
― Steven Magee, Long COVID Supplements

“Imagine you’re diagnosed with epilepsy: what would you think if you weren’t referred to a specialist but taken to a psychiatrist to treat you for your ‘false illness beliefs’?

This is what happens to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) patients in the UK. They are told to ignore their symptoms, view themselves as healthy, and increase their exercise. The NHS guidelines amalgamate ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, assuming symptoms are caused by deconditioning and ‘exercise phobia’. Sufferers are offered Graded Exercise to increase fitness, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to rid them of their ‘false illness beliefs’.”
― Tanya Marlow

“Patients who develop ME/CFS often lose the natural antidepressant effect of exercise, feeling worse after exercise rather than better. Patients may have a drop in body temperature with exercise. Thus fatigue is correlated with other symptoms, often in a sequence that is unique to each patient. After relatively normal physical or intellectual exertion, a patient may take an inordinate amount of time to regain her/his pre-exertion level of function and competence. For example, a patient who has bought a few groceries may be too exhausted to unpack them until the next day. The reactive fatigue of post-exertional malaise or lack of endurance usually lasts 24 hours or more and is often associated with impairment of cognitive functions. There is often delayed reactivity following exertion, with the onset the next day, or even later.”
― Bruce M. Carruthers

“ME/CFS is not synonymous with depression or other psychiatric illnesses. The belief by some that they are the same has caused much con- fusion in the past, and inappropriate treatment.
Nonpsychotic depression (major depression and dysthymia), anxiety disorders and somatization disorders are not diagnostically exclusionary, but may cause significant symptom overlap. Careful attention to the timing and correlation of symptoms, and a search for those characteristics of the symptoms that help to differentiate between diagnoses may be informative, e.g., exercise will tend to ameliorate depression whereas excessive exercise tends to have an adverse effect on ME/CFS patients.”
― Bruce M. Carruthers

“ME/CFS has a greater negative impact on functional status and well-being than other chronic diseases, e.g., cancer or lung diseases[8], and is associated with a drastic decrement in physical functioning[9]. In a comparison study[10] ME/CFS patients scored significantly lower than patients with hypertension, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and multiple sclerosis (MS), on all of the eight Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)[11] subscales. As compared to patients with depression, ME/CFS patients scored significantly lower on all the scales, except for scales measuring mental health and role disability due to emotional problems, on which they scored significantly higher.”
― Frank Twisk

“Pacing consists of listening to your body, and seeing symptoms as signs, usually of overactivity. You use information from your body to reorganise your activities to get as low a symptom level as possible. This usually means splitting activities into smaller bits and taking frequent rest breaks. It also means finding less strenuous ways of performing activities. When less energy is spent on some activities, you’ll have more energy left over to have fun.”
― Ingebjørg Midsem Dahl, Classic Pacing for a Better Life with ME

“Every day that starts ‘let’s just try to have a better day than yesterday’ ends in a worse one. Who gave me this shitty advice - or did I make it up? Why am I setting myself such a high standard?”
― Alice Hattrick, Ill Feelings

“Through sickness I became notable.”
― Steven Magee

“ME has been classified as a neurological condition at least since 1968 (this should have been 1969)…however, for all these years, sufferers from this awful debilitating illness have been ignored, derided and mistreated….
Many thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers from researchers around the world demonstrate that ME is a physical disease which has endocrine, immune and cardiovascular effects, as well as neurological symptoms….

It is distinct from chronic fatigue which is a symptom of many diseases….”
― Countess of Mar

“The neurological/cognitive symptoms are more characteristically variable than constant and often have a distinct fatiguing component to them. Especially common are cognitive ‘fog’ or confusion, slowed information processing speed, trouble with word retrieval and speaking or intermittent dyslexia, trouble with writing, reading, and mathematics, and short-term memory consolidation.”
― Bruce M. Carruthers

“In general, fatigue is not as severe in depression as in ME/CFS. Joint and muscle pains, recurrent sore throats, tender lymph nodes, various cardiopulmonary symptoms (55), pressure headaches, prolonged post-exertional fatigue, chronic orthostatic intolerance, tachycardia, irritable bowel syndrome, bladder dysfunction, sinus and upper respiratory infections, new sensitivities to food, medications and chemicals, and atopy, new premenstrual syndrome, and sudden onset are commonly seen in ME/CFS, but not in depression. ME/CFS patients have a different immunological profile (56), and are more likely to have a down- regulation of the pituitary/adrenal axis (57). Anhedonia and self- reproach symptoms are not commonly seen in ME/CFS unless a concomitant depression is also present (58). The poor concentra- tion found in depression is not associated with a cluster of other cognitive impairments, as is common in ME/CFS. EEG brain mapping (59,60) and levels of low molecular weight RNase L (21,26) clearly distinguish ME/CFS from depression.”
― Bruce M. Carruthers

“Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling condition characterized by severe unexplained fatigue and a mixed profile of symptoms such as sore throat, painful/swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, unrefreshing sleep, post-exertional malaise and cognitive difficulties (K. Fukuda et al., 1994).”
― Leonard A. Jason

“The diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) define two distinct clinical entities. Cognitive impairment and post-exertional “malaise” (a long-lasting aggravation of typical symptoms, e.g., muscle weakness and cognitive “brain fog”, after minor exertion) are obligatory for the diagnosis ME, while chronic fatigue is the only mandatory symptom for the diagnosis CFS.”
― Frank Twisk

“Many people confuse “chronic fatigue” (which is a symptom of many chronic conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, or lupus) or “general tiredness” (which is lifestyle-related), with the specific illness “chronic fatigue syndrome” (ME/CFS). To clarify the differences, here are some of the major symptoms of ME/CFS:

- unexplained physical and mental fatigue for an extended period of time
- post-exertional malaise (meaning an inappropriate loss of physical and mental stamina and a worsening of symptoms after any effort)
- sleep dysfunction
- pain
- neurological/cognitive manifestations
- autonomic manifestations, such as orthostatic intolerance
- neuroendocrine symptoms, such as subnormal body temperature
- immune system changes, such as recurrent flu-like symptoms.”
― Valerie free

“To replace ME/CFS, the [Institute of Medicine] committee proposes the name systemic exertion intolerance disease, or SEID. This name captures a central characteristic of the disease: the fact that exertion of any sort— physical, cognitive, or emotional—can adversely affect patients in many organ systems and in many aspects of their lives.”
― Ellen Wright Clayton

“Now, at last, medicine has decided to recognize our problem.

This is a tremendous beginning, but by defining Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to the public with such a benign name, a name that gets confused with simple (often stress-related) fatigue, you have placed yet another burden on us.”
― Jane Cuozzo

“CFS IS A MISLEADING LABEL

Many argue that the label "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" contributes to the disorder's lack of legitimacy because it emphasizes only one symptom "fatigue," which is such a common and non-specific symptom.

The name fails to convey that the mental and physical fatigue in CFS are not substantially relieved by rest nor that exertion worsens symptoms.

The lack of mention of physical signs and symptoms in the label allows the inclusion of a very heterogeneous group of less severely ill patients to be considered under the rubric of CFS. As a result many research hypotheses and findings may not pertain to patients with tightly defined CFS who have multisystemic involvement.”
― Roberto Patarca Montero

“I wouldn't work in a hospital again! They do not tell you about the high disease risks when they hire you. It is well known that hospital jobs are lemons today with the pandemic. One of my coworkers was suffering with chronic fatigue from her thirties onward. She has never been healthy since working there. She probably had an infection from a sickly patient and never recovered.”
― Steven Magee

“It seems the medical profession gave Long COVID the name of Chronic Fatigue and feigned not knowing what caused it for decades, even though Coronavirus was discovered in the 1960’s!”
― Steven Magee

“Night shift work causes circadian rhythm disruption that can lead to depression, chronic fatigue and hormonal imbalances.”
― Steven Magee

“I awoke from my chronic fatigue and significant mental illness in 2022. I had changed the body chemistry like those in the movie ‘Awakenings’. I was aware that it may be temporary. In 2024 the ‘Awakening Effect’ started slowly subsiding.”
― Steven Magee

“As a sickly person that made a significant recovery by changing the body chemistry, I am aware the “Awakening Effect” may subside and a return to significant mental illness and chronic fatigue may be in my future.”
― Steven Magee