Chronic Fatigue/ME

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) can also be known as Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and is characterized by extreme fatigue that can’t be explained by any underlying medical condition. The fatigue may get worse with mental or physical exertion but doesn’t improve with rest.

Other symptoms can include disturbed sleep cycle, muscle/joint pains, headaches, sore throats, cognitive dysfunction (difficulties with attention, short term memory, ‘brain fog’), dizziness, nausea, flu-like symptoms. Many young people end up missing time from school due to the severity of their symptoms.

Alternative medical reasons for these symptoms must be investigated by a doctor and ruled out, before a diagnosis of chronic fatigue can be made.

The children’s Physiotherapy team can help you to manage your chronic fatigue symptoms and try to return to many of the activities you liked to do before your symptoms started. Management strategies can include advice for sleep management and pacing and it is important to establish a baseline for your current activity levels. This can be recorded on a Daily Activity Log. One of these can be downloaded from our useful downloads section. Information on how to complete an activity diary can be found in the Useful Downloads section.