Everyone feels run down at some point, but a bit of rest is usually enough to recover previous energy levels. People suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, however, can't seem to recuperate from that fatigued feeling. More frustrating is the fact that there's no simple test to diagnose the disease and no clear cause for its onset. They must work with their doctor to find the underlying cause of their exhaustion.
Instructions
1. Determine the onset of the fatigue. To diagnose the exhaustion as chronic fatigue syndrome, it must have lasted consistently for at least six months with no relief from bed rest.
2. Consider the severity. Chronic fatigue syndrome is beyond a little bit of tiredness. The fatigue must be severe enough to restrict your normal activity by at least 50 percent. Another way to consider this is to determine if you become severely fatigued with less than half the energy put forth as before the illness. If you normally were exhausted after an hour of walking and are now severely fatigued after only 20 minutes or so, you may have chronic fatigue syndrome.
3. Rule out any other causes. There's no definitive test for chronic fatigue syndrome, so your doctor needs to exclude all other possible causes for fatigue, before coming to a chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis. These cause include, but aren't limited to, infections, autoimmune disorders, hypothyroidism or other endocrine diseases, illnesses such as heart, kidney, or liver disease and drug dependency or interactions.
4. Get a blood test. Though there are no definitive tests for chronic fatigue syndrome, there's suspicion that it may be associated with the Epstein-Barr virus or human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6). While a positive blood test for either of these two viruses doesn't necessarily diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome, the results along with other symptoms and factors may lead to a diagnosis.
5. Have patience and insistence. Though the continuous exhaustion is frustrating and hampers your everyday life, the process of diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome is an involved one.
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