At the beginning...

When I was first diagnosed with CFS I had no idea what it was, and the doctor couldn't tell me that much about it, obviously I knew the symptoms because I had them! But I still felt like I didn't know anything about what it was, I had so many questions: why have I got this? How long is it going to last? How can I get rid of it? Well I never got a straight answer to any of them, but I know a lot more now than I used to, so I thought I would share my knowledge.

My symptoms began after having a swine flu vaccination (November 2010) which gave me the symptoms of swine flu, I believe that this could of been the thing that triggered it (CFS) along side going back to school to early, when I really didn't feel very well. Throughout the winter months it continued to get worse, so we went to the doctors and they did blood tests for various things including iron deficiency; the results came back saying that I had really healthy blood, which I found almost frustrating, by now, I just wanted to know what it was. By this point I had been referred to a paediatrician, in January (2011) the doctor told me that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and that there was no know cure for it but that he would make appointments for me to visit a physiotherapist and CBT (cognitive brain therapy).
Around this time was when I found my symptoms to be at their worst, I would rarely leave my bed room, never mind my house, other than hospital appointments, however I would avoid sleeping thought the day but to my annoyance would not be able to sleep through the night, even if I began to try getting to sleep at 8pm, I could still be awake at 4am.
During this time I had missed a lot of school, my mum and dad went for a meeting with my head of year and well being coordinator and they set up for me to go on a reduced timetable, where I would just go in for a few lessons a day, this began around April, although I began to seem better towards the end of the winter, I still found it really hard and would maybe go in for one or two lessons because I would be so exhausted; the next day I would have to stay off.
I am sure many of you will of had similar experiences to me or you are currently going through this, over time I have learnt different ways of dealing with it, things that have worked successfully for me and things that were recommended to me by my physiotherapist, that didn't work for me but might work for you.

I would love it if you left comments below telling me about your experiences.

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