Do you remember when you first got sick? Was it a car accident? Were you sick with some type of infection? Bronchitis? Mono? Some of us can pinpoint exactly when our illness began, just like people can tell you they remember exactly where they were when JFK died, Elvis died and when 9/11 happened. It is that vivid for some.
For others, it came on slowly over time and there isn’t a precise moment that they can remember becoming ill. They can only remember always feeling this way.
Some people even say they believe their CFS was caused by childhood abuse – whether it be physical, emotional or sexual in nature. Emotional instability was even considered a high risk factor for research that has been done. (click here to read the CDC and other research studies)
I’m sure many CFS and FM patients read these statistics and think that it is just another slam to make us sound like the illness is in our heads. I don’t look at it that way. Regardless of how it starts, it is still a real illness that affects us physically and mentally.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to collect this data in bulk. For me, it just happened all at once, one random day, nothing traumatic or stressful had happened.
I was diagnosed almost 18 years ago..not long after giving birth to my daughter (traumatic conception, pregnancy and birth) I am not sure if that was the trigger though because looking back even earlier than that I can remember symptoms as well.