As I was taking my medications this morning, I got to thinking that I have never known anyone with ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia to just have those illnesses. Â There always seems to be other chronic illnesses or conditions attached to them and we feel like we have to keep a list in order to remember them all.
Over the years I have discovered that while symptoms of ME/CFS can wane somewhat, other chronic illnesses develop and take over where the ME/CFS left off. Â So what is your count? Â This isn’t a competition to see who has been diagnosed with the most illnesses or who is the sickest, but I am just curious to know how sick we all are. Â I would also like to see how many of us share the same conditions that are related to FM & ME/CFS.
FM & CFS are like roaches or ants. Â Once you get one problem, the rest seem to follow.
Here’s my list…
- ME/CFS
- Fibromyalgia
- Interstitial Cystitis
- Benign Essential Tremor (BET)
- Arthritis
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Hypothyroidism
- Tarsal Tunnel
- Severe Degenerative Disk Disease
- Costochondritis
- Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)
Sandy,
I know what you mean about needing a list to keep it all straight. At the risk of looking like a hypochondriac, I am sharing my list. As you can see, many of the conditions are linked to one another. In my case, I believe endometriosis (onset age 13) was the “parent illness” to several other “child illnesses” like IC, IBS, fibro, MCSS, and maybe Reynaud’s. The endo came first and the others I just mentioned followed (and are correlated from what I understand).
I’ve seen TMJ linked to fibro. I’ve seen vulvodynia/vestibulitis linked to fibro and know many endo patients who have that combination. I’ve heard the term cascade effect to describe the domino effect that occurs when one illness leads to another and another and another. I’ve met many women through my local endometriosis support group who have lots of illnesses in common with me. I’ve read somehwhere that sleep apnea can be linked to fibro too.
I’ve had 11 kidney stones but that doesn’t seem to be linked to anything (wrong kind of stone composition to be linked to gout). I also had a carcinoid tumor removed.
These are in no particular order:
Interstitial cystitis
Peripheral neuropathy/hyperesthesia
Fibromyalgia
Irritable bowel syndrome
Depression/panic attacks
Endometriosis
Multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome
Thyroid nodules
Reynaud’s disease
Mitral valve prolapse/heart murmur/valve insufficiency
Hypertension
Pelvic floor dysfunction, vulvodynia/vestibulitis
Pelvic congestion syndrome
Nerve entrapment (likely from 7 abdominal surgeries for endo)
Gout
TMJ
Sleep apnea
Jeanne