Post edited 10:46 pm – June 14, 2010 by Plymouth

I just want to make people aware of this, because they are easy topics to confuse. Even I, in one of my posts here, used it interchangeably, and I have lived Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for years. Chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome are not the same thing.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a constellation of symptoms with a known progression trajectory, of which being chronically fatigued is one key feature. It may have a wider range and combination of possible symptoms, and it may not be as well understood as it should be, but it is more than one symptom, and the symptoms are not random (though they may feel random).

Chronic fatigue is a feeling of being persistently fatigued. It may be because you have chronic fatigue syndrome, in which case you have a known set of probable illness experience trajectories, a difficult diagnosis and no medical tests.

OR you may have something more easily remedied, with a different illness progression (if there is a progression at all) with known treatments and tests.

Anemia can be one. Sleep apnea can be another. Thyroid disease is a third example. I could go on and on.

The point is, the terms cannot be used interchangeably without muddying the conversation quite a bit, and sometimes causing a "who's on first" type of confusion that neither party ever actually figures out is happening.