# similarities with me/cfs



## jojo72 (Jul 12, 2011)

Hi there.
Most of the symptoms of dp are the same as chronic fatigue syndrome, which I also have. Feeling light headed, unreal and out of it are all classic cfs symptoms. Has anyone explored this connection? 
When I have these symptoms accompanied by panic that to me is dp. Oh and obsessive thoughts x


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## RamonX (Feb 10, 2011)

For me fatigue has always been one of my symptoms. But for many years it didn't prevent me from running long distance and swimming. in the last 6 years though, ( I am 47 now) the fatigue has slowly worsened, and the ability to excercise has gone completely. i now also have CFS as an additional diagnosis. I think though that the derealization of most people with CFS is less intense and often of à different nature than DP/DR
As reported by a lot of people here. It is an interesting observation though and there night be a link. I would be really interested to know in how far people with DP are also handicapped by serious fatigue.

I personally believe that the neatly outlined diagnostic categories like panic disorder, depression, CFS, depersonalization disorder are not describing
very well what happens in people. I get the impression, I can't prove it though, that the number of people that have à typical set of symptoms that point to one clear diagnosis are à minority. Most people have à constellation of symptoms that belong to different categories. The current strategy is to label people with socalled comorbid diagnoses. Recently there is a lot of criticism towards this system because it doesn't seem to reflect reality, but the problem is that there is no alternative that is workable at the moment. That and conservatism as well ofcourse.

What seems to happen in real life is that everyone has a set of genetic vulnerabilities as well as psychologic vulnerabilities that can make them prone to psychiatric symptoms as well as physical ones. When stressful live events occur (there seems to be little difference for the body if stress is psychological in nature like losing à loved one, or physically, like an infection), the systems that deal with stress, like hormonal systems can get stuck in overactivation or underactivation. This deregulates the brain and the body both, and the vulnerable systems, genetic, psychologic or whatever, are affected. 
Some people may react with panic attacks, depression and headaches, while another person reacts with chronic fatigue, bowel problems and depersonalization, and a third person gets depersonalization, but with emotional numbing and depression, but has no problem with fatigue at all.
A person with panic attacks might have genetic vulnerability to overreact with a fight or flight, but then it depends on other caracteristics what happens next. Someone who has a tendency to get into à trance state easily, might get DP during his panic attack, which then triggers more anxiety. Another person might feel helpless and can't see à way out of the situation and slides into a major depression. Another person is prone to prolongued overactivation of adrenalin production his body reacts by shutting down as if very ill and gets terrible fatigue.


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## jojo72 (Jul 12, 2011)

Wow, that's so insightful. 
Personally I have always been susceptible to weird head problems and anxiety, and whether I'm physically or mentally stressed, that's how the stress will show itself.
I agreement that these neat diagnoses are inadequate, and every one of us has different vulnerabilities.
Thanks for that!


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## bkboy12 (Jan 21, 2012)

jojo72 said:


> Hi there.
> Most of the symptoms of dp are the same as chronic fatigue syndrome, which I also have. Feeling light headed, unreal and out of it are all classic cfs symptoms. Has anyone explored this connection?
> When I have these symptoms accompanied by panic that to me is dp. Oh and obsessive thoughts x


I certainly have i believe dp is due to cfs.


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## Falcon77 (Jul 27, 2011)

Found this the other day about the cfs and anxiety... love the science behind everything.. his theory was published in respected medical journal

http://www.guptaprogramme.com/html/explainCFS.asp


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## joshz28 (Jul 22, 2011)

Take a poll..who has had mono ever in there life. I have!


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## happydp (Sep 4, 2013)

ME/CFS (aka Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), is a serious neuro-immune disease, and it does often cause depersonalization in people.

I have had severe ME/CFS for over 2 decades now, and I have been on a desperate search the entire time, trying to understand anything that I possibly could. ME/CFS is a LOT more than just fatigue. I wish that I was only extremely tired. What I would give to only be tired&#8230;. It causes serious neurological and immunological issues. Depersonalization / Derealization happen because of many possible reasons, though for me, I think that it was the overall trauma of the illness in my body.

If you have DP and you are just tired a lot, you likely do not have the life-debilitating disease of ME/CFS. But if you have a combination of most of these symptoms; nerve pain, light-headedness, Irritable Bowel syndrome, tremors, nausea, reactive hypoglycemia, wondering pain issues, extreme sensitivity to chemicals, hormone fluctuations, light and sound sensitivity, sleep disturbance &#8230;&#8230; along with your DP / DR, then you likely have ME/CFS. &#8230;&#8230;.There was once a belief that ME/CFS was caused by Epstein Barr Virus, the virus that causes Mono, but that seems to be less and less likely. There is actually more and more belief that the ME/CFS body cannot fight off common viruses and the titers (the antibodies) are skyrocket high. Which then puts the immune system of hyperdrive. The adrenals go kaputs and exhaustion hits, always. So actually treating Epstein Barr and other common viruses, for 6-18 months is showing more and more promise. There is still a lot to study about it all, but check out Stanford ME/CFS and their research. Dr Jose Motoya is at Stanford, Dr Nancy Klimas is independent, Dr John Chia is at UCLA, and many more, are helping to research and treat people. lease, if you think you might have actual ME/CFS then check out these medical doctors to see what they are saying and doing about it. ..Otherwise, try to find a doctor who SPECIALIZES in ME/CFS and understand about the viral components.

These questions are so important. They need to be asked, so we can discuss them, and hopefully end up helping each other! Good luck, and hang in there everybody. We are not alone! :smile:


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2014)

I had solely dp/dr for 4 years and was never tired or anything, could even do a lot of very intense sports. But after an accident and a small infection afterwards, i developed cfs somehow, which sucks for me. Just dp/dr is okay to handle, but severe cfs with of course then increased dp/dr is really tough. I think that for me dp/dr made me anxious, which lead to extreme stress during my accident and afterwards, which created a sick spiral to drag my Body and mind down pretty hard. Every physical illness can be influenced negatively influenced by a sick mind and thats ONE of many important factors how to develop cfs. 
In the next few months, i will try out a lot of different eating styles to see if my condition gets any better. Will post about it here.


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