Chronic fatigue, fever and weakness.

[Pinupghoul]

Hello, dears!

I'm a 29 year old woman who has been coping with chronic fevers, fatigue and weakness. This at times is accompanied by crippling body pain or just general aching all over. It has been going on for about 14 months and it seems to worsen every day.

Medication doesn't help the pain and it rarely keeps the fevers down for long. The fevers are low grade and occur throughout the day - there is no discernible pattern to them. My base temperature has always been 98.5° but it'll climb anywhere from 99.5° to 100.5°. I get fatigued very easily and at times I'm not sure I can get out of bed. I don't think this is a lack of motivation as I'm certainly interested in getting lots done I just can't get past the fatigue. I end up napping throughout the day and as a result I can sleep 12 - 16 hours a day (and no it doesn't leave me feeling any better). I had to take leave from my work for obvious reasons.

The pain comes and goes and varies in intensity. The worst days feel like my body is one giant bruise. It feels like nerve pain and appears to affect the same areas all over my body. Other days it might be a dull ache here or there.

I've had gastro work done to rule out disorders that run in my family (crohns). Over 2 years ago I had a partial hysterectomy which lead to lots of ultrasounds and I had my hormone levels tested but came up with nothing. I've also had blood tests for rheumatoid arthritis. I've had various blood tests and they come up clean every time. I have a new doctor and we have to start from scratch, so a full blood work was ordered up plus urinalysis. I'm being tested for EBV and Lymes disease. The results are currently pending.

Appropriately, I will be sent to other specialists in time, but I'm curious to know if anyone can relate to these symptoms and may have some insight. Every doctor I talk to assumes it's Fibromyalgia but they don't know what to think of the fevers which happen to be my most consistent symptom.

If there's something I've overlooked testing or if anyone has similar experiences and advice to share, please respond! I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks in advance.

[JohnnyRocket244]

That does sound very much like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Believe it or not, there is a rarely diagnosed condition that is a known cause of Chronic Fatigue and every symptom associated with CFS, including the ones that you have. It's a condition called Nutcracker Syndrome (Left Renal Vein Compression Syndrome). Google
Nutcracker Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and there's no shortage of evidence that this condition can cause CFS. I have a very similar but lesser known condition called May-Thurner Syndrome (Left Iliac Vein Compression Syndrome) and its been causing me Chronic Fatigue and possibly Narcolepsy for the past 25 years. After I had a stent placed for May-Thurner Syndrome recently, almost overnight my Chronic Fatigue and every symptom of Narcolepsy including hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis were gone. It took about 2 months for my sleep patterns to finally get back to normal. I finally started feeling like my old self only a lot less fatigued. After some research, it turns out I'm not the only one getting "cured" of CFS by getting stents placed for these 2 conditions.

If 80% of Multiple Sclerosis patients have CFS, wouldn't it make sense that these 2 vein compression syndromes would frequently be found in MS patients?  Google:
Nutcracker Syndrome and MS or
May-Thurner Syndrome and MS

I found out that some doctors are actually treating MS as multiple vein conditions (CCSVI). What I  found most interesting is that doctors started discovering that Nutcracker Syndrome and May-Thurner Syndrome were frequently seen as well. Some patients reported getting almost complete relief from their MS after getting stented for these 2 conditions because they are most likely getting "cured" of CFS and all the other problems they can cause.

Here's some Symptoms that these condition can cause that most  doctors are unaware of so they often go undiagnosed:

May-Thurner Syndrome-
Extreme Fatigue
Anxiety
Depression
Exercise Intolerance
Brain Fog
Memory Problems
Difficulty Breathing
Back, Leg, Thigh And Groin Pain
Muscle Weakness

Nutcracker Syndrome-
Chronic Fatigue
Orthostatic Intolerance
Headache
Lightheadedness
Dizziness
Abdominal Pain
Unrefreshing Sleep
Muscle Pain
Joint Pain
Sore Throat
Low Grade Fever
Depression
Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
IBS

There is a lot of evidence out there that these 2 condition can cause CFS. Unfortunately most doctors know very little about these conditions so you have to do your own research. A good doctor would be a vascular surgeon to get checked for these conditions. If you do have them, it's possible that you may get great relief from your symptoms from a simple stenting procedure. I know I did. Hope this may help and feel free to ask any question!

[Pinupghoul]

Thank you for your response! I've always had problems with fainting and an irregular heartbeat, and a lot of the symptoms you listed ring true for me. My thoughts were leaning toward CFS and Fibro but I worry doctors are too quick to apply these as a diagnosis (I've heard of sufferers later discovering that they had Lupus, MS or problems with their spine, something more specific than just Fibro). It'll be a hard sell to convince my doctor to look at the renal vein or my vascular system as as a whole, I'm wondering how I can word it so I don't sound like a hypochondriac lol.