Suffering With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
People who have chronic fatigue syndrome have been tireless in their quest to be acknowledged.
It has been 20 years since the first advocacy group was formed, and almost 20 years since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defined the diagnosis. Despite that, during the decades since people with CFS still were told their disease didn’t exist or it was all in their head.
Now, although many people with the crippling condition are glad that doctors will say, “You have chronic fatigue syndrome,” they are dismayed that what follows is usually, “There’s nothing I can do for you.”
One of the hardest aspects of CFS is the isolation and loneliness. McCleary, of the CFIDS Association of America, says about 25 percent of people with CFS become unable to work.
