March is Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (CFIDS) awareness month. A lot of research remains to be done on this difficult syndrome, but the diagnostic criteria are pretty easy to understand:

1. Profound, debilitating fatigue lasting six months or longer that causes a reduction in all of your normal activities.
2. Fatigue that is not relieved by rest or sleep.
3. Worsening symptoms including fatigue after mental or physical exertion.
4. Muscle and joint pain with no redness or swelling.
5. Headaches.
6. Sore throat.
7. Brain fog-difficulty concentrating or remembering things.
8. Tender lymph nodes in your neck or underarms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than four million Americans suffer from CFIDS, but only about 20% of them have been diagnosed. To get to a diagnosis, other illnesses must be ruled out. This can be expensive and demoralizing to the person who is sick and feels no one believes her.

Diagnosis is difficult because there is no one test to tell your health care provider you definitely have CFIDS. It takes time and tenacity to rule out other possibilities step by step and finally diagnose CFIDS. There is no one specific treatment that fits everyone, either, but there is hope.

Treatment includes symptom management such as pain medication, anti-depressants that also work on pain and sleep, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you learn to cope and how to manage your illness, physical therapy, conscious management of your activities, and well-planned exercise. The CBT and activity management are crucial to avoiding the exertion/exhaustion cycle that happens to so many with CFIDS.

If you have symptoms of CFIDS, see your health care provider. There are things you can do to get better, and seeking help is the first step. For more information, go to the CDC website, or the CFIDS Association of America.