FATIGUED AND BRAIN FOGGY?

A few years ago, I was overwhelmed and confused. I did not know why I was constantly exhausted, suffered cognitive impairment (brain fog, memory loss, word loss, inability to absorb complex information), had a swollen lymph gland, heart palpitations and insomnia. I felt pretty crappy all the time, despite having a loving husband, a beautiful home, 2 amazing sons, an adorable dog, great friends and a fulfilling career as an entrepreneur and angel investor. The fatigue was crushing. Not long before, I would ride a bike 100 miles, race in triathlons, play competitive tennis or even just enjoy casual laps in the pool. Gradually, I could no longer do any of these activities without feeling like I was going to collapse later.

Worse, my son was getting increasingly debilitated from similar symptoms but also migratory joint pain, inability to concentrate and study, deadening fatigue and frighteningly, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). His heart rate went jumped to 170 when he stood up and 50 foot walk next door increased it to 180. This was unsustainable and we were not getting answers from the physicians we went to beyond a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), After many lab tests, the only result was reactivated Epstein Barr virus (EBV), which in its acute form manifests as mononucleosis. Since he had already had these symptoms for a couple of years, we were told we just had to wait it out. One day after my son slept for 12 hours, he was on his way to school and said, "my body is screaming at me to go back to sleep." I knew something was terribly wrong and I wondered if it was more than EBV.