A 56-Year-Old Woman With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
Dr Delbanco: Ms H is a 56-year-old educator currently on medical leave of absence. She has an 11-year history of chronic fatigue that at times has been disabling. She has commercial managed care health insurance through her work.
Prior to her illness, Ms H was well, a successful and energetic teacher who was physically very active. In 1986 she developed the sudden onset of profound fatigue, about 1 month after a flulike illness characterized by fever, chills, myalgias, and sore throat. She thought she had infectious mononucleosis, but laboratory tests did not confirm the diagnosis. Titers for Epstein-Barr infection were found to be elevated soon thereafter. Since that time, she has noted extraordinary weakness, finding herself able to walk only a few blocks, followed by exhaustion that forces her to spend many hours in bed. She often finds herself unable to concentrate. She reports she periodically has had "swollen glands"
Footnotes
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This conference took place at the Medicine Grand Rounds of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, West Campus, Boston, Mass, on June 11, 1997.
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Reprints: Erin E. Hartman, MS, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, East Campus, 330 Brookline Ave, LY318, Boston, MA 02215.
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Clinical Crossroads at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is produced and edited by Thomas L. Delbanco, MD, and Jennifer Daley, MD; Erin E. Hartman, MS, is managing editor. Clinical Crossroads section editor: Margaret A. Winker, MD, Senior Editor, JAMA.
