PPS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and ME. Did I Really Have Polio
Original Post: Is it possible to have ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or Fibromyalgia as well as PPS? My health has deteriorated dramatically over the last three years - it was gradual for 10 years and then Wham! I seem to have symptoms that tick nearly every box of both other conditions, including seizures, which began a few years ago. I have seen my PPS consultant and an Epilepsy specialist, but neither has had the time or inclination to look at my symptoms as a whole package. Only recently have I read that seizures can be a symptom of ME. My gut instinct is that I may have more than one problem, but I don't know if there are recognized relationships between the three (PPS/ME/Fibromyalgia) conditions.
Dr. Bruno’s Response: Diagnostically, PPS is ALWAYS a diagnosis of exclusion; but so is ME/CFS. If you have ME/CFS fatigue you can't have PPS fatigue. If you had polio and develop late-onset fatigue, you have post-polio fatigue.
Unfortunately, Fibromyalgia has become an "anything goes" diagnosis for muscle pain.
The term Fibromyalgia = muscle pain.
Seizures are not known to be a symptom of chronic fatigue, but fatigue often follows a seizure.
Additional Post: If ME/CFS and PPS are always a diagnosis of exclusion, how do you know which is the right diagnosis? What about people who were never diagnosed or even knew they had polio? They could possibly have PPS and not know it.
Dr. Bruno’s Response: If you had polio, develop fatigue and nothing else is going on, you have PPS. The statistics are that if one child in a household had paralytic polio another child had "non-paralytic" polio. Often the paralyzed kid got all the attention and even obvious muscle weakness was ignored (as in two studies showed at the time), in about 40% of the so-called "non-paralytic" kids.
There are numerous articles in the Encyclopedia of Polio and PPS about “Non-Paralytic”. Search that topic in the Index.