Did anyone’s PEM start mainly as headaches after exertion rather than crushing fatigue?
Has anyone here had PEM start mainly as worsening headaches before the more classic fatigue/crash symptoms?
I’ve been dealing with issues for about a year after a viral illness. I’ve seen multiple doctors and still don’t have a diagnosis. Early on I had fatigue and headaches, but I’ve still been able to work, drive, and function day to day. I stopped intense workouts though because exertion started making me feel worse.
One thing that confuses me is that I don’t feel exhausted all the time anymore. I actually feel normal energy-wise, but headaches are becoming the dominant symptom. If I overexert myself physically, the headaches can get really bad afterward. But if I rest for a day, I often feel noticeably better the next day. Some doctors have said I have migraine or tension headaches…
I also tried LDN. Interestingly it reduced the headaches, but it gave me this weird malaise/flu-like “coming down with something” feeling, so I stopped it.
For people who eventually realized they had PEM or ME, was it obvious from the beginning? Like full-body crashes where you couldn’t do anything? Or did it start more subtly with one symptom (headaches, dizziness, feeling off, etc.) getting worse after exertion before the more classic PEM symptoms showed up?
Just trying to understand whether anyone else’s experience started this way and what the patterns or red flags were/are (something the FAQ doesn’t really spell out for beginning symptoms)
Thanks