Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ---it seems to have a lot in common with Lupus

I was told that I had cfs some time ago . I was ( and am still ) always tired . My sleep can be characterised as being unrefreshing ---even my dreams consist of my being tired and unable to move . I can't hold a job and am on permanent disability , although not because of cfs ; I was able to get disability because I was mentally depressed . The depression was caused by the cfs . Antidepressants completely cured the depression , yet I am still totally fatigued .
Recently , however , I developed annoying skin rashes on my scalp ; I also have , on my face, a recurring red rash which looks very much like the classic "butterfly rash" known to Lupus patients . This made me think that I have Lupus , although I have never been diagnosed by a doctor . I should add that I have lost my right eye due to some mysterious form of Glaucoma that my eye doctors couldn't understand or treat ; Lupus can , over time , attack any organ .
All this has made me realise that Lupus and CFS are very similar : they are both nearly impossible to diagnose definitively ; they both cause debilitating fatigue ; neither has a satisfactory treatment . And both are somewhat mysterious .
Could it be that Lupus and CFS are related to each other ? And , If they are related , wouldn't a common cure be easier to obtain if the Lupus patients and CFS patients gathered together to confront the medical community ? Also, wouldn't this be a greater enticement for the pharmaceutical companies to spend money on research ? Does anybody have anything to say about this ? Nobody , as far as I can see , ever seems to make the connection between Lupus and CFS . Am I alone ?

I believe that they are very related and that many people with CFIDS would probably be considered having what they call Incomplete Lupus Erythematosis (ILE.) I am no expert but have been reading an enormous amount about this because I feel my symptoms are similar to Lupus. See http://www.lupus.org/education/topics/outcome.html

Hi all,
Just procrastinating on doing some work, so I popped over here from the lyme board for a few moments. CFS, fibro, MS, and lupus all have similar symptoms to lyme as well. Before I was diagnosed, my main symptom was totally debilitating fatigue. I also had strange rashes, one across both my cheeks like the butterfly rash. A few different docs suggested early rheumatoid arthritis, MS, or lupus, but nothing showed up on blood tests. Lyme can be extremely hard to diagnose -- routine blood tests are very unreliable, particularly if someone has had it for a long time -- but you might want to jump over to the lyme forum and look at some of the symptoms and histories of people there. Also, a good website for more information is www.lymediseaseassociation.org (Lyme Disease Association of America). A friend of mine had what they told her was CFS for 5 years, and it turned out it was lyme all along. She only figured this out when I pointed her to the right blood tests and the right doctors. Now she is much much better. I hope this helps someone.

Post Edited (alfers) : 11/14/2006 9:09:06 AM (GMT-7)