Visiting with people and taking phone calls can be exhausting.

And with every activity — “preparing meals, ironing a shirt, putzing around the house” — she has to pace herself.

“I have to break down tasks little by little,” Malott said. “What I can do today, I might not be able to do tomorrow.”

Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalopathy, is a devastating and little-understood disorder, characterized by an overwhelming lack of energy and a variety of other symptoms, including muscle pain, memory problems, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, achy joints and unrestful sleep.

Malott, 49, has been living with the disorder for more than five years.

She has had to give up a 28-year nursing career, can no longer work out at the gym and now attends church from her red leather recliner at home, via the Internet.

But that hasn’t stopped her from being the best mother she can be to her children, Sara, 9 and Luke, 7.

And it doesn’t diminish her capacity to give and receive love.

“Before the illness, I was a very active mom. I would run through the door, start supper, round up the children for baths, run here, run there. Parenting was more of a task-based role,” Malott shared. “Now, it’s more emotional, supportive and educational.”

Malott said she “didn’t see this right away, but there are some gifts in this for my kids. their mom is home every morning and every evening when they come home, without fail. they will have a heart for people with illness and disability and they will benefit from the fact that I have greatly increased my efforts to educate them about life’s lessons and not taking anything for granted.”

Malott married her husband Jason when she was 38 and had her daughter Sara when she was 39, followed by a son, Luke.

“It was six months after Luke was born that I started to experience some health issues that now, in retrospect, were related to the illness,” she said.

“I was a very hands-on kind of mom and would get on the floor and play and run around in the yard with the children. I remember thinking how much I couldn’t wait to ride roller coaster with my kids. I was a front-seat, hands-up kind of girl.”

Little did she know, she reflected, how drastically her life would change.

The diagnosis

Malott said it was March of 2006 when she began to experience hand pain for about three weeks.

“I didn’t feel well,” she recalled. “So I went to my primary care doctor who sent me for carpal tunnel testing, which was negative. then, about three days later, I just felt really tired — flu-like, but also lightheaded.”

At the time, she said, she was taking a spinning class three to four times a week. When she got on the treadmill at the fitness center and started walking, “I felt like I was going to pass out. I told my husband I didn’t feel right and thought I needed to go to the emergency room. I went, and as it turns out, my heart was beating irregularly and my potassium was low.”

Malott said she had a cardiac catheterization and other cardiac tests that came back normal.

Six months later, she once again began suffering from extreme hand pain, as well as a fever and body aches that lasted 10 days.

“I could barely function,” she said. “All I could do was lay down and get up for meals and go to the bathroom. I felt like I had a severe case of the flu. It went away after 10 days, but came back again in two months and has been there ever since.”

Malott said the low-grade fevers were concerning to her doctors, as well as the hand pain, cardiac irregularities and low potassium.

“I noticed a decline in my short-term memory and my ability to concentrate at work,” she said. “I also developed severe insomnia, making it difficult to function day to day. I lost 60 pounds in about four months, which was another baffling piece.  this was a real telltale sign that something was wrong, as I have fought the battle of the bulge most of my adult life.”

Malott visited a rheumatologist at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in 2007, who was the first to tell her she might have CFS and/or fibromyalgia, a syndrome also associated with fatigue and muscle pain.

Baby is sleeping. Isn’t that a beautiful sentence? Especially if you have a little one who likes to stay awake way past everyone’s bedtime. once that baby does go to sleep, it’s like mama’s shoulders immediately relax. so we should just be happy when baby finally does fall asleep, right? even if she’s snoring, right? Well … wrong. it turns out that when a baby is sleeping and there are interruptions in that sleep, specifically if you have a little snorer on your hands, it could be a sign of behavior issues like ADHD cropping up once your child is school-age. 

Great. just great. (Read: sarcasm.) so we can’t sleep when baby sleeps? We have to instead hover and make sure she isn’t snoring like grandpa and if she is we should run to the doctor? Well, not exactly. here are the details ….

This study lead by Karen Bonuck of Albert Einstein College of Medicine looked at the sleep habits of over 11,000 children starting at 6 months of age. the parents noted if their baby snored, breathed through the mouth, or had any form of sleep apnea (interrupted breathing) while asleep. These children were monitored until 7 years of age. it was discovered that “babies who have these sleep problems at 6 months may be anywhere from 20% to 100% more likely to have problem behaviors such as hyperactivity by age 7.”

The little snorers — the ones with the worst sleep disorder symptoms — displayed anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, aggression, and difficulty in getting along with their peers at the ages of 4 through 7. some developed ADHD.

Why does this happen? “Sleep is a time to restore the brain’s cellular and chemical homeostasis,” Bonuck shared. “when sleep is disordered, the brain receives less oxygen than it needs, and may get more carbon dioxide than it needs.” This could be damaging to the brain since it’s still developing and therefore it can affect how the brain develops. This is why good sleep for babies and kids (heck even parents) is so important.

If your baby snores, the first thing to do is talk to your pediatrician to see if your child has enlarged tonsils or adenoids. That can be treated. I guess a little hovering while our babies sleep is a good thing — there are things their bodies can tell us. We can sleep when they’re teenagers.

What do you think of this study? does your baby have any sleep issues? does it worry you?

Image via Kekka/Flickr

Popular Today by Zoe Abel  Posted: 2:00 AM January 09, 2012

My son, Silas, is always sick. you wouldn’t know this to look at him, though. If you were to come over to our house you’d see him screaming and laughing and refusing to eat his dinner.

Silas must be very brave to be able to laugh and play through his illness. In fact, I’ve rarely seen a symptom of his illness. be he does seem to have an intense desire several times a month to call home sick from the elementary school office.

Since I always work the night shift, Silas is extremely considerate of my sleep time during the day. He’ll tell the office secretary, “My mom worked last night, can you call my grandpa to pick me up?” Not only is Silas considerate of my sleep, but extremely smart: He’s obviously figured out that his grandpa is about a million times nicer than I am.

Being a big boring grown-up, I am sure that nothing cures illness better than some good sleep. When Silas tells me he doesn’t feel good, the first thing out of my mouth is usually, “Oh! We should probably take a nap then!” I actually get kind of excited about being sick myself — it finally gives me the chance to sleep 18 hours a day and not feel guilty about it. Silas’ naps are much shorter. He usually closes his eyes just long enough to make sure his mother has passed out asleep and then sneaks out of bed to play Legos and watch “iCarly.” Grandpa, on the other hand, doesn’t require sick people to take naps.

Silas’ other reason for usually calling his grandpa to pick him up from school is that Grandpa doesn’t immediately grill Silas on his symptoms. Grandpa will say, “Oh, he said he didn’t feel good, and he looked a little flushed,” and leave it at that.

I have two reasons for grilling Silas on the symptoms of his illness. first, I’m a nurse and intensely curious about disease and want to know in advance what the chances will be of a 2 a.m. emergency room visit. Secondly, I have grown to be suspicious of these “stomach aches” and “headaches.” I hate to call my child a liar, but I do think there are values more important to him than medical truthfulness, and one of the things he holds most valuable is his time away from school.

I’m sure plenty of people will disagree with this (including his teacher), but what does it really matter? Silas is having a bit of a tough time socially at school. If he feels like he needs a few extra days off every month, what’s the big deal? If taking days off was such a terrible thing then they wouldn’t have so many three- and four-day weekends to start with. Of course, at the next teacher/parent conferences I will adamantly deny ever saying that. Besides, I seem to remember having quite a few “stomach aches” and “headaches” myself while I was in school, and I turned out perfectly fine. The only lingering effect is that now, as an adult, I have chronically enlarged tonsils which require removing. I am sure my tonsillitis is karma for all the sore throats I would suddenly develop to get out of Spanish during high school.

When Silas is truly ill, he looks up at me from his bed, looking just about as sweet as can be, and says, “I’m lucky to have a nurse for a mom.” but what Silas is truly lucky to have is a grandpa as nice as his for those days when he’s simply sick of school.

Zoe Abel was a little late submitting this column because of a sore throat that required her to take long naps and get caught up on several seasons’ worth of “Dr. Phil.” you can contact her at

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Coming down with a nasty cold — or worse, the flu – is never fun. when you’re pregnant, though, it’s really the pits! not only do all of those unpleasant symptoms seem magnified (like you weren’t already queasy!), it’s like there’s nothing you can do to make yourself feel better. all the usual tricks of the trade, like knocking back a nighttime decongestant, are definite “don’ts” when you’re preggers.

But don’t get too dejected — you’re not doomed to have the most miserable winter of your life. There are some ways to make yourself feel better when you’re sick and expecting, and they really do work. Really! I’ve tried them.

Try a Neti Pot. okay, I know it looks weird and the concept of pouring warm salt water into one’s own nostrils is less than appealing, but I’m telling you, this thing is magic! One second, you can’t breathe through your nose, the next — ah! Relief! Granted, the Neti Pot takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you’re golden.

Use a Humidifier. Trust me, a humidifier in the bedroom is the secret to a decent night’s sleep when you’re pregnant with a cold or flu. And guess what? Chances are you’re going to need that humidifier after the baby is born, so might as well get a good one now!

Heat or Cold. We’re gonna take it way back for a moment, ladies … back to stuff your grandma used to do when you got sick as a little kid. Like an ice pack for a headache or a washcloth soaked in hot water on your face to relieve sinus pressure. Hey, it worked — remember?

SLEEP. This might seem obvious, but believe me when I tell you there is nothing — NOTHING — like a good night’s sleep to cure what ails you when you’re pregnant. in fact, a good 48 hours of sleep is often more like it. if your nose is all stuffy, try sleeping propped up on a couple of pillows. Do not disturb!!

Drink, drink, drink. again, this tip might seem like a given, but it’s approximately eight million times more important to stay hydrated when you’re sick and expecting. Check with your doctor about herbal teas (some aren’t safe during pregnancy) and watch your caffeine intake, but otherwise — chug, chug, chug! my all-time favorite under-the-weather pregnancy cocktail? Hot water with honey and lemon.

Have you tried any of these cold & flu remedies during your pregnancy?

Image via Nick Perla/Flickr

Paul Rosen has had a headache for days, the after-effect of his latest concussion, at least the eighth he’s sustained in decades of playing hockey and other sports.

he now knows the drill: shut everything down, body and brain. Rest — and then rest some more.

not that Rosen’s having trouble giving into the urge to sleep. his fatigue has been so pronounced since getting beaned in the temple by a foul ball while umpiring a baseball game a week earlier, he’s lucky to accomplish more than having a shower each day.

“For me, it’s the fatigue factor that’s making everything else so difficult,” says Rosen, who’s also been experiencing dizziness, confusion and a fuzzy memory, all trademark symptoms of concussion.

“I don’t do anything that makes it worse for me. Anything that makes me concentrate too much tends to tire me out or give me this headache back again.”

Rosen took his share of brain-rattling head thumpings as a big, fight-prone right-winger on amateur teams during his teens and 20s.

but after losing most of one leg in 1999 because of a rampant infection following knee-replacement surgery, Rosen turned to sledge hockey, becoming goalie for Canada’s national team from 2000 until he retired a year ago at age 50.

he figures he suffered five concussions during his sledge hockey career, which included three Paralympics –the team took gold at the 2006 Games in Torino — and five world championships.

“The first real bad one was in Salt Lake, where I took a sled to the head making a diving save,” he recalls. “The game in sled hockey as a goalie, especially if you’re an aggressive goalie like I was, you get hit a lot in the head, because an able-bodied goalie’s stomach is where my head is.”

Throughout his career, like a lot of athletes, he just sucked up the symptoms as much as could and went back on the ice.

It’s only with the recent, growing attention on concussion — think side-lined Sidney Crosby, the possible concussion-related suicides of three NHL enforcers this summer and reports of neuron wasting in the brains of deceased pro athletes — that Rosen realized how dangerous these brain injuries can be.

now he’s following the prescribed protocols to let the brain rest — and hopefully heal.

Since the effects of concussion are so multifaceted, it can often take a team of medical and allied specialists to treat the brain trauma, especially if it’s severe and prolonged or one in a string of such injuries.

It’s critical that anybody who has suffered a significant blow to the head should see a doctor, whether a neurology specialist, a sports medicine physician, an emergency room doctor or a family doctor to determine whether a concussion has occurred, says University of Toronto neurosurgeon Dr. Karen Johnston.

“Our treatment, no matter what type of practitioner you are, really has to start with the same structured approach,” says Johnston, who also heads the concussion management program at Athletic Edge Sports Medicine.

“It starts with identifying the injury, which is key. And then we have cognitive and physical rest.”

For both children and adults, that usually means unplugging from anything that stimulates the brain — working on computers, texting or watching TV and movies.

“You want to shut down anybody whose brain is sort of working on overdrive,” she says. “From the point of view of an adult, it may be their work situation. It can certainly be any other stressors, so it can be financial stressors. It can be personal things, relationships, all sorts of stress.

“You just want to put it all on the back burner while the brain is in recovery mode.”

As symptoms start to subside, the concussed patient can begin resuming some activities, but gradually to avoid a set-back, says Johnston, adding that the effects from the brain-rattling can last longer in some people than others, especially if there’s been multiple concussions.

“Honestly, all concussions I think in a sense are the same injury, so we treat a professional athlete in the same way that we treat a child.

“The brain sees the injury in the same way, so there shouldn’t be a different way to handle each one, although we have to acknowledge that each one is individually managed because it may reveal itself in slightly different ways.”

At York University in Toronto, the sport injury clinic provides a team approach to dealing with concussions among players on its varsity teams.

Sports medicine doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists and more all bring their individual specialty to get an athlete back on the field or ice, but always with a go-slow approach, says Cindy Hughes, head athletic therapist and clinic manager.

“What’s really difficult is to figure out first of all: has the brain 100 per cent fully recovered? When is it safe to return people to their activity? And what treatment is actually helping?” says Hughes, who likens what happens to the brain after a head trauma to an egg yoke banging around inside its shell.

besides the cognitive effects from a skull-jarring, there can be physical repercussions such as head, neck and back pain. That may call for one or more therapists, each using a different technique to try to alleviate muscle tension, she says.

“Maybe acupuncture is going to work for that person, or maybe it’s cranial-sacral therapy or maybe it’s physio, because every concussion is different … so we try everything.”

one of those therapies is osteopathy, a system of hands-on manipulation of the bones and tissues aimed at restoring the body to health.

part of that treatment can include cranial-sacral massage, says Natalie Randall, an athletic therapist and osteopath at Cove Sport Therapy in Dartmouth, N.S.

The osteopath will work on what’s called the dura mater (“tough mother” in Latin), one of the protective layers around the spinal cord upwards from the sacrum, or tailbone, that also cushions the brain inside the skull.

“We can work on the base of the skull, right where it attaches,” she says of the dura. “Can we traction it? can we release it? can we soften that tough mother to not be vicing that head so tight?”

other cranial techniques include manipulating areas inside the mouth and on the head around the ears, says Randall, explaining that one goal is to restore the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which carries nutrients to the brain.

“The osteopaths believe that we can feel that rhythm of cerebrospinal fluid and neurological activity in the body with our hands, with light, gentle palpation.

“A lot of doctors that work with me say, “I don’t really know what you do, but the athletes seem to get better,’” she says, allowing that most patients show at least some improvement with the therapy.

“Does everybody get better? No. I wish we were that magical.”

still, Randall says sustaining a concussion represents a major withdrawal from one’s “bank account of health. And until you pay off your debt, you’re not going to feel good.

“So getting an osteopathic treatment is just one deposit into that bank account. so is physio, chiro, massage and athletic therapy … It’s a combined effort.”

not to be forgotten in the mix of concussion symptoms are the psycho-social effects — depression, disordered sleep, anxiety and even personality changes, says Dr. Shree Bhalerao, a psychiatrist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Brain trauma can disrupt neurotransmitters like serotonin that regulate mood and behaviour.

“It’s like a snow globe,” says Bhalerao. “When you shake the globe, you wait until it eventually settles and you hope that during the settling process and the healing process, it comes back to the way it was.”

Should depression and related symptoms persist — and for an athlete being forced into inactivity and away from teammates, such disorders can be exacerbated — it’s critical to seek help, he says.

“We really emphasize using support networks, like talking to your family, talking to a therapist, talking to coaches and being honest.”

some people will see a cognitive-behavioural therapist or go to group therapy. there are even Internet sites for concussion-related depression that help a person cope, he says. Doctors may also prescribe antidepressants or other medications.

“The main thing is safety first,” says Bhalerao, stressing the need for both physical and psychological healing, and avoiding repeat concussions that can lead to severe cognitive impairment, including progressive forms of dementia.

“All of these things can turn the clock one way and you can’t turn it back. you end up in a situation where you may not retrieve your full cognitive function, you may not return back to the way you were.”

For Paul Rosen, the potential long-term fallout from multiple concussions is perhaps his greatest fear.

“I’m almost 52 and I know I’m going to have problems as I get later into my 50s and 60s,” says Rosen, who has joined an online organization called StopConcussions.com that aims to educate athletes of all ages, amateur and pro alike, about the fallout from blows to the head.

“I’m terrified actually. I’m terrified down the road what’s going to happen to me.”

My friend is having trouble getting a diagnosis because of the city she lives in, and she is currently in the hospital.

Her symptoms: High fever, dizzy, racing heart, coughing, severe headaches, constant throbbing "all over", increased need for sleep, and feels as though she will pass out at any given moment.
Can someone figure out the illness?

I can't really describe much of anything else because she lives awhile away from me, and this is all she has mentioned, but hopefully it'll start somewhere!

The dizziness and fatigue, accompanied by a racing heart are all symptoms of a cardiac ailment, such as an arrhythmia. She has probably had an EKG, and if that was normal, she may need further cardiac testing, such as an Echocardiogram or stress test. The coughing and fever point to a bacterial or viral infection, possibly originating in the lungs. I assume that she has probably had a chest x-ray since she is in the hospital. The doctors are probably trying to narrow it down from a list of infections with blood tests.

Surely the hospital will do blood work to check for lots of things. these symptoms could be from any number of health problems but they need to check her for the following (although the high temp is a sure sign of an infection somewhere)
1) H1N1 (or general flu)
2) Lyme disease (was or has she been outdoors a lot?)
3) Diabetes
4) Thyroid
Or any other numerous conditions that could have these symptoms but, like I said, the high temp is a sign of some type of infection!

sounds exactly like me, however i have a few more symptoms, but it sounds like anxiety, it's really horrible

i get the high fever, dizziness racing heart, headaches, throbbin. the feeling of passing out, ect.

go on web mb .com.

The flu maybe?
go to an online med. website and look up these symptons

i get lower back pain. frequent urination not much at night at all. jut after waking i can sleep 6 hours and wake up and urinate but then after i wake at least 2 hours after i wake up i urinate every 30 to 45 mins for 2 or 3 hours. and i still got the golf ball feeling in rectum at times. i have been very stressed lately and anxiety is so bad making me depressed. also my sex drive is not like it used to be im 28 and urologiest did rectal exam and urine test and complete blood count at emergency room when first went.. also electrolytes were fine kidney are working normal… how long will this last? is so annoying also get some pelvic pain at tiems.

kidney problems from diabetes? Avoid sugar. get tested by a doctor familiar with diabetes.

i think mouth cancer has red and bloody sores that look really bad and are also painful

White patches are probably something else, and something less serious.

Maybe you're biting your mouth accidently when you eat or while you sleep, or you have cold sores, or infection.

we can get sores in our mouths for many reasons, so try not to freak yourself out. it might just be canker sores, if that is what they are one easy way to get rid of them is using peach juice, if you can get it w/out syrup that is best. other wise i get a can or jar of peaches in light syrup. swish it around in your mouth for a few mins. keep it refrigerated, do it a couple of times a day. the sores should be gone in no more than two days. it has worked for yrs for my husband and i. we had a holistic dr. tell us to do it. it works!

I have had all the symptoms of tetanus for several years and it is getting worse. I feel like my neck is going to break while I sleep. Is is possible to get a non acute form of it from a vaccine? After I got a vaccine for it several years ago is when this started and is slowly getting worse.

I am tired all the time. I can sleep at anytime for as long as you will let me. I am even tired when I have had 10 hours of sleep! I heard about chronic fatigue syndrome but I dont know if thats what it is.
I am a 24 year old female without children.

Im actually a suffer awaiting treatment. Its a lot more serious than you think. if you really had it and needed treatment you would probably not be online seeking medical advice.

Check this out, I found this tidbit while studying a specific part of the brain anatomy:

"Lesions in the reticular formation have been found in the brains of people who have post-polio syndrome, and some imaging studies have shown abnormal activity in the area in people with chronic fatigue syndrome, indicating a high likelihood that damage to the reticular formation is responsible for the fatigue experienced with these syndromes."

I found this on wikipedia in an article about the reticular formation which is a major area of concern in people with depression, CFS, etc.

I had a severe concussion 3 years ago in college and never quite recovered and I started to have many many problems, serious ones. I've felt extremely stigmatized because CFS is so poorly understood and is considered a very debilitating disease. Some people are misdiagnosed and some really do have it. I've been to the best hospitals in the East Coast, many many specialists, and its still been quite tough getting answers.

If you needed treatment you would probably have major trouble sleeping, mental confusion, major anxiety and depression, muscle twitching, etc. Theres a laundry list of symptoms, some I don't even want to think about. Your social life would be not existant. You would not be smiling, scared maybe.

Anyways, if indeed you did do some damage to that particular part of the brain causing the extreme fatigue, anti-depressants should help greatly. SSRI's (prozac, zoloft) may not be enough though. there are two causes for depression/CFS, if SSRI's don't wont than a MAOI should do it.

I would suggest looking into Depression, Serotonin, Reticular Formation, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on Wikipedia (a credible source). this is three years of research summed into one response. but, like I said if you really suffered from CFS, you would probably be very very ill physically and mentally.