It ended up as something resembling "chronic fatigue syndrome". That very concept is controversial, as is the notion that it has any underlying emotional cause, so I don't frequent CFS communities or talk about it in those terms much, but it does seem to be in that sphere of illnesses.

Defining symptoms have included chronic muscle tension/pain, slow digestion, immune system dysfunction, enlarged/painful lymph nodes, unrefreshing sleep, always feeling under-oxygenated/undernourished even when having a very healthy diet, a constant sense feeling "tired and wired", or "spinning the wheels"; i.e., at-once feeling exhausted, but also like your body/mind is working at full speed, but not being able to get much forward momentum in life.

I share most of these symptoms, for years.

chronic muscle pain (and believe me, pain means pain, like a knife in your articulations), immune system dysfunction (asthma, arthritis), enlarged lymph nodes, unrefreshing sleep, tired and wired.

Current solution : see the doctors often (it makes me feel safe), tai chi twice a week + chi kung routine every day. When I'll be in better shape, I'll start swimming and running again. But the more you spend on yourself, the less you spend on family which is quite a dilemma. I eat vegetables and much less meat but can't stay away from sugar :-). I don't drink coffee/alcohol, I don't smoke (so the usual quick fix don't apply for me).

Believe me : don't ever get in that kind of problems. Every day is like half a day : you don't enjoy your life and it's borderline depression/burn out for months.

> But the more you spend on yourself, the less you spend on family which is quite a dilemma.

Can you include your family in your workouts.

Ask kids to do chi kung [1] (i.e. standing almost still for 20 minutes in a row), just try :-)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhan_zhuang

You're basically describing the past 10 years of medical mystery for me, especially this:

"unrefreshing sleep, always feeling under-oxygenated/undernourished even when having a very healthy diet, a constant sense feeling "tired and wired", or "spinning the wheels"; i.e., at-once feeling exhausted, but also like your body/mind is working at full speed, but not being able to get much forward momentum in life."

Completely, utterly on point. Thank you!

That's very interesting. I know someone who has had very similar symptoms for years; they come and go. Doctors have been unable to diagnose/fix it. Started with getting mono years ago.

From these comments, it seems actually not that uncommon. Yet given the vagueness of the symptoms / inability to diagnose accurately, it doesn't really have a name and is not considered seriously by the medical profession.

How do you feel 'undernourished'?

Hard to explain, but I guess Bilbo Baggins said it best: "like butter scraped over too much bread."

I exercise (primarily weights and yoga, plus cardio here and there) 3-4 times per week, eat incredibly healthy (lots of greens and lean proteins), get enough sleep (7-9 hours). My blood pressure, weight, and BMI are great. I have sleep apnea and am allergic to wheat but have treated those as best I can (the former is difficult, the latter is quite simple).

And yet, I feel sort of "removed." Constantly fatigued. Kind of like being in caffeine withdrawal (and no, that's not it). Don't feel as strong as my exercise and age (late 20's) would have you think. Always dehydrated. Very little "vitality."

Around the same time period, I was "floxxed" by Cipro, and got Mono. My best explanation is that it has something to do with one or both, but no doctor has ever figured it out. By all accounts, I'm very healthy. I just constantly feel like shit.

Have you tried any antivirals against EBV?

A couple of years of solid therapy led my therapist to suggest EMDR... A couple of test sessions established that I responded to a vibrating stimulus (hand held paddles) (as opposed to actual eye movement or audio tones) and five distinct sessions over the past few months have made changes in my emotional state and baseline thinking that I would never have believed possible.

(Yes, some extreme trauma uncovered and at least partially resolved, that I won't elaborate on here.)

I still consciously think the EMDR technique is "magic", as I am otherwise a very staunch hard science person, but I swear by its effectiveness now, and if I feel like I'm experiencing any further emotional blocks or 'knee jerk' reactions, I'll do it again in a heartbeat.

Forty years of much of the symptoms in the book, and nearly destroying my 17 year marriage, is easing to an amazing degree, and I feel like I actually have a life now.

What are the techniques you've used? Any information available online?

My reply here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21342725