Living with Chronic Immune Dysfunction Syndrome During Pregnancy

"I feel like my eyelids weigh a thousand pounds!" I remember saying these words to my father during my second pregnancy when he came all the way out to the Northeast, from the West Coast, to visit me. We had spent the day eating breakfast out and searching for movies at the local Blockbuster, but, even those very minimal of activities had rendered me almost completely incapable of functioning for the rest of the week. At the time, my physical health baffled me. A myriad of misdiagnosis, and partial diagnosis, had left me wondering if I was suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. Only recently, have I discovered that my weak immune system and chronic iron-malabsorbtion problem was related to my nearly 15 year battle with CFIDS. After a year-long recovering from a hard-fought battle with a rare neurological disease called Gullian-Barre Syndrome, the CFIDS I had first experienced in college, returned.

CFIDS is always bad, but it is the most difficult when coupled with other diseases or pregnancy. While there have been no conclusive (or hard fought) studies concerning the effects of CFIDS on pregnant women, there are some general observations that have been made by medical professionals and CFIDS sufferers throughout the world.