I've been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. (I also have PTSD, IBS, sleep apnea, obesity, some female reproductive disorder - apart from past endometriosis, and a nodule on my left thyroid but no detectable thyroid disorder to account for the fatigue and other symptoms.)

I want to lose weight, but I don't have the energy to exercise.

I'm a veteran, so I feel really ashamed to be this out of shape with all limbs intact.

I've heard controversial stuff about chronic fatigue disorder, and the treatments for them are equally as controversial. Nevertheless, I'm willing to try anything. Doing dishes tires me. Taking a shower tires me. Going on an interview (which I have tomorrow for grad school) tires me. I'm not sleep tired, but just fatigued to the point where I have to sit down or lay down. I get headaches, and once in a while body aches and joint pain. But if I sit for too long, my lower limb or limbs swell.

I also have heart palpitations (not panic-related, though I do seldom get panic attacks from the PTSD).

I also have some sort of tinnitus, where I hear my heartbeat in my ears, and once in a while they ring.

I miss having energy to do just basic living stuff. I tried to volunteer doing research assistant work, but I'm limited to 5 hours a week, or about an hour a day. Sometimes I can last a bit longer, but then I'm out for two days resting to make up for post-exertional malaise (PEM).

I do not know how I got this.

If anyone has this condition, I mean, not just tiredness from a different disorder, but a diagnosed CFS/ME, please let me know what tips you have to offer.

It's getting hard, and even weekly therapy exacerbates my condition to the point that I have to have an appointment that is in the afternoon so I can spend a day and a half recuperating from mental and emotional stress that goes along with PTSD healing.

I know this is NOT just somatic. It's real, and it requires some lifestyle change, maybe pacing, but I don't know how yet.