Claudia Wendlandt awoke with the worst flu symptoms of her life on Feb. 8, 1988, in her Kennesaw home.

"It was like having a non-stop flu. I had a low-grade fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, achy feelings and I was exhausted," said 56-year-old Wendlandt, who at the time worked in information systems with IBM.

Nine months later, she received a diagnosis: chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

"By September, I had every test known to mankind. I saw all sorts of doctors, had all sorts of tests that checked my sleep, heart, lungs, they all came back normal. It was very frustrating."

She started to doubt herself and the doctors, and went to see a psychologist. Her evaluation was normal. The doctors finally told her about CFS.

"They said they thought I had it from the beginning but that it's not that easy. They don't know what causes it and there isn't a cure," she said.

CFS is diagnosed through a process of elimination because its main component, severe exhaustion, is a symptom in many other illnesses. More than 1 million people in the United States have CFS, 60 percent of whom are women.

The medical community has struggled with defining the disease, and in 1994, an international panel of CFS experts drafted a definition. The Center for Disease Control lists CFS, as "extreme fatigue that has lasted at least six months and is not substantially relieved by rest," and includes eight additional symptoms.

But it still eludes the health experts. "There is more about the body and the universe that we don't know than what we know," said Dr. Laura Black of the Hunter-Hopkins Center in Charlotte, one of the premiere research and medical clinics that works specifically with CFS. No one knows what triggers CFS.

She said while the disease affects each patient in a unique way, some objective commonalities are found in patients: Low immune systems, low hormones, low levels of nutrients and vitamins and abnormal brain waves and sleep patterns are objective problems found in the majority of patients.

Black said they treat symptoms as they can, and try to replace nutrients and vitamins. Currently, no drug on the market can treat CFS as a whole. They are experimenting with anti-viral medicines, but Black said if it's an immune problem, it lives in patients like herpes and HPV.

"It couldn't kill it, but it could keep it at bay," she said.

Treating the fatigue is the most difficult. Sleep doesn't help exhaustion, and stimulants would only produce a fake sense of energy that would be very hard to recover from. She said they try to minimize fatigue with lifestyle management and interval activity.

Wendlandt has been living with CFS for nearly 20 years. Her cognitive skills and short-term memory are impaired and she's easily exhausted by simple day-to-day tasks like showering. Sleep is not restful and her muscles hurt.

She had to give up her job, and her role as mother and wife dramatically shifted.

"I was crushed. I loved my job and felt like I would work until the day I died," she said.

Her daughter, Michelle, was 12 when Wendlandt was diagnosed, and had a difficult time understanding her mother couldn't take trips to the zoo, or the white water park.

She said it was difficult for her to rely on her husband so much after being very independent, but his support was undying and they continue to be married after 32 years.

The hardest part of coping with CFS, said Wendlandt, is going from an active lifestyle to an almost sedentary lifestyle. A young, bustling professional and mother became an exhausted, sickly patient.

Some days, going to the grocery store, visiting grandchildren, taking after dinner strolls, even reading a book is impossible.

"When I first got sick, the four walls of my home drove me crazy and it all felt like a cave," she said.

Wendlandt wanted to find activity outside of the home, and quickly got more involved in her church, Christ Episcopal Church. She became a Stephen's Minister, which is a faith-based counselor for church members.

There, she met her now-best friend Davianne Charles, whose roommate suffered from CFS.

"I felt frustrated with my roommate, at first, because she tired out so easily, was in a lot of pain and had what they call 'brain fogs,' so she got lost often," said Charles.

"But then I really started to learn about CFS and met Wendlandt. Now I understand that they are really sick," she said.

Charles began taking care of her roommate, and together with Wendlandt, started the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Fibromyalgia Organization of Georgia, which offers support for both patients and their caretakers. Charles is patient with Wendlandt, and said that one trip to get ice cream is time well-spent.

"I wouldn't trade my friendship with these women. It has enriched my life … Claudia isn't a victim; she's very positive and has a wicked sense of humor. It's very empowering to see them take off, to see them hurting and they are still able to make a difference," said Charles.

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