Hypersensitivity

Patients with ME/CFS can have a range of hypersensitives, which may mild or severe. Hypersensitives recognized in ME/CFS include sensitivity to:


 * light (photophobia)
 * sound (hyperacusis)
 * touch
 * foods intolerances
 * odors
 * chemicals, including developing multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS)

Hyperalgesia, which is a greatly increased sensitivity to pain, may also occur.

Canadian Consensus Criteria
Perceptual and sensory disturbances count as one of the Neurological/Cognitive manifestations used for diagnosis, the examples given are: "spatial instability and disorientation and inability to focus vision. Ataxia, muscle weakness and fasciculations are common. There may be overload phenomena: cognitive, sensory–e.g., photophobia and hypersensitivity to noise–and/or emotional overload, which may lead to "crash" periods and/or anxiety."1,2

The following hypersensitivity and sensory symptoms are recognized in Appendix 4:

International Consensus Criteria
Hypersensitives are divided into two main areas, as optimal diagnostic criteria: Immune, Gastro-intestinal and Genitourinary 
 * Neurocognitive symtoms