# This Fatigue Issue (Low Energy/Motivation)



## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

I'm going to see my primary care doctor tomorrow morning. Many of my recent posts have been about looking for as much information in regards to treatments for my extreme low energy and motivation I have been experiencing for the past year, which is getting very...very bad.

In short, I'm tired of screwing around. Something has to be done. I know there are medications that help with the low energy and motivation symptoms I am experiencing, but when I asked my psychiatrist he refused to prescribe anything but an antidepressant (effexor), even though I have tried a host of different antidepressants already.

My only advocate right now is my therapist, who has stated that he is willing to help me get help from a major research university hospital on the East Coast of the U.S. (Don't really want to say the name of it). He also says it's great that I am conversing with other people similar to me on this forum. But, I don't think I could mentally deal with going to a new doctor and having to go through the whole process again only to have the possibility of them giving me the same old crap that hasn't worked for a year and a half.

I'm seeing my general practitioner tomorrow for an unrelated issue, though he is aware of my low energy and extreme fatigue I have been experiencing. He gave me B-12 shots but they have done absolutely nothing.

Is it worth it to ask him about the various psychostimulant medications to combat these symptoms? I know from the people who have been on them that they help a great deal. I understand the possible abuse potential but any hesitation by a doctor in regards to this issue would be addressed with my therapist who is an addictions expert, who understands that I exhibit no abuse potential and, in fact, my anxiety disorder helps in this regard.

Do general practitioners prescribe such medications? I'm very frustrated because I have tried so hard to piece my life back together and doing everything I can on my end, yet to be held back by doctors who refuse to prescribe me medications that address my symptoms only because they diagnosed me with depression and not ADHD after 15 minutes of talking to me.

This is very frustrating. I don't really understand why someone in the healthcare field would refuse to help the symptoms someone has been experiencing from over a year. 

Any quick input would be nice in regards to medication and experiences with GPs, seeing as I see him in 10 hours.

Thanks for all the help


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

You mentioned that you've tried a host of antidepressants in the past, did any of the ones which are considered stimulating such as wellbutrin, prozac, cymbalta or pristiq work for you? 

Also if your docs unwilling to prescribe stimulants, he may prescribe modafinil, as it supposedly has less abuse potential.

I have the same problem with major fatigue, and this is probably stating the obvious but I think it's best combated through combining 2 methods;

1). Take a stimulating med in the morning (modafinil, wellbutrin etc) + higher dose caffeine 

and 

2). Take a short(ish) acting sleep aid before bed such as lunesta or ambien.

note: I mentioned these 2 points, because often people seem to forget to importance of sleep in regulating energy.


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## korey (Apr 25, 2006)

Yeah, I would suggest considering Provigil or Nuvigil since they are both less restricted than the CII stimulants. They're both incredibly expensive, though. However, some doctors are just flat-out against prescribing controlled substances. It's sad, but it's true. I was too afraid to ask my psychiatrist about possibly adding a low dose of a stimulant to my current meds seeing as I can hardly finish a sentence without losing the entire train of thought, not to mention how I am having more and more trouble processing and recalling information. I'm guessing it's due to the lithium I take, but the lithium has to stay. I had these same memory problems when I was first put on lithium back in 2006, and my psychiatrist back then (the only one I can honestly say I was comfortable with) was very receptive to the idea of adding on Ritalin both for cognition improvement and antidepressant augmentation, and it helped with both quite a bit. But as I said, I'm too afraid to bring it up with my current pdoc because I don't want his opinion of me to change for the worse if he's not open to the idea of using stimulants for purposes other than treating ADD (which I probably have, anyway). I forgot the point of my rambling, so I'll have to leave it at that.


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## DrewDrewson (Mar 29, 2010)

If you read this before you go insist that he give you a thyroid blood test. The symptoms you mention are key symptoms to hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with thyroid disease 3 years ago. All you do is take a replacement thyroid hormone pill everyday and it brings you back to normal. good luck man


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

I personally don't find dextroamphetamine motivating. After taking it I can quite happily sit around and do absolutely nothing, as opposed to when I don't take it and I sit around unhappily doing absolutely nothing.

It does zip to motivate me. It simply make puts me in a more positive mood and makes me highly talkative. It puts me in such a good mood that I can even manage to be nice to people who would otherwise drive me nuts, even refraining from telling them to go **** themselves as I have an extensive history of doing.

I take dex as an antidepressant, since other than MAOIs, I have tried virtually every other class of ADs.

Dex lifts the veil of darkness and makes it seems like living another day isn't such a bad idea. As for addictive potential, it's not a concern of mine. Given the results of not improving my mood, addiction seems trivial. Take your choice: potential addiction or potential death.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

jim_morrison said:


> Also if your docs unwilling to prescribe stimulants, he may prescribe modafinil, as it supposedly has less abuse potential.


I've only tried free samples of that (Provigil). It's very mild and I can't imagine anybody abusing that, short of a coke or meth addict who was desperate and unable to get their fix -- I assume under such circumstances they'd settle for any upper they could get their junkie hands on.

I believe I read that Germany removed it from their list of controlled drugs a couple years ago, deciding it simply lacks enough abuse potential to justify such controls.


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

Sleep is probably one of the most important aspects to deal with fatigue. On the other hand OVER sleeping is just as bad (my experience). It makes my groggy all day too. Take some vitamins like B-complex,Magnesium, fish oil and take care of your diet. 

And how stupid it sounds if you suffer from extreme fatigue try to exercise every morning. Stop drinking alcohol in excessive quantaties because we all know what happens the day after...


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

An update if anyone cares about it.

Wasn't given any medication besides another B-12 shot and bloodwork. I'm not even sure he wrote me to be tested for thyroid issues on the paper, even though I told him too.

To Jim Morrison...



> You mentioned that you've tried a host of antidepressants in the past, did any of the ones which are considered stimulating such as wellbutrin, prozac, cymbalta or pristiq work for you?
> 
> Also if your docs unwilling to prescribe stimulants, he may prescribe modafinil, as it supposedly has less abuse potential.


Max dosage of Cymbalta and Wellbutrin failed to work. Prozac is one of the ones I haven't tried yet. I'll ask about modafinil.

In regards to ambien, I actually tried those but felt no effects from them at all. I didn't fall asleep any better at 10mg, could this be because my xanax dosage (between 1mg and 2mg) causes me to be too tolerant to the ambien?

I sleep all the time. A typical day would go as follows: I get up at 8:30. Go to class from 9-9:50. Sleep from 10 am to 2 pm. Go to class from 3- 4:15pm. Sleep from 5pm - 10pm. Be awake from 11 pm - 1am. The fall asleep again from 1 am to 8:30 am.

To Freesix...

I take all of those supplements and have been doing so for years. My epa and dha fish oil dosage is quite high. I refuse to drink alcohol or smoke (odd for a college student I know, huh?). I used to be very active in weight-lifting and running, however it has gotten to the point where I can no longer run in the morning (or at any time) or even pick up a weight. This is one of the reasons I have put on nearly 90 pounds in about 8 months time.

To Ultrashy...

How long did it take you to go through the various anti-depressants for a psychiatrist to prescribe you dex? So far I have been through about 7 single anti-depressants and 1 combination treatment. I haven't noticed anything beneficial to my social anxiety or depression since I have been in treatment for over a year and a half.

In addition, the basic argument my psychiatrist made for not putting me on such things as ritalin, dex, adderall, or vyvanse is that he is treating me for depression and not ADHD. He said basically that the symptoms that I am complaining of are indicative of ADHD but also depression as well, and since I didn't have ADHD as a child, he wouldn't give medication that is used to treat it.

He drew parallels to medications like tylenol. You can take tylenol for pain your experiencing for an underlying issue but tylenol isn't dealing with the underlying issue specifically. The ADHD meds could add energy/motivation/focus but wouldn't deal with the underlying cause of depression.

I don't understand the rationale for this because doctors prescribe medications to deal with the symptoms of illnesses all the time. Why should I continue taking garbage antidepressants when they have not delt with these issues yet the ADHD meds deal with the symptoms specifically? These symptoms are only drawing me deeper and deeper into depression as my life around me continues to fall apart and the people in my life who helped me get this far are going away because they feel they shouldn't have me as a burden in theirs.

Thanks for the responses. Any additional input would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great day.


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## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

TyrosineKinase said:


> In regards to ambien, I actually tried those but felt no effects from them at all. I didn't fall asleep any better at 10mg, could this be because my xanax dosage (between 1mg and 2mg) causes me to be too tolerant to the ambien?
> 
> I sleep all the time. A typical day would go as follows: I get up at 8:30. Go to class from 9-9:50. Sleep from 10 am to 2 pm. Go to class from 3- 4:15pm. Sleep from 5pm - 10pm. Be awake from 11 pm - 1am. The fall asleep again from 1 am to 8:30 am.


Just out of curiousity, how long have you been sleeping that much? Too much sleep is a bad thing, and you're definitely getting too much. Also, the amount of time spent sleeping can be irrelevent. I used to have horrible chronic fatigue even though I generally got the normal 8 hours or so of sleep. But I woke up so frequently that the sleep was kind of useless, really. Unless I was really sick, I'd only get an hour and a half tops of straight sleep.

And do you tend to fall asleep at odd/inappropriate times? Has anyone ever considered narcolepsy? Modafinil would help with that. Xyrem (aka GHB) would help on that as well. I've done street GHB once, it obliterated my SA, had me full of energy and motivation, but I could tell how addictive it was. Xyrem is probably the absolute last resort if you do have narcolepsy.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

This has been going on for years. My older brother (who is a doctor) and other family members have corroborated this information to my doctors. My therapist has brought up the narcolepsy suggestion, but oddly enough neither my psychiatrist, primary care, or the various doctors I have seen in the emergency room haven't.

My therapist and brother have both suggested I get a sleep study done, but I am really nervous about that. I'm worried I won't be able to sleep while the test is being done due to my anxiety, and I'm worried that nothing will come up as that would mean that I would have to go right back to square one yet again.

I fall asleep at any time when the 'urge' comes. Many times I would go to a party at my friends house and I would have to sleep on their couch because I would be so exhausted. This is one of the reason I am losing my friends/girlfriend... because I simply am unable to do anything social or active (which combined with my social anxiety, is really bad).

The problem is that a lot of people I talk to or the posts I read as I lurk around the forums involve people having to get medication illegally simply because that's what it comes down to for them since their doctors refuse to prescribe it. I don't want it to come to that for me, but I could never do anything illegal because that would be a huge burden towards my anxiety and it would be even more difficult to live day to day than it already is. So I seem to be in quite a predicament here.


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## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

TyrosineKinase said:


> This has been going on for years. My older brother (who is a doctor) and other family members have corroborated this information to my doctors. My therapist has brought up the narcolepsy suggestion, but oddly enough neither my psychiatrist, primary care, or the various doctors I have seen in the emergency room haven't.
> 
> My therapist and brother have both suggested I get a sleep study done, but I am really nervous about that. I'm worried I won't be able to sleep while the test is being done due to my anxiety, and I'm worried that nothing will come up as that would mean that I would have to go right back to square one yet again.
> 
> ...


Honestly, I'd get a sleep study done. Even if it does come back with nothing, that isn't the worst thing in the world. I got a sleep study done, and I was anxious as hell, it was super uncomfortable, and the results showed nothing (they claimed I wasn't sleeping because I was overweight). But to me, that clearly showed that there was something was wrong in my head why I couldn't sleep and why I was chronically fatigued.

For me two drugs completely changed my life around. I take Remeron for anxiety and sleep, and Wellbutrin for energy and motivation. There's still some level of social anxiety (which benzos help with, but doctors don't like to prescribe) but otherwise things are great. Finally being able to sleep properly for a minimum of 6 straight hours has been great.

You seem to have a completely different set of problems though. I'd say a sleep study will be necessary, and will should help in determining whether narcolepsy is your problem. If that's what is determined, then you'll have no problem getting stimulants, modafinil, and if things are really bad, possibly Xyrem. Pretty much all of those should help with energy, motivation, depression, etc.


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## podizzle (Nov 11, 2003)

i have no energy if i dont get 30 minutes of cardio at least every 48 hours.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

TyrosineKinase said:


> To Jim Morrison...
> 
> Max dosage of Cymbalta and Wellbutrin failed to work. Prozac is one of the ones I haven't tried yet. I'll ask about modafinil.
> 
> In regards to ambien, I actually tried those but felt no effects from them at all. I didn't fall asleep any better at 10mg, could this be because my xanax dosage (between 1mg and 2mg) causes me to be too tolerant to the ambien?


In regards to ambien, it's a bit of trial and error with sleep meds, not all work for everyone, also what time of day do you usually take your xanax? as it may be contributing to the tiredness, although I doubt it would cause much tolerance to ambien at that dose of 1-2mg per day. But ambien has a very short half life which people seem to complain about so maybe lunesta is better suited to you. Here's a site I found that compares the effects of some common sleep meds, you might find it interesting;

http://www.emedexpert.com/compare/sleeping-pills.shtml


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Thanks for the reply and link Morrison.

I receive 20, 1mg pills of xanax a month. I use them up all within the month, though there was once a period of about two or three months where I had 10 pills left over after my med check from the psychiatrist. The way my anxiety works is that I rarely need them during the first week or two of receiving the medication. Then the third and fourth week of the month I usually need them every day or every other day. Days could go by that I don't need any, or there can be really bad days where I use three or four pills in a day. My anxiety comes about in such a way that I can either work through it, or it gets bad enough that I need 4 pills to calm down effectively. So I take it on an as needed basis like a lot of people. I should be taking it more often, but I am petrified of getting addicted to anything (which is why I don't smoke, drink, or why I "take medications reluctantly"). My anxiety gets so bad at times before classes at college that I would have to throw up or I would shake so violently that I would flail around in my chair and I would still refuse to take the medication. This is something my therapist gets on me about all the time.

I've been in the care of a therapist and psychiatrist for about a year and a half now. However, I noticed these symptoms of lethargy, etc, since my early high school years, which started, at the most, 7 years ago. These symptoms, as those around me and me myself have noted, have gotten progressively worse. A sort of exponential effect I guess. It was barely noticeable (not enough to seek medical assistance) early on through high school, but towards the end of college (where I am now), it has gotten really bad within the last year.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

No problem, since your sleeping so much like 15 hrs a day then I guess it may be something underlying such as hypothyroidism, narcolepsy, sleep apnea etc as some people have mentioned. Might be worth getting a thyroid test done. As for the sleep study, I didn't get one done for the same reason, i figured that I wouldn't be able to sleep for it so i can understand your reluctance.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

jim_morrison said:


> No problem, since your sleeping so much like 15 hrs a day then I guess it may be something underlying such as hypothyroidism, narcolepsy, sleep apnea etc as some people have mentioned. Might be worth getting a thyroid test done. As for the sleep study, I didn't get one done for the same reason, i figured that I wouldn't be able to sleep for it so i can understand your reluctance.


Thanks for the reply.

Hopefully I have the results of my Thyroid test Thursday. I'll ask him about the sleep test that day as well. Maybe if I learn more about it, my anxiety would go down regarding the inability to sleep.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

TyrosineKinase said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> Hopefully I have the results of my Thyroid test Thursday. I'll ask him about the sleep test that day as well. Maybe if I learn more about it, my anxiety would go down regarding the inability to sleep.


No problem mate, I battle quite a bit of fatigue myself so it's a subject of interest to me.

By the way how did they check your thyroid? is it just a blood test? I'm seeing the doc tomorrow about my fatigue actually and wondering what tests I should ask for. If anyone has any suggestions I would be greatful.

Good luck if you do get a sleep study done btw. If your inability to sleep was psychosomatic and due to anxiety, then perhaps having a bottle of sleeping pills sitting on a shelf in your cupboard would help even if you never took them, coz then atleast youd know if you can't sleep there always there. But since you appear to sleep +12 hours a day, I would seriously consider possibly sleep apnea, narcolepsy etc.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Yeah, I was required to give bloodwork. But I think they do x-rays too. I didn't ask for any specific tests and I'm a bit worried that he didn't even check for anything related to it because I didn't see anything that had "TSH or T3 or T4" written on the paper to test. Maybe those specific abbreviations aren't used on the bloodwork sheet but I think that's what the tests are called.

He was more concerned about checking to see if my antibiotic resistant pneumonia was under control, which i had for a month.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

How did everything go at the doc Morrison?


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## Flame Sixtyone (Aug 27, 2009)

Fatigue/low energy and motivation are pretty much the main reasons why my life sucks right now


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

TyrosineKinase said:


> How did everything go at the doc Morrison?


Alrite thanks, the doc ordered a general blood test to check that my thryroid, blood cells etc are all functioning normally, and that I'm not vitamin defficient in anything. He also checked my blood pressure which was in the normal range.


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## dizzy99 (Mar 20, 2010)

This thread interested me because I have also battled severe fatigue for many years. I did the blood tests, sleep study, psychiatrist/meds, B12 routine. Numerous tests of course revealed nothing. I felt meds made me worse. I stopped working and spent 100% of my time focused on my diet and exercise. I would say after two years of this I made very slight improvements. I removed nearly all stress from my life and focused on sleeping, cooking my own food, and exercising. Still I was not close to having normal amounts of energy.

I then looked into adrenal fatigue and saw a naturopathic doctor. I had a salivia test done and tested low for cortisol in the morning. This made perfect sense since I always woke up feeling exhausted as if I had just climbed mt. everest in the middle of the night! The ND also looked at my blood work from a different perspective than the medical doctors. Based on the recommedations of the ND and my own research for adrenal fatigue I have been taking numerous supplements. I can say for the first time in about 5-6 yrs that my fatigue has been drastically reduced. I feel like normal activities do not put me over the edge and I have been sleeping much better. It's made so much difference for me that I almost can't believe it. I really could not stand the thought of living another 5 years like the last five.


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## rickthegreat (Dec 22, 2008)

dizzy99 said:


> ...I had a salivia test done and tested low for cortisol in the morning. This made perfect sense since I always woke up feeling exhausted as if I had just climbed mt. everest in the middle of the night! The ND also looked at my blood work from a different perspective than the medical doctors. Based on the recommedations of the ND and my own research for adrenal fatigue I have been taking numerous supplements. I can say for the first time in about 5-6 yrs that my fatigue has been drastically reduced. I feel like normal activities do not put me over the edge and I have been sleeping much better. It's made so much difference for me that I almost can't believe it. I really could not stand the thought of living another 5 years like the last five.


I think I am in the same boat. I am thinking of getting my own blood tests without a doctor since sometimes doctor's suck.  Then I can show it to him/her. Also know of a naturopathic doctor like you mentioned. If you don't mind, what blood tests did you take? What supplements do you take especially for adrenal fatigue? BTW, do you know what might be causing your adrenal fatigue, especially after a full night's sleep? Or were your adrenals so fried that even a full night's sleep would not make you feel rested?


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## dizzy99 (Mar 20, 2010)

If you don't mind, what blood tests did you take?

I have seen may specialists over the years and they all basically performed the same standard blood test that informed them I was not going to die of a life threatening disease the next day. Hence there was never further investigation into my condition. It was frustrating to say the least.

It was a saliva test that indicated my cortisol was low. From there my ND did additional blood work for testosterone, cortisol, dhea, vitamin d and some others that I can't remember. My vitamin D also was very low. I was also advised to take magnesium based on the standard blood test results.

Honestly i was skeptical of the naturopathic doctors but now i regret not going much sooner. They really take a completely different approach to solving problems which i think made a difference for me.

What supplements do you take especially for adrenal fatigue?

I have been taking licorice root, dhea, vitamin C. I think sleeping properly has made the biggest difference. For sleep i'm taking valerian root, tryptophan, melotonin, and sometimes htp. 

BTW, do you know what might be causing your adrenal fatigue, especially after a full night's sleep? Or were your adrenals so fried that even a full night's sleep would not make you feel rested?

Yeah, sleeping has also been an issue and i rarely obtained a good nights sleep. I had other health conditions like severe colitis that resulted in surgeries. I was taking prednisone and cortisol for extended periods of time. I'm sure this has caused or at least contributed to my fatigue.

You know, I found visiting doctors to be the most infuriating, anxiety producing and frustrating experience when dealing with my health problems. I have no idea why it has to be this way with them. But the ND was completely different and just having someone listening and wanting to help makes a difference in itself.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

UltraShy said:


> I've only tried free samples of that (Provigil). It's very mild and I can't imagine anybody abusing that, short of a coke or meth addict who was desperate and unable to get their fix -- I assume under such circumstances they'd settle for any upper they could get their junkie hands on.
> 
> I believe I read that Germany removed it from their list of controlled drugs a couple years ago, deciding it simply lacks enough abuse potential to justify such controls.


Well Modafinil appears to have a different mechanism to most stimulants, in that it appears to act cheifly as an Orexin agonist, orexin can sort of be thought of as the master "wake" switch in the brain, as it appears to control the regulation of many of the neurotransmitters involved in wakefulness; norepinephrine, dopamine, histamine, acetylcholine and glutamate. But it's actions on these receptors are more tonic than phasic, unlike the amphetamines which have direct phasic action on dopamine and norepinephrine, so your unlikely to get the "surge" that an amphetamine would give you, which is probably why modafinil is often referred to as a "wakefulness promoting agent" rather than as a classical stimulant.


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## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

That's exactly why I am trying so hard to get on the MAOI Parnate.

It will vaporize depression and anxiety and get that head up and moving again. At least that what everyone on it says without exception.

Problem is most Psychiatrist are chicken **** and won't prescribe it even if you have failed to get relief from 6 other more standard antidepressants.

I am now on Psychiatrist #6 and last week he turned me down for Parnate. On to #7. One of these days I will get lucky and get my head back.

Not to mention I have to get off this Protriptilyne. The PE side effect is killing me.


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## Ehsan (Mar 21, 2009)

i'm searching for the reasons behind my fatigue too.
some days i sleep about 10-12 hours a day!
it seems many physical and mental conditions can cause fatigue. some of them are gathered here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_(medical)

however, i think i haven't any of those conditions.



> I then looked into adrenal fatigue and saw a naturopathic doctor. I had a salivia test done and tested low for cortisol in the morning. This made perfect sense since I always woke up feeling exhausted as if I had just climbed mt. everest in the middle of the night! The ND also looked at my blood work from a different perspective than the medical doctors. Based on the recommedations of the ND and my own research for adrenal fatigue I have been taking numerous supplements. I can say for the first time in about 5-6 yrs that my fatigue has been drastically reduced. I feel like normal activities do not put me over the edge and I have been sleeping much better. It's made so much difference for me that I almost can't believe it. I really could not stand the thought of living another 5 years like the last five.


do corticostroids help adrenal fatigue? for example low-dose Dexamethasone?


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## karoloydi (Feb 18, 2010)

dizzy99 said:


> If you don't mind, what blood tests did you take?
> 
> I have seen may specialists over the years and they all basically performed the same standard blood test that informed them I was not going to die of a life threatening disease the next day. Hence there was never further investigation into my condition. It was frustrating to say the least.
> 
> ...


I ve also been taking liquorice root for my hypoglycemia and it really helped. I also think that my hypoglycemia is due to my low cortisol but I am not sure. I havent tested it. Has your doctor advised you to take it? 
If so, did he say that you can take it indefinately? Cause I am not sure if you can take it for too long.
Have you also got hypoglycemia? Cause cortisol helps raise your blood sugar after insulin release. SO if you are low in it you should also have hypoglycemia.
I noticed that after I switched to cabrobydrates that have low glycemic index my energy levels have increased. Also N Acetyl Cysteine is good for hypoglycemia. It helps keep your blood sugar levels high.
Also check this thread that I made. I have many links there for how ADHD and also dopamine is linked with blood sugar in brain.
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f30/my-theory-about-how-adhd-drugs-work-86889/


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## Emptyheart (Sep 15, 2009)

I was like this during the beginning of the year.
For like a period of 2 months..I was extremely tired all the time, I couldn't really help it. I really dont think its something antidepressants could solve..It probably has to do with your life style..eating habits..ect. I've heard of the B-12 shots..my grandma had to take them for a while and they really helped her. Theres also B-12 vitamins..and maybe the way you eat can improve it. Try to get as much fruits and vegitables as you can. Exersize REALLY helps..i do about 30 mins of cardio everyday..and after I feel energized and keeps me energized through out the day.
GoodLuck!


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Everything you listed Emptyheart is already taken care of on my end. That's the reason my doctors are pursuing other possibilities for the low-energy/motivation.


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## podizzle (Nov 11, 2003)

you guys should try a light box. if you're not getting 10,000 LUX (about the equivalent of sunlight) in your peripheral vision for 30-60 minutes a day, then your brain will release melatonin during the day. Needless to say this is detrimental to energy. When I started using mine I went from 9 hours of sleep to 7 and increased energy.


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## KurtG85 (Sep 19, 2008)

UltraShy said:


> I personally don't find dextroamphetamine motivating. After taking it I can quite happily sit around and do absolutely nothing, as opposed to when I don't take it and I sit around unhappily doing absolutely nothing.
> 
> It does zip to motivate me. It simply make puts me in a more positive mood and makes me highly talkative. It puts me in such a good mood that I can even manage to be nice to people who would otherwise drive me nuts, even refraining from telling them to go **** themselves as I have an extensive history of doing.
> 
> ...


I have a pretty much identical response to adderall both in terms of motivation and mood.

I had hoped and suspected you would experience a similar reaction to stimulants Ultrashy.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Just wanted to update.

Everything regarding Thyroid is normal, in addition to all the other tests that were run.

I am going to go to a new psychiatrist. I've never been to a doctor that had their own website before, and this one does. I dunno but it all just seems kind of odd to me, it doesn't look like a typical psychiatrist type 'service'.

Is it ok to post the psychiatrist's website on here to get other, more educated, people's opinions after they have looked at it before I go there?


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Anyone know if it's ok?

Thanks


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## Vini Vidi Vici (Jul 4, 2009)

TyrosineKinase said:


> Just wanted to update.
> 
> Everything regarding Thyroid is normal, in addition to all the other tests that were run.
> 
> ...


You might as well post it, I dunno about the rules and stuff, Or you could PM me the link to it , .... From my experience, the more unique and non-typical the psychiatrist/doctor is, the more they can help (and are more open to new ideas). I had 6 Psychiatrists, they all had their own opinions and stuff, but almost always went by the book and stuff. Then I went to a "Psychopharmacologist", I was initially wary because it didnt look like the normal thing, It turned out to be really awesome


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## thesilenthunter90 (Mar 18, 2010)

I have a similar problem, my motivation is ok but I have had severe fatigue for years. I always put this down to my type 1 diabetes or depression but it seems to be getting worse. I have had my thyroid function tested 4 or 5 times but it was always normal. I think I will get it tested again because its becoming really difficult to function with bad fatigue issues.


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## rubyruby (Jun 17, 2009)

I could never wrap my head around the fact so many people with SA have fatigue. I know a lot of people and doctors say we are depressed as well and this causes the fatigue. I mean SA is depressing so I get that.
I just know sometimes I am not depressed and I still I have low energy.

What has helped me is green tea extract (caffeine free).


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

http://www.veneramillermd-cipm.com/default.html

Here's the link.


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## redtogo72 (Jun 7, 2008)

I'm tired a lot too. I'm trying to drink more water, do more exercise, and take more naps. It helps a little. :/

One of my doctor's had a website and wrote books. He wasn't really able to help me that much.

That center looks very interesting, and I'd probably go. We don't have anything like that here. I like that it offers many different types of therapy and methods of treatment. It must have a large staff, and you might not see that particular doctor all the time? Though, maybe I'm wrong.


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