Any suffer from severe chronic fatigue due to a health condition?

[Rogue_Alchemist]

I am going to ask my doctors about this. I have been prescribed ritalin, and I find that it doesnt work very well. Its minimally effective for wakefullness and moderately effective for energy levels, but it feels more like a big ball of stress than a real stimulant.

I used to get provigil when I didnt have insurance...funny how those programs work....but now they are out of reach. I know that ritalin is supposedly better for getting high, but I dont care about that. I just want to live a more normal life again and need to wake up. Provigil provided more 'wakefullness' and more wakefullness to side effect ratio.

I am pretty sure that Adderall or Desoxyn would work, though I have not used them since this happened. I experimented a bit with stimulants in my teenage years, but I never had a problem with it. I usually have extra ritalin by refill time that I store for a rainy day, rather than running out early.

From a strictly medical utility perspective, and specifically for Chronic fatigue and not for ADHD which I do not have, what medications do you feel produced the best ratio of 'wakefullness' and energy/motivation with the least amount of heart thumping agitation and stress? I guess I want more dopamine and serotonin and less epinephrin, but I am interested in subjective experiences.

I hear Adderall which is the racemic mixture produces more mental alertness, while Dex produces more of a body load? What are your opinions on this?

 

[cryptix420]

Fuck all those Rx scripts. Seriously, fuck em. They are garbage. Good if you wanna get high, but as for medical use?? Lol.


Try some rhodiola rosea, or some cordyceps sinensis. Or a healthy diet and exercise. And drink water. At least a gallon a day.

Rhodiola really does rape fatigue. I love that stuff.

 

[RhythmSpring]

Second that motion to Rhodiola Rosea.

 

[Rogue_Alchemist]

I dont think you have any idea what I am going through. A normal healthy person just needs to keep their body in balance and eat right and exercise to improve their energy. I have a health problem that isnt going to be corrected that way. The fatigue I suffer is more profound that what other people experience. I require these drugs to function and lead a normal life, not to get high.

I am familiar with Rhodiola Rosea. Its non-stimulant. It helps endurance, lowers stress, increases oxygen efficiency, and takes the edge off being tired while improving serotonin and dopamine.....And a large dose will make you SLEEPY. That is not what I need. Not to mention that the MAOI properties could make my other necessary medications toxic to my liver or cause overdose, or even increased lethargy.

cordyceps sinensis Is an immune stimulant, which is the LAST FUCKIING THING I NEED WITH AN AUTO-IMMUNE PROBLEM! No thanks. I dont want to damage my body further.


Herbs can be powerful drugs in their own right. Dont treat them casually just like vitamins because they are "natural" and therefor 'healthier' than the alternatives.....Belladona is not less toxic than Oxycodone. If you dont understand at least community college level physiology and biochemistry plus have a really solid grasp of herbalism, I would be careful about making recommendations for herbs to people with chronic health problems who are taking other medications. There are some really good drug-herb interaction guides out there. Immune stimulants, especially warming ones, are always contraindicated for all auto-immune problems.

What I am really looking for is user experience for medications used for extreme chronic fatigue.

These medications are designed for a reason and not just "to get high". Some people need them.

 

[cryptix420]

Well actually, you are wrong. Nobody needs artificial stimulants that rob your adrenal glands of energy, only furthering the problem you say you are experiencing.

Also no need to be so aggressive. This is the first you mentioned you also have an auto immune disease. No need to scream about it.

To me it sounds like you are trying to justify using scripts...when really we all know where that road ends. My friend has been on vyvanse, adderall, ritalin, you name it...yet he told me the ONLY thing that has helped his ADHD is aniracetam.

I don't really know why I'm still replying to you though, considering what an a-hole you were in your last post. Good luck mate.

 

[Rogue_Alchemist]

Actually, just because a lot of the people HERE end up abusing their meds, whether pain meds or stims, does not mean that most of the general population ends up abusing their meds. Research I have read shows that less than 5% of the population ends up abusing or becoming addicted to narcotics or stimulant medications when they have a legitimate need for the medication. The rates of abuse and addiction are higher for youth and especially troubled youth, but only a small minority of well adjusted adults will misuse or become addicted to drugs when a legitimate need is present. With a prior history of addiction that rate goes up....or maybe the 5% was specificaly excluding those with history of addiction, but you should not assume that 'Adderall = addict" just because you see a lot of that in this particular forum. The vast majority of people who use it are using it as directed for its intended purpose and use it safely for most of their life.

So I dont need to "justify" anything to myself or anyone else. My neurologist agrees that I need this medicaiton, which I do not abuse. I chose to post here because drug users tend to be some of the best sources of anecdotal information, NOT because I am a statistic for the general demographic here.


My chronic fatigue has nothing to do with adrenal depletion. Its from nerve inflammation. My brain has to work harder generating more signal for an equal muslce response. If somebody turns the heat up and my temperature goes up half of a degree, I could become so fatigued that I couldnt get up to save my own life in an earthquake. That is absolutely unacceptable when raising a toddler or just trying to live.

If I depleted most of my adrenals, it wouldnt be that significant since the overhwelming life ruining fatigue I suffer, fatigue so severe that I couldnt even get out of bed to take my own meds without somebody popping it into my mouth in the morning for me.....then I slowly wake up and make my way to the computer or play with my little girl....Its just not a significant part of my fatigue, so if I supplemented my adrenals with Red Panax Ginseng it would have no effect on my NERVE EXHAUSTION. If I took kelp and iodine for my thyroid function it wouldnt help since my thyroid was removed because of cancer. If I slept better at night, I would still wake up just as exhausted. I am already loading up on B vitamins, etc.


So what I need right now isnt judgement and assumptions, what I need is some feedback on what worked and what didnt.



Provigil had less abuse potential and less euphoria than Ritalin, yet I prefer Provigil because it offers more wakefulness. I get an 'ok' buzz with ritalin, but then I have these energy spikes and crashes that I dont get with provigil, and its more of a heart thumpint stimulation with less 'wakefullness'....I still feel a grog even as my heart is pounding faster. I really just want to wake up and enjoy the last years of my life with my little girl, and I actually need the drugs to function.


I am open to herbal suggestions, but I need a true stimulant, specifically a nervous stimulant, and one that is powerful. I dont need anything subtle or that merely supplements the endocrine system, since that is not the root problem for me.

 

[rm-rf]

i can empathize, i once had mono so bad i was hospitalized. couldnt even walk down stairs. modern medicine made it way worse, but i was just a kid back then.

i suggest you study Ayurvedic and TCM food combining sciences. Studying Daoism and its history will also be of great benefit to personal energy maintenance.

 

[cryptix420]

OP, it doesn't matter if you're abusing the meds or not. The point I am trying to make is that Mother Earth has given mankind every single tool it needs to heal any and all ailments. It's like eating organically vs. fast food...is something man made ever going to come close in nutritional value to something made by the planet that birthed us??



Abuse or not, those pharmaceutical drugs drain your body. You seem very close minded, and it is hard to communicate with that type of person. I think you have much work to do in escaping the clutches of RX induced misery. I get the feeling you have swallowed the words of many doctors telling you that you need their medicine to live...but don't forget their motive is money, not your health. It is the opposite for anyone who will reply to you here.


edit: I also find it interesting that in your final paragraph you use words like 'buzz' and 'euphoria'...I thought this was for medicinal use. That doesn't sound very medicinal to me..


edit 2: interestingly enough, this study shows that the very drugs you depend upon also cause nerve damage. Didn't you say something about having nerve damage?????

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16014752?dopt=Abstract