Best Antidepressant For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

What May Have Caused My Specific Case Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

If I wanted, I couldve easily been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, but knew that most of the medications used to treat the condition, I had already tried . I didnt see a point in having another diagnostic label tacked on what was already: major depression, severe anxiety, and premorbid schizophrenia . Below are some hindsight speculations as to what may have contributed to my antidepressant-induced chronic fatigue.

Complementary And Alternative Medicine

CFS/ME patients tend to use more alternative medicine treatments than people without . Patients often leave orthodox medical care because they feel that their condition has been unjustifiably attributed to psychological causes: they are given the message that it is all in the mind. In a twin study, 91% of twins with CFS/ME and 71% without CFS/ME used at least one alternative treatment. A large proportion of the study participants stated that alternative treatments were helpful .

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 10

annielou1 · 23/06/2011 20:24

Hi, I’m 25 and mum to a 6 month old boy and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome 2 years ago. During the pregnancy my symptoms seemed to ease but obviously since becoming a new mum to a very active boy I am now really struggling again with the fatigue. Once my little one is in bed at the end of the day I feel like I am going to collapse, it’s like I go on auto pilot during the day as I have no choice but to push through the tiredness for my son. Just wondering if there are other mums out there who suffer with this? Be good to hear from you as I feel quite down about it, am only 25 yet feel about 65! Thanks x

hiddenhome · 23/06/2011 23:13

chocaholic73 · 24/06/2011 09:30

Pegasi · 24/06/2011 18:09

hiddenhome · 24/06/2011 18:22

Mine went away after taking the Rhodiola for about two years. When I was put onto citalopram I found that I was suffering from chronic daytime tiredness again, so I started taking it last thing at night and I’m fine now. I also found that getting enough rest and improving my lifestyle helped too – more healthy food and some exercise. I often start to flag around 3pm, so I have a cup of milky coffee and that seems to get me going again. Try not to drink very much coffee though as you get rebound tiredness. The same goes with sugar.

edrisco1 · 27/06/2011 12:12

DazR · 27/06/2011 12:35

Also Check: History Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

What To Expect At Your Provider’s Office

There is no laboratory test for chronic fatigue syndrome. But your health care provider may use tests to rule out other illnesses. Your provider will go over your symptoms, check your medical history, and do a physical examination.

If you have CFS, your provider may prescribe drugs to treat your symptoms, or suggest herbs, vitamins, or dietary changes to help you. Get plenty of rest, exercise regularly, and learn to pace yourself. Often this combination of treatments will help you get better.

If the usual treatments do not work, your provider may check for other conditions that can cause symptoms similar to those of CFS.

Fresh Evidence Points To A Cause And Possible Treatments For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalomyelitis, has been largely dismissed as psychological. But recent trials of antiviral and immunosuppressant drugs have yielded encouraging results, suggesting a complex disease mechanism at play that researchers are hopeful they might be able to treat.

Drug research

Shutterstock.com

Anna suffered severe symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome , a mysterious disease also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis , from the age of 21 years. The disease forced her to abandon her masters degree and leave her job as a teacher. She became increasingly confined to her apartment, removed from the life she once knew. Any time I tried to do something that I didnt have the energy for, I felt nauseous and dizzy, with fever and pains in my joints and muscles, she says.

After a couple of years she sought help from a physiotherapist for her wasting muscles. mentioned this study and asked if she could give my name to the researchers, she says. So in 2008, Anna was enrolled in a phase II double-blind placebo-controlled trial testing a radical new treatment for CFS/ME. The research group, from Norways Helse Bergen University, administered intravenous drips to Anna but she showed no improvement and, after 12 months, discovered she was in the placebo arm of the trial. She was then eligible to receive the real medicine.

For the first time in my life I felt restless because I wanted to do things

Also Check: What Causes Fatigue And Muscle Aches

Treatment Plans For Me/cfs

There’s no single way of managing ME/CFS that works for everyone, but there are a number of treatment options.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says you should be offered a treatment plan tailored to your symptoms.

Your doctor should discuss all of the options with you, and explain the benefits and risks of any treatment.

They should work with you to develop a treatment plan that suits you and takes into account your circumstances and preferences.

You may need advice about making lifestyle changes, specialist treatments, or a combination of both.

If your symptoms are severe, your doctor should ask a specialist for advice.

Your treatment plan should be reviewed regularly.

The Ideal Beta Glucan Supplement

For more than 2 decades, IMMUNOCORP® has produced the most active Beta 1,3/1,6 Glucan available. Our team believes in the powerful benefits that a daily beta glucan supplement can have on the human immune system. Thats why we have designed IMMUTOL® to strengthen your immune system and successfully fight off whatever comes its way.

Don’t Miss: Anti Fatigue Hair Salon Mats

Try Immutol For Yourself Today

What are you waiting for? If you are interested in immune system strengtheners, proven to be effective by evidence-based science, shop IMMUTOL® today! The Immunocorp team is confident you wont regret it. Youll quickly find that your body feels calmer, more energized, and less sick overall. But dont take our word for it, try IMMUTOL® now!

My Experience With Antidepressant

Back when I was taking Paxil back in the early 2000s to cope with my social anxiety and depression, it worked great for awhile. However, I hit a point on the medication where my energy level began to noticeably drop. During this drop period, I had extreme difficulty getting out of bed and became excessively tired.

I would sleep for 12 to 14 hours per day and my family would do their best to get my lazy ass out of bed. Although I wanted to have enough energy to get out of bed, I was excessively fatigued to the point that most of my day was spent either sitting on a chair or the couch. Long story short I went through antidepressant roulette and no medication helped my energy in fact Cymbalta made the fatigue even worse.

My energy remained low and it was highly frustrating I could barely function. At the time I didnt really know what to do and wasnt getting any good advice. I truly believed that in addition to depression, I had simultaneously developed chronic fatigue syndrome and my parents agreed. However, since I had many difficulties with all antidepressants and psychotropics , I stopped using them.

Looking back, I couldnt believe that I had gone from a person thinking that I was eternally doomed with chronic fatigue to a person that had a full tank of energy. My experience goes to show that full recovery is possible with enough time and the proper approach.

Read Also: Myasthenia Gravis And Chronic Fatigue

Fatigue In Daily Life Primary Care And Depression

Fatigue is a common complaint, not only from medical and psychiatric patients but also in the community. In the mid 20th century, a study seeking cancer-predicting signs interviewed over one million people in the US and found that 45.7 percent of women and 33.0 percent of men reported fatigue.2 National mental health surveys in several countries agree on its high prevalence rate. The 1984 Epidemiological Catchment Area study of the National Institutes of Health reflected a current fatigue prevalence of 6.7 percent and a lifetime prevalence of 24.4 percent 3 in a study of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 13.29 percent reported fatigue 4 in a survey conducted in Great Britain by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, fatigue was the most common neurotic symptom with a prevalence of 27 percent.5 Most of these people associate their fatigue with a psychological component. In a British study of over 15,000 people in the community, almost 60 percent attributed their fatigue to psychosocial or psychological causes.6

Fatigue is also a common complaint in primary care. Studies in primary care in North America and Europe show that 10 to 20 percent of men and 10 to 30 percent of women report significant fatigue.79 The World Health Organization Multinational Primary Care Study, which was conducted in industrialized and underdeveloped countries, shows a weighted prevalence of eight percent for substantial unexplained fatigue vs. 1.7 percent for CFS.10

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An Update On Treatment In Primary Care

ABSTRACT: Because there is no specific therapy yet for chronic fatigue syndrome , management focuses on symptomatic relief and on treatment of coexisting conditions. Antidepressants and anxiolytics are effective in treating co-occurring psychiatric disorders. First-line management of sleep disturbances consists of sleep hygiene techniques. If these strategies are not effective, consider the possibility of an underlying sleep disorder. An important aspect of managing CFS is to help the patient achieve an appropriate balance between rest and daily physical and mental activities. Useful nonpharmacological approaches include graded exercise therapy, relaxation techniques, participation in self-help groups, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy.

The treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome is mainly supportive. The key to effective management is to establish a therapeutic alliance with patients and to convey a consistent message that their complaints are taken seriously. Although spontaneous recovery is rare, it does occur in some patients with CFS.

In the second part of this 2-part series, the various treatments are described, with emphasis on those that are most commonly used in the primary care setting. In part 1 , the diagnostic criteria for CFS and the differential diagnosis were described and discussed.

Read Also: Is There A Test For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Discussing Treatment Options With A Doctor

The medical community differs over the exact treatment courses for those living with CFS. Youll need to work closely with a healthcare team to determine which symptoms are impacting your quality of life the most.

You may start with treatment of these issues and progress to others in time. Many treatment options are available, ranging from over-the-counter drugs to alternative therapies.

The most effective treatment for CFS is the one thats catered to you and your specific symptoms. A doctor may suggest a variety of treatments depending on what youre experiencing and what your treatment goals are.

How I Decreased Fatigue And Restored My Energy Levels After Antidepressants

At the time, I didnt have a specific plan of action in place to recover from the antidepressant-induced fatigue that I experienced. In fact, I didnt even fathom the possibility that I would ever overcome it I assumed that I was fated to become a lifelong sloth. My energy was so low that I was convinced I had a brain tumor an MRI eventually ruled this out. In hindsight, there are some specific things I couldve done that helped me overcome my fatigue.

You May Like: Male Hot Flashes And Fatigue

Sleep Rest And Relaxation

You may have sleep problems that make your ME/CFS symptoms worse. For example, you may:

• have problems getting to sleep
• have unrefreshing or restless sleep
• need an excessive amount of sleep
• sleep during the day and be awake at night

You should be given advice about how to establish a normal sleeping pattern. Having too much sleep does not usually improve the symptoms of ME/CFS, and sleeping during the day can stop you sleeping at night.

You should change your sleep pattern gradually, and your doctor should review how it’s going regularly. If your sleep does not improve after making changes, you may have an underlying sleep problem that will need to be addressed.

It’s likely you’ll need to rest during the day, and your doctor should advise you about the best way to do this. For example, they may suggest limiting each rest period to 30 minutes and teach you relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises.

If you have severe ME/CFS and need to spend much of your time in bed, it can cause problems, including pressure sores and blood clots. These problems, and how to avoid them, should be explained to you and your carers.

Can Antidepressants Cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Most people are aware that antidepressants are often used to treat chronic fatigue syndrome, but what many dont know is that there are cases by which they actually can cause temporary cases of fatigue that could technically be diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome. The fatigue often sets in after a person has been medicated with an antidepressant or antipsychotic for an extended period of time, and may be thought of as a long-term effect of the treatment.

In other cases, people notice that when they pursue antidepressant withdrawal, one of the symptoms is fatigue. In many cases, the withdrawal is so prolonged, lasting for months , that people believe they have developed chronic fatigue syndrome. Based on the relatively vague diagnostic criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome, a doctor may end up throwing another medication onto your existing cocktail which may end up impeding the recovery of your natural, homeostatic energy levels over the long-term.

You May Like: Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Cfids

Management Of Residual Fatigue In Depression

The management of residual fatigue in depression may be summarized in five steps:

1. Differential diagnosis.Excessive daytime sleepiness . EDS may be due to insufficient or unsatisfactory sleep . Asking about sleep quality and amount must be part of the interview with any depressed patient. It is important also to consider hangover from hypnotics, be it over the counter or prescribed . Finally, we must remember that many psychotropics, besides hypnotics and anxiolytics, may induce EDS. Causes of EDS are listed in Table 1.

Children And Young People

Children and young people with moderate to severe depression should first be offered a course of psychotherapy that lasts for at least 3 months.

In some cases, an SSRI called fluoxetine may be offered in combination with psychotherapy to treat moderate to severe depression in young people aged 12 to 18.

Also Check: Do Blood Thinners Cause Fatigue

Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor

Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors or Selective Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors or SNRIs are a class of antidepressant medication used for depression, anxiety and sometimes other uses. Some SNRIs also licensed for chronic pain including nerve pain, e.g. cymbalta , fibromyalgia, or used off-label for other non-psychiatric conditions.

SNRIs include:

Take Medications At Night

Pop your pill at bedtime. Unless there’s some reason your doctor would prefer you down your depression medication in the morning or during the day, taking it at night may help you fall asleep more easily so you get the rest you need to feel more alert during waking hours.

Recommended Reading: How To Reset Adrenal Fatigue

Side Effects And Interactions

These drugs come with a long list of potential side effects. Some of the more dangerous ones include seizure, hallucination and out-of-control actions.

SSRIs/SNRIs can interact negatively with drugs other than those that increase serotonin. These may include anti-inflammatories , blood thinners, and several others.

Side effects and interactions vary by drug. To check on specific drugs, you can look them up at Drugs.com or RxList.com. They’re also generally available in packaging information.

Possible Mechanisms Of Fatigue

Fatigue is a complex concept involving both somatic information and the cognition that the intellectual or physical activity requires a higher share of the individual’s energy or that the individual is less productive than usual. Probably a multiplicity of pathways and substances are related to this complex feeling, especially serotonin, dopamine, the HPA axis, and inflammatory cascades involving substances like cytokines.

Information from basic sciences and sports medicine indicates that increased serotonin in certain areas of the brain, like the lateral hypothalamus, plays a role in the genesis of central fatigue. Serotonin agonists increase fatigue, and general serotonin antagonists reduce fatigue in animal models. It has been hypothesized that serotonin may induce fatigue through inhibition of the dopaminergic system and/or through the HPA axis.18,19

Dopamine has long been associated with fatigue, and the most potent stimulant agents currently available are dopaminergic. Central dopamine seems to be related to fatigue in an inverse way to serotonin. Dopamine metabolism is enhanced during exercise in the hypothalamus and other areas of the brain, and exercise endurance is impaired after destruction of dopaminergic neurons in animal models. Clinically, fatigue, a prominent symptom in Parkinson’s disease, improves with both L-dopa and bilateral deep brain stimulation.20,21

Recommended Reading: What Does Cancer Fatigue Feel Like