Posted by florence on September 21, 2005, at 0:51:22
In reply to Constantly fatigued..., posted by skogul on September 14, 2005, at 16:57:14
During my junior year of college (about 2.5 years ago) I began feeling extremely fatigued. Before the fatigue set in, I was walking 1-2 miles a day (to school and back) and weight training 3 days a week. I really enjoyed working out, but I could not keep up the schedule when feeling exhausted every day. My mind would also feel cloudy or foggy at times throughout the day. If I stay up past 11 or 12 at night, I feel especially bad throughout the next day.
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> I went to student health, they gave me a blood test, told me I didn't have mono, and that I'm healthy.
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> The nurse suggested that I may be suffering from depression. I dismissed the idea at the time, and hoped things would improve on their own. Sure, there were (and are) aspects of my life that I am unsatisfied with: I have never been in a relationship (but would like to), I am shy, and I probably have social anxiety. I'm unhappy with these things, but I wouldn't say it's to the point of depression.
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> It's now 2.5 years later, and I have felt fatigued pretty much every day since then. My social life and physical health have suffered due to being tired all the time. I still have trouble believing that my fatigue is due to depression, because even when my spirits are high, my fatigue is always there. It does not seem to be tied into my emotions. If any one thing depresses me, it's the fatigue itself.
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> I am now considering celexa/lexapro in an effort to reduce my social anxiety and (even more important to me) hopefully reduce my fatigue. I will also have a second, more comprehensive, blood test done when my grad school student insurance kicks in next week. I'm at the end of my rope, but I'm still hesitant to embrace medication. So.. I am wondering if anyone else here had similar problems with fatigue, if you determined that it was a symptom of depression, and if so, did medication alleviate the problem?
I BEG you to test your Thyroid ANTIBODIES, Free T4 and Free T3, and usually TSH, too. I have been bedridden with fatigue for several yrs. I was ALWAY put on the "must be depression" list....I saw at least a dozen drs- menopause specialists, rheumy for CFIDS; etc ad nauseum. I have tried over 60 different medicines to help; mostly antidepressants that made me MORE fatigued.My TSH was always within the normal lab range. It was not until last year- and the second endocrinologist that I saw that tested my TPO- thyroid peroxidase antibodies and diagnosed me with Hashimoto's Autoimmune Thyroid Disease....It took me TEN years and tons of research. I never believed it was depression that I was suffering from......
There is a Links section on this site about thyroid replacement;
Yahoo has a group called natural thyroid replacement
Mary Shoman is a patient advocate at the "About" sites and has written extensively about thyroid disease.
Pro Health Immune Support web site has lots of info and members with CFIDS, Fibromyalgia, excess Candida, and LYME disease.Please don't give up finding an answer. But IMHO I would rule out other causes like Lyme or Thyroid or Anemia-----before I started an antidepressant........... Oh the money and years of my life that were such a waste....
It is taking me longer to get well with thyroid replacement becuz I was undiagnosed and untreated for SO long. Do u have any family members who take Synthroid- it's a common thyroid drug....Or may have had a thyroid nodule or goiter or given RAI to drink for overactive thyroid?
I wish you all the luck in the world: you are young and I hope you get an answer real soon. Bye for now, Florence
poster:florence
thread:555065
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050914/msgs/557550.html