# Chronic Fatigue.



## Aliena (Oct 21, 2007)

Does anyone here suffer from chronic fatigue? If so, what do you do to counter effect it? 

I've been having such chronic fatigue lately and I am at my wits end on how to handle it. My concentration is nil and my left eye just started this twitching along with headaches. I've seen my Dr.'s, had another sleep study, blood work and everything comes back normal. 

My iron is in the normal range, but the low end of normal. The nurse told me it wasn't low enough to cause me the problems I'm complaining of. 
(it was only a few points above being below normal)


Can anyone suggest something I might mention to my Dr. to have them check? 

My b-12's are above normal, in fact, I was told to stop taking one everyday. 

I'd pull my hair out if I had any. 

Please help me.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Oct 21, 2007)

I get this every year in late summer and early fall; apparently there are a number of plants (mostly grasses) whose pollen I'm allergic to, and this is how I react. You might try seeing an allergist, though my own experience (and that of my wife) is that they're awfully expensive and not much help. At least getting sleepy is less unpleasant than itching.


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## Aliena (Oct 21, 2007)

Thank you for responding! 

I am thinking allergies as well, but the fatigue has been on going for quite awhile. However, the eye twitching has only started in the last few days. 
This is all distressing to me, since I have so much to do this week. I can't read without wanting to take a nap.


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## Sandie S-R (Oct 21, 2007)

Have them check your thyroid. Also do a food allergy test to see if you are allergic to wheat, gluten, eggs, milk...any major food. These are two very common things when chronic fatique happens. At least they are good places to start.

Hope things get better soon.


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## bexy (Oct 21, 2007)

*not sure if this helps, but my bfs mother had this very badly.
turns out shes allergic to benzoic acid, which is in everything nearly, but since cutting it out of her diet she is doing really well.
she had eye twitching, leg twitching, stomach cramps, overally lethargy and tiredness and is now a heap better, the change was scarily dramatic!

so it may be something to look into?

good luck and i hope you feel better 

bexy xo*


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## Aliena (Oct 22, 2007)

Thank you guys very much for giving me some suggestions. I'm going to make another appointment with my PCP and see if we can come up with a solution. 

I do think a referral to an allergy doc is a good move on my part and will be doing that. 

Any more suggestions is still welcomed!


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## Aliena (Oct 22, 2007)

bexylicious said:


> *not sure if this helps, but my bfs mother had this very badly.
> turns out shes allergic to benzoic acid, which is in everything nearly, but since cutting it out of her diet she is doing really well.
> she had eye twitching, leg twitching, stomach cramps, overally lethargy and tiredness and is now a heap better, the change was scarily dramatic!
> 
> ...




I just googled benzoic acid and am having a hard time finding what specific foods it's put in. Can you give me a list of some, so I can see if I'm possibly using/eating any of them?


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## Miss Vickie (Oct 22, 2007)

Aliena, that eye twitching can be from a mineral deficiency -- often it's related to magnesium, or else potassium or calcium (my own experiences have been with magnesium deficiency but others have reported the other minerals). In my own experience, taking extra magnesium (400 to 800 mg, twice a day) have alleviated it. The one time recently when I ignored it because I was too busy with work, I ended up with a migraine. I can't say for sure that they're related but the timing seems more than coincidental.

As for the fatigue, that's just so tough to know where to start. It's good that it's not your anemia or thyroid but that brings up the question...what is it? I've been hearing a lot about adrenal fatigue lately, mostly from alternative docs. I'm not sure how you even test for it but it might be worth looking into.

Western medicine is good at a lot of stuff but things like fatigue and potential vitamin deficiencies isn't it. I've always had good luck with seeing alternative practitioners like naturopaths.

Good luck!


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## Zandoz (Oct 22, 2007)

Good luck. I've had chronic fatigue for years. Officially, it's always written off to being fat. Personally, I think a lot of it is my diabetes and oxygen deficiency relating in part to my sleep apnea, combined with several med's side effects.


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## bexy (Oct 22, 2007)

Aliena said:


> I just googled benzoic acid and am having a hard time finding what specific foods it's put in. Can you give me a list of some, so I can see if I'm possibly using/eating any of them?



*hiya!!

its also represented as the e numbe E:21O, 212 OR 213.

his mum says its in most things, its a preservative found in most synthetic type things, she also says to mention another side effect she gets is a tingling lips and tongue, in case you were experiencing it too.

a list of some of the things she cant eat

synthetic cooking oil (ie she has to use pure vegetable oil)
ketchup
tinned soup/tinned beans/tinned pasta shapes
any frozen process meats products (burgers, chicken dippers etc)
vinegar
some white bread
breakfast cereals like rice crispies, coco pops, all bran is fine..

its anything that needs to be preserved basically. so anything not fresh or organic.

anyways i hope this helps keep us informed!!

bexy xo*


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## Aliena (Oct 22, 2007)

I want to thank everyone for responding; I appreciate the support. I have an appointment with my PCP tomorrow and I'm going to address this issue with her. 

At my Dh's appointment today, she told him she'd get me an appointment with an allergist and I will receive that tomorrow at my appointment. 

I talked to my PA (she works in the clinic where I'm volunteering) and she is running a thyroid test on me as well as something to do with my blood. (I forget off hand)

My sleep study came back normal as well as my regular blood panel.
I'm feeling optimistic, because Mike (my Dh) called his mother today, (who sees a naturalist) and is going to make me an appointment to see him for when we go down for our Christmas visit. (thank you Miss Vickie for the suggestion)


Bexy, I don't eat processed foods, so I'm thinking it's not what your mother suffers from. I so appreciate you telling me about it though, because I have a beef (no pun intended) with the preservatives our industries nonchalantly put into our foods and expect us consumers to remain relatively healthy and model thin! 

I'm looking forward to seeing the allergist, because I'm leaning toward it being something along those lines. (or so I'm hoping)
My allergies have really been giving me trouble, but who's hasn't?


Miss Vickie, I revamped my vitamin and supplements today. I am going to take a new type of vitamin, rather than the Wal-Mart childrens chewables I've been taking. These particular vitamins have a high content of the minerals you mentioned; I start them tonight and I'm so hoping this helps. 

I was also wondering if the twitching is stress related, I'm going to ask my PCP about it tomorrow. 

I will keep y'all updated, for those who are curious. 


Thank you again everyone for your support.


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## GrowingBoy (Oct 25, 2007)

Here's a wierd one:

Vitamin D deficiency. Particularly prevalent in rainy/foggy climates. Symptoms can mimic Fibromyalgia.


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## DeniseW (Oct 29, 2007)

Did you go to the doctors and find out anything yet?


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## Aliena (Oct 30, 2007)

Hello everyone, I apologize it's taken me a few more extra days to post my update, but I've been kind of crazy with mid-terms; mid-terms I didn't think I would have to contend with. 

Anyhoot--

I did get to go see my Dr. today (I had to cancel the one appointment) and she was real accommodating in trying to find out what the problem is. She is running some blood tests to check my thyroid, estrogen, (I insisted on that one) other hormones, blood sugars, (which I already know are in good shape from a recent test), whatever it is they check for rheumatoid (sorry, I know this is mis-spelled) arthritus (she noticed my joints were swollen), and various other stuff I can't recall at this time. 

She also had me take a questionair to determine if I am depressed; I sort of broke down in tears in her office. I did tell her I was suffering from some depression, I knew that, but had related it to a medication I had been taking for a few months. (of which has a noted side effect of causing mood swings and depression) 
Because I haven't taken this medication in over a month, she was convinced this wasn't the cause, or rather, the ongoing reason of my observed depression. 
The little written test I took showed some moderate depression and she prescribed me Cymbalta. 

I am very hesitant of taking this medication, but she assured me it isn't known to cause weight gain, fatigue, mess with cycle functions, (infact, she stated it was known to give one pep) or cause space-cadet type symptoms. 

She didn't think this was the overall problem of my problems, but thought the depression could be causing a vicious cycle with the fatigue, pain, and depression. 

I have a lot of stressful situations going on in my life and am afraid to admit, I've been having coping issues with some of it. I thought I could fight the depression on my own, but that's not going to happen apparently. Oh and I am in therapy; I've been in for quite awhile. (just not on medication)

As far as the physical stuff, I have an appointment on Friday to see an allergist and my Dh's mother is going to meet with her holistic-doc to see if he'll see me when we go down to visit for the X-mas visit. 

I follow up with her in 3-weeks. I will update then, or when new information arrives, if anyone is interested. 

Thank you all for *listening* and helping me with my problems.


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Nov 6, 2007)

Thank you for the update sweetie. I hope they find out soon. When you mentioned swollen joints the first thing that popped into my head was Lyme Disease. Do you have the problem where you live?? It was just a thought - I don't mean to scare you. Just do a search on Lyme disease symptoms - I could be completely off the mark. 

Keep us updated - I'm interested in how you are.


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## Tina (Nov 7, 2007)

Sorry you're having such a rough time, Aliena. I understand the difficulty of going in different directions when you're so very exhausted. School, while also fun, can be very draining. Add your internship on top of it and you must be wiped out.

How are you doing now, and have you heard anything back?


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