Chronic Fatigue

[gerry59]

Hi

I'm Gerry .im a 59 yr old male.

I have chronic fatigue for 15 years.

I'm mostly housebound.

In bed from 12 at night till 6/7 next evening and sometimes for days at a time.

All sleep is unrefreshed.

ANYONE ANY IDEAS TO GET ME A DOCTOR OR ANY ADVICE MOST WELCOME.

Gerry

[xandii]

Hi Gerry,

Have you got a diagnosis of Behcet's Syndrome yet ?

If not, and the medics you have seen are suspicious that you may have it, the first thing to do is have a good read of the Behcet's Syndrome Society (BSS) website and information pages on the internet asap. Once you have done that then probably call the helpline and they will tell you exactly who you need to see and how to go about it via your GP or current consultant.

They will be advising you to access one of the Centres of Excellence located at London, Birmingham or Liverpool so that they can examine you and run some tests and hopefully get you a diagnosis and some treatment plan in place. I am assuming you are in the U.K. ? If not, the BSS helpline will still give you excellent advice.

Meanwhile, be kind to yourself and try to stick with it for now and move forward slowly towards getting the results and medication you need to get you back into the real world ! Okay ? Mwah 💋

I hope you start to get a bit better really soon and get some good advice to allow you to break this rotten run of fatigue you are stuck in currently.

Take care Hun,

Hope this helps you a little,

Kindest regards,

X xx

[Lettie999]

Hi Gerry, I take vitamin B, rhodiola, co enzyme Q10, magnesium and selenium to help combat my fatigue. I also find beetroot juice helps ( I add ginger and lemon to make it taste better ).

Before I was diagnosed with behcets my GP referred me to an endocrinologist who tested my thyroid and adrenals, have you had these tests ?.

Even once correctly diagnosed and on medication the fatigue is still debilitating, as annoying as it sounds sometimes you just have to get up and move. I try not to linger in bed and organise things to do each day so I have to get up. I avoid caffeine even though I crave a can of Coke, the energy boost it gave me was just robbing me of the energy I would need later on in the day.

The one exercise that has really helped was yoga, there is science behind how. The exercise is gentle but highly effective but the breathing techniques have been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve. Currently in Holland they are trialling a pace maker that stimulates the vagus nerve on rheumatoid arthritis patients and the results have been amazing, it has lowered the cytokines in the body which has lowered inflammation. Patients who were wheelchair bound are now up and about.

Good luck

Colette

[cindy2002]

Gerry,

Do you have Chronic fatigue syndrome? Or are you saying your fatigue is chronic? Do you have other symptoms or another diagnosis? Are you on medication for anything? Have you been diagnosed with Behcets? Have you had a complete blood workup including vitamin levels if low, that can really impact fatigue.

Are you feeling depressed? I am sorry if you have talked about this before...I am not new to this site, but I have not been posting until recently. There are also things like sleep apnea which can cause constant fatigue. I recently learned that in addition to Behcets , I have restless leg, my oxygen level also drops significantly during sleep for reasons unknown. There are a number of things that can cause fatigue which can be debilitating. I live in the US and my Dr's here give medication to combat fatigue if all else fails. I have had 2 sleep studies which helped she'd light on my fatigue. I would let Dr's know that your quality of life has been greatly diminished due to fatigue. No one should have to be so fatigued if there are reasons for it, some things can be identified by basic labs. My thyroid was low as well. You need to talk to your GP. I hope you get some answers.

Cindy

[janh]

Hi Gerry, chronic fatigue is awful but you really do ha e to work out some kind of plan to get yourself moving. I really have to push myself to make sure that my mind works over the fact my body wants to give in a lot of the time. The less you do the less you'll be able to do. If you can motivate yourself and get out you'll build up a bit of stamina as you've probably not get any now. It's bit to your physical and mental well being to make a start -today. It is depressing to do nothing and its the worse thing you can do. There are days when of course the fatigue is teally bad, rest then but not for too long. Prolonged rest is really really bad.

Good luck Jan