Rhodiola for fatigue?

[mgh348]

Hi all,

I'm on W&W, diagnosed with CLL about 5 years ago, not very symptomatic except for being very fatigued and generally feeling crappy intermittently (foggy brained, some nausea, not wanting to do anything), mostly in the morning. Has anyone tried rhodiola for energy or know if it's safe to try? I also take Armour thyroid for being hypothyroid.

Thanks,

Maxine

[AussieNeil Administrator]

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's article on Rhodiloa may be of interest:

"Rhodiola was shown to improve physical and mental performance by reducing fatigue caused by stress."

mskcc.org/cancer-care/integ...

This is the first time I've seen Rhodiola mentioned in this community. If you think your fatigue is more due to stress than your CLL, then perhaps you might find Rhodiola helps you. But first consider that many members (myself included) have found that ensuring their vitamin D serum levels are within the normal range, that they are metabolising B vitamins adequately and by making an effort to increase their exercise levels, they have significantly reduced their level of CLL related fatigue and concentration issues.

Neil

[mgh348 in reply to AussieNeil]

I think my fatigue is due to overproduction of cytokines. Increase in exercise would probably help, but it's hard to get motivated when feeling like this. Thanks for your response.

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to mgh348]

Overproduction of cytokines by CLL cells is thought by some to cause CLL related fatigue. I suspect that when CLL specialists catch up with the latest understanding of how CLL cells work differently than they thought - i.e. they are far more active in lymph nodes than suspected based on studying of them from blood samples where they are exhausted, we might finally get a breakthrough into the understanding of the real cause of CLL related fatigue.

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

I know exactly what you mean about how hard it is to get motivated to do some exercise. There have been times when I have been just too flat to exercise and other times when I've been able to make the effort (still not easy) and have really felt the benefit.

Neil

[Safta in reply to mgh348]

"It's hard to get motivated when feeling like this".

How to express my feelings exactly!

Wish you well.

[Petey613]

I have been trying extra hard to get the exercise in. I force myself to at least take a long walk if I can't manage going to the gym. It helps and I know I need to put more effort into it. That General crappy fatigued foggy headedness just sucks all the joy out of life like a thirsty vampire.