fatigue

[Rupa88]

fatigue and low energy is killing me😥

any suggestions??

[docjleonard55]

Try doing Yoga Nidra meditation. There are videos on YouTube. 20 minutes is equivalent of several hours of sleep.

[park_bear]

I have used caffeine pills, 100 to 200 mg, successfully for inappropriate fatigue.

[MarionP]

Well you know b vitamins, because they have sulfur, are critically involved in the creation of energy, and all your energy comes from mitochondria. So maybe the community can talk about what is good for mitochondria, aside from having lots of b vitamins, and especially B1 which is safe to have in higher doses.

[stlewy in reply to MarionP]

I'm still working on my B vitamins sweet spot, but when I do take it, I feel more energetic. Also exercise always works for me. I'm interested to here if C/L over time depletes some key vitamins causing fatigue feeling?

[MarionP in reply to stlewy]

Shouldn't do, I would think it would have the opposite effect, supportive and energizing. That's basically dopamine, after all.

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This is one of those areas where I tend to think more simple-obvious, like the saying that says if you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras. How is your sleeping and your nutrition? I do a cup and a half of coffee every morning and that usually does it fine for me. In the afternoon I switch to black tea, and then green tea for the phyto nutrients and so I'll be able to get to sleep. If you can handle the sugar, Mountain Dew will give you a bump, and Diet Dew, Diet Coke are two that definitely come in slightly behind the non-diet Dew. I've never tried those little canned energy drinks but I guess they're mostly a cup or so worth of caffeine, Red Bull does that.

But you know PD is progressive, and the later stages (say, for lack of a better term, mid-stage or past the halfway mark) involve depression, as in the energy loss physical effect that is the technical word for systemic depression, I don't mean the mood I mean the technical activity. That would be more likely.

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If you want to experiment around you might talk to your doctor about a dopamine agonist, or maybe an increase in your continuous release LDopa, if that's what you're using, or maybe a bump in your LDopa dose that is your immediate release, if that is what you happen to be taking... but those come with risks of side effects, agitation, aggravation tremors sometimes.

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Other sources of energy: black teas, coffee of course. (Early in its history only the Pope was allowed to drink coffee, that's how prized and exclusively it was early on, only special people could have access to it because of what it did for you. ) Gunpowder green tea, matcha, all the black teas basically, those natural stimulant effects are what drove the British empire to colonize worldwide, and that was the reason, one of the big reasons anyway, black teas contain two stimulants, caffeine and theobromine, and more so than coffee even gram for gram. Commercial energy drinks often use caffeine. Now if you go in for coffee beans or drip coffee, your lighter roasts have more caffeine, whereas the darker roasts actually have less caffeine, so you could start with a darker roast, French roast for example, and you know I even know they are a little more robust or bitter tasting, they have less caffeine than the lighter roasts. So coffee has a fair range of levels of caffeine, and you could even start with half caffeine half decaffeinated coffee or beans and proportion are blend them that way until you find something that you like because it's not an All or nothing proposition for you, you can have ranges and stages and all it takes is a bit of mixing and matching especially if you get yourself a little grinder or buy a bag of ground coffee that is got caffeine and a bag of ground coffee that is decaffeinated and then you can proportion them as you like. Both coffee and teas tend to have their effects over 2 to 4 hours and then they tail off. 'Tea-totaler' doesn't mean no stimulants, actually gram for gram black tea has much more stimulant than coffee. Like I mentioned, tea was one of the push drivers of the colonial building of the British empire, it was that sought after.

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Chocolate has caffeine too but in smaller amounts and there are more heavy metals in cocoa powder which you really don't want.

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There are other forms of OTC stimulant supplements but I don't really like to get into supplements except for vitamins and minerals because you never really know what you're getting or how much or how little, there are zero controls on supplements. My neurologist, and also now that I think of it my internal medicine doctor also, has told me don't really need or recommend supplements except one: a daily multivitamin, to keep you from falling into extreme deficiencies without knowing it.

[MarionP in reply to stlewy]

Is your nickname because you're from St Louis, I went to college there. Great town. I spent way too much time doing "independent study" at Busch Stadium.

[michelagvolpe]

b1parkinsons.org/about-the-...

[BH68]

Coffee & Exercise. Company. Also, getting stuff done - if I’m going to be feeling flat, I might as well do something useful…

[JcbRed]

I also have POTS/. Chronic fatigue and there is a lot on this. I’m working on pacing, ie being aware of your high energy activities ( physical, emotional, mental, social) and manage them consciously. I drop things off if I’m tired to start with , avoid ‘boom and bust’ trends, say no to doing too much; and also have 20-30 mins nap in the pm. As well as advice above. It’s getting a realistic balance in life, not what we think we ‘should’ do.

[Jean-louisVLR]

Supplementation of Magnesium has helped me to reduce fatigue and provide me with more energy. I hope this could help you too.

[Jiti in reply to Jean-louisVLR]

How much in mg per day?

[Rupa88 in reply to Jiti]

3.5-4 25/100 mg C/L

[Jean-louisVLR in reply to Jiti]

I am using Magnesium bisglycinate (chelated) 160 mg/day

[LAJ12345]

try rhodiola rosea.nz.iherb.com/r/swanson-full...

[HolisticPeds]

low dose naltrexone (3 mg at night) made an unexpectedly huge improvement in my fatigue. Key compounding pharmacy in Washington state can make it with your doctor’s prescription.

[Mezmerric]

A few suggestions. First, as hard as it may sound, try your best to exercise. Exercise improves the efficiency of your cells to produce energy. Second, is diet. Cut out sugar and quick release carbs. The temptation is to tuck into a snack when energy feels low. I would recommend trying to fast at least 12 hours per 24hr cycle. This again should increase the efficiency of your mitochondria to produce energy known as ATP. As far as supplements are concerned I would recommend upping your ketone levels. There’s a number of ways to do this. Parkinsons impairs glycolysis which is the ability of the body to convert glycogen into energy (ATP). Ketones use a different transport mechanism and will generate ATP where glycogen cannot.

[drumhead]

I get tired soon after taking each C/L dose, but if i exercise within 30 minutes or so of taking it the exercise (even just hiking) helps stave off the fatigue. Weird, but it works for me.

[TassieGuy]

Could this be apathy, one of the non-motor PD symptoms? If so, trans-cranial red light might help.

[chartist]

People with PD generally have higher homocysteine levels as discussed here, at least partially related to the use of Sinemet :

jamanetwork.com/journals/ja....

People with PD often have lower vitamin B12 levels as discussed here :

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a....

Low vitamin B12 can cause fatigue as discussed here :

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a....

High homocysteine can also cause fatigue as discussed here :

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

Low vitamin B6 can also cause tiredness and vitamin B6 and B12 can lower high homocysteine as discussed here :

my.clevelandclinic.org/heal...

Low B12 can increase the potential for anemia which again, can cause fatigue.

Can you see the interplay of the above can potentially be a significant contributing factor or cause of your fatigue?

Your doctor can test your B6, B12 and homocysteine levels to see if this combination plus Sinemet may be the cause of the severe fatigue you are experiencing.

Art