I am so tired all the time I can't stand this.

[StarDust]

It's the so-called "new generation anti-depressants", it stands for Selective Serotonin Recapture Inhibitor.

I'm surprised no doctor talked to you about it.

[Chronicfatiguetreatments]

heres a link about ssri's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_ ... _inhibitor

- Also i had to ban dukey. He was causing problems and lowering the level of conversation. I even warned him.
I usually wouldnt do something like that, but it was getting pretty bad

[.Tom]

Well I must admit I haven't tried that hard because no one in my family really believed me. But now they know how serious it is after I had extreme fatigue at the wheel and almost got into a wreck. But I guess a better thing to say is that I've been suffering from it for the past few years.

As far as the SSRI, it was Zoloft and I took it for like 6 months. My parents made me take it because I was "diagnosed" with depression and anxiety. What really makes me mad is that the psychiatrist didn't even tell me about the sexual side effects. When I realized I could no longer ejaculate whatsoever no matter how hard I tried I realized that this drug was not correcting some BS "chemical imbalance" that he never even tested for. So I've had it with psychiatrists, because no offense, they're practicing a pseudoscience. Now I'm not some scientologist or conspiracy theorist but the fact that they don't do any medical tests or even tell you the side effects really angers me. Now everyone's different, I support all voluntary associations, but it's just not for me.

I wouldn't mind trying another drug as long as it doesn't cause sexual side effects or weight gain. Just no more SSRIs for me personally.

[rdm]

I know its easy to get mad at the medical field because there's nothing for us yet, but ADs help a lot of people out.Also, the medical field still doesn't fully understand the brain. Psychiatrist and their science has changed my life with their medications until I was DX with CFS. Try to be patient and distract yourself with something else .

Plus, there are Anti depressants that actually help your sex drive, the name of the medication is Bupropion(wellbutrian) . However, it didn't work for me, but everyone's body chemistry is different.

[neil25]

i react pretty bad to normal anti- depressants so don't think i would ever take ssri's they would send me over the edge. i find with anti-depressants im just not myself its like i feel numb very hard to explain i dont take them anymore i suppose i would rather be alert in pain.

[laura]

Get all the medical tests you can get....rule out every illness under the sun, then you will know whether or not you have CFS, that is what happened with me.
Every medical test was negative, and I was tested for everything. Doctors treated me like I was a malingering hypochondriac. I searched for 3 years for a diagnosis. Finally diagnosed myself when I saw all my symptoms listed on Mayo Clinic's website. Adderall is a stimulant like Provigil that enables me to work again and have a life. Provigil did not work for me.
Recently there was an article in my local newspaper called "Chronic Fatigue syndrome: Don't wait for a cure." the man who wrote the article described his 30 year struggle and how by changing his lifestyle he improved over the 30 years...I was so outraged at his advice that we had to heal ourselves when doctors don't even recognize CFS as an illness and we don't kow what our diagnosis is, I wrote a letter to my local newspaper and they are going to publish it this week....at least some of my rage and frustration will be heard....
Here is the letter:

Dear Editor,
I was outraged by Mr. Sklar’s admonishment to “get on with the hard work of healing themselves” in the 11/17/09 article, "Chronic fatigue syndrome: Don’t wait for a cure." You need a diagnosis before you can heal yourself.
For 3 years I searched for a diagnosis. As a single parent, being unable to work for months was terrifying. Medical tests were negative; I was treated like a malingering hypochondriac by 15 doctors. At my last hope visit to Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with "depression." Antidepressants have no affect on the harrowing symptoms of CFS.
Later, I read Mayo Clinic’s website re: CFS. There was the list of my mystifying symptoms. I had CFS. Psychostimulants were one recommendation. A CFS sufferer told me about the drug that helps me function.
The photo headlining Mr. Sklar’s article, of a man slumped at his desk, perpetuates the misconception that CFS just means you're tired. Mayo Clinic's website lists 28 symptoms, fatigue is one, the rest are far worse. CFS should be called, FLD24/7, Feel Like Dying 24/7.
I don't expect a cure. My greatest hopes are for a treatment protocol and for doctors to understand the impact CFS has on every aspect of a sufferer’s life.

[neil25]

Hi laura,
e
good on you for responding to this pathetic article. that really annoys me when people write bullshit articles like that. If you have chronic fatigue syndrome you know that by changing our lifestyle the symptoms do not go away. This sends a false message to other people as they think that someone is ok if they change there lifestyle this is far from the truth if it was that easy i would be back at uni now do what i love not being housebound. I'm just so sick of it all, if you really have cfs you know that it is bloody difficult to manage the condition, in my view i don't think this illness is really managable as the symptoms are with u 24/7 no matter how mild. people may view me as a negative person. the only thing which has helped me is keeping interests, i was actually at my worst when i was spending so much energy into finding ways to make myself better like yoga, diet, detoxes, researching treatements. it gave me so much anxeity at one point i was really sucicidal i don't know how i got out of it to be honest. Now my main job is making myself happy and just getting on with things no matter how ill i feel, to be honest im a much better place then i was. i felt absolutley dreadful tonight but i dragged myself to a friends house and felt much better. the main advice i would give to anyone who got cfs is fight the depression anyway possible make it ur full time job. looking for cures and treatements only add to the frustration and depression. I know everyone on here believes there will never be treatement for cfs but i have faith in god and one day will come when we have something to help us. i know it seems so impossible now but i know it will come.

[alicewoolf]

hi Neil25 SSRIs are Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor a group of antidepressants which includes Prozac. am thinking of trying it if only for the awful depression caused by my CFS. sometimes I feel completely inconsolable.

[crmfghtr]

Yes very good on you Laura. I hate it when I see that stuff. FYI I went to the Mayo Clinic insisting I had a sleep disorder. They said I have CFS. I walked out I didn't think it was real. I went back again to same doctor and he convinced me this is real. He said are migraines fake? He mentioned a number of other things that they cant test for but are real. He said, and basically the Mayo clinic still says to this day there really is no treatment for it. The only thing they can do for you, and he offered, was counseling for what lies ahead for me. That was nice to hear way back when lol, he was right.