Extreme fatigue, Insomnia, muscle aches and pains

[law]

Hey

I'm new to this forum having been sent here by my GP, I have been suffering with the above symptoms for 8 months now, all I get back from my GP is you must be depressed or have anxiety... The problem is I don't feel anxious and at least at the start of this I didn't feel depressed.

Many many tests later I feel I'm no further on, I have be sent to a psychiatrist and put on mirtazapine all based on the fact someone in my family suffered with depression once. I have been on them five weeks and not much has changed. I was fine for a few days last week practically back to normal then I played squash on monday (thats how good I felt), the next day I felt completely knackered I could barely get out of bed and only now three days later has the fatigue started to lift. its the worst fatigue I've ever experienced I struggle to leave the house some days then suddenly its gone, only to return 2-5 days later. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Could I really be depressed without knowing it?! I'm worried I have CFS/ME as it seems to fit whats happening?

Thanks
Law

[Elliott]

Hey, you asked if this could be depression without you feeling it. In short, yes, it can be depression even if you seem to feel fine to yourself. I have personal experience with that myself. On the other hand, it is always best to check and make sure it is nothing by getting examined. So it is a good thing you are looking into that. It can be very frustrating to not be able to find the source of your aches and tiredness sometimes, but it is also true that there does not need to be a reason.

Just thought I'd chime in to say I hope you feel better, and find the reason, but if you do not find a physical reason, it may be depression or just a passing phase.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The symptoms you are stating coulf fit with depression but for then to fit to anxiety you would need to also, well feel anxious at times. If you can say you don't feel anxious at all, then depression is a possibility.

Do you ever feel down? Does it last longer than a low mood would (see NHS Choices website for advice on the difference)

The same possibility could be CFS/ME.

Why has your GP referred you to this site? It's great he/she has done this but I hope it's not in place of action that they should be taking. If he/she has referred you here to discuss your symptoms, I would be very unhappy with that because it's their responsibillity to diagnose.

[Lilharry]

Hey Law,

I experienced this at the end of 2012. Like you, I wasn't anxious, but kept being told by doctors that it was anxiety. I started to get anxious when they couldn't tell me what was wrong. I had suffered from anxiety in the past, so I knew what anxiety was like and this didn't feel like it. I have recently been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue, but really it's just a term they use when they don't really know what the problem is. I have found great relief in a huge change of diet and lifestyle and certain supplements. Happy to share what has helped me if you're interested, but I have to warn you, it's not what your doctor would prescribe!

[Cheesemonster13]

Welcome to this site, law :)

Have you tried keep a diary and recording your feelings, thoughts and activities, with particular reference to the symptoms that you are worried about? It will provide you, your GP and any other professionals you are referred to, with an extremely useful source of information, and will help provide clues as to what is causing this.

I started by writing down what I was eating, how I was sleeping and when my anxiety levels and depression were particularly bad. After a while, I saw certain patterns emerging, applied different treatments and remedies and could then assess how helpful they were.

I'm not saying that you are suffering from anxiety or depression, law, this is something you can do to help discover the underlying causes of your symptoms, whatever they are.

[law]

Thanks for your replies

Cheese - I haven't tried keeping a diary, sounds like a good idea to me I'll try to start that up. I haven't done any strenuous exercise for over a week now and have been more or less fine other than that I see no pattern at the moment, so as you say this may unearth more...

lilharry - all sounds very familiar to me, they (doctors) tell me I'm depressed and/or anxious I tell them I not, they shrug and give me a url and a referral to a psychiatrist. They even gave me antidepressants without telling me they were antidepressants because I said I didn't want to take them (i gave in eventually). So yeah I'd like to here what has help you at the moment other than stopping all sport which would be a big change for me I've got nothing...

Mynameis - I didn't feel down before all this, now I do because the fatigue has change my life completely and not for the better, but the fatigue came first and the lack of progress, the duration and severe debilitating nature of it is getting me down. I think I was sent here to talk through my anxieties (which I apparently have) with people who have been through it and that would help.

Elliot - thank you and yeah I'm not ruling depression out still seeing the psychiatrist and maybe I am unaware of it, it just doesn't make sense to me

[Lilharry]

I definitely wouldn't advocate stopping all sport. Slowing down, perhaps, if you're over exercising, but having fun and light exercise is important. I am now on a paleo style diet, which has helped greatly and might be something you could look at. Mark's Daily Apple is a great place to start and has all sorts of advice for becoming healthy http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/#axzz2zqq0ztSK

Also these books/websites have helped me too:

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/ (I found this book to be extremely helpful in understanding why we get sick)

http://chriskresser.com/

Also, my doctor recommended The Body Ecology Diet book to me just yesterday, so that could be something else to look at.

I would also recommend seeing a naturopath or integrative/holistic doctor if your doctors aren't being very helpful. They can help you with nutrition and supplements to get your body back on track. Problem with a lot of these issues is that they are sub-clinical, so won't show up on teh basic bloods etc that doctors take. Also, doctors don't look at you as an individual, they just look at your tests compared to everyone elses, which isn't really that helpful.

I know what the fatigue is like. I'm the same. Some days I feel almost normal, but then the next I will be wiped out and can't get out of bed. It's very frustrating. Worst part was being told that it was anxiety causing it! That isn't helpful at all because it doesn't explain why you have the anxiety and doesn't help you get to the bottom of it any easier. For me it seems to be caused by chronic infection of the gut, probably candida, as I get flare ups of weird symptoms including insomnia, skin infections, eye infections, all sorts of stuff. Do you have problems with digestion at all?

[law]

Lilharry, thanks for your reply I am going to try some diet adjustments in line with the primal diet from those links toy sent me, so fingers crossed this may help. As for digestion problems, yes I do seem to get pretty bad indigestion regularly hoping this diet change may help with that also.

Thanks