I’m a 44 year old male, reasonably fit, I ice skate 5 hours a week and play ice hockey once or twice a week - a very physically demanding sport.
In January 2012 my marriage / relationship of 12 years fell apart and around the summer time, I went to my GP due to levels of extreme tiredness. After what feels like a good sleep of 8 hours, I can be up for around 3 hours when tiredness just hits me like a wave and I have to close my eyes. I will then sleep for between 2 and 4 hours.
My work is mainly driving or office work with 2-3 client visits per week, all over the UK. I’ve often been tired after a long drive before and I put this down to the concentration needed to drive. Now the tiredness hits me after just 3 hours of not doing very much at all. My GP put this down to depression and tried various SRI anti-depressants before referal to a psychiatrist for CBT. The tablets I am on are supposed to stimulate the brain and yet despite this and caffeinated drinks, I will still fall asleep almost without fail.
Thing is though, I am a happy chappy. I have a lovely son, good friends, the love of a new woman in my life and I really enjoy the skating and hockey. I have told the consultant psychiatrist I want to be off the anti-depressants.
Other symptoms I get are pins and needles down the left arm and a poor level of concentration. I would say I am only effective one day in 10 and the rest of the time I achieve very little. Work haven’t really noticed due to the fact I work from home and there are no proper audits on my work. This won’t last forever.
My mother, who passed away 9 years ago had MS.
I am not in any physical pain and the fact I can skate and play ice hockey probably rules out any major balance issues.
Hello and welcome It’s perfectly understandable for you to think of MS given your mum, but genetics is only one of multiple factors in MS, so while MS is a possibility, it’s still pretty unlikely. The assumption that your fatigue is depression and due to your relationship problems seems a bit too simplistic to me, especially given your neurological symptoms and that the antidepressants haven’t helped. It’s got to be time for your GP to accept that a neurological opinion would be sensible surely? Maybe start with a really thorough battery of blood tests though? Things like vitamin B12 deficiency, other vitamin or mineral deficiencies, thyroid dysfunction and other things may explain your symptoms - and be relatively easy to treat. One thing’s for sure: you need to find out what’s going on. So a firm discussion with your GP needs to be top priority I think. Good luck. Karen x
Hello, I don’t post too often, especially as I m undiagnosed and don’t feel I can give advice, but I do feel very strongly about fatigue. I have suffered with severe fatigue for over 20 years and I completely agree with Karen. What I would like to say is my GP has never ever taken my fatigue seriously. I was put on Prozac for years and just like you, my fatigue increased. I drank coffee not because I fancied a cup but because I had to! I still do to this day. I was sent to psychiatrists etc. until eventually I paid for psychotherapy and I got off the pills pretty quickly. I proved I didn’t need them, I wasn’t depressed as a condition, I was depressed at the medical profession telling me I was mentally unwell. I am now under a Neurologist as symptoms of that nature started 6 years ago and he said very little but what he did say whilst glaring at my GPs letter (which I’m sure was very helpful!), well it is clear that its not entirely in your head. This I can tell you made my day, funny as it sounds. I know based on history that my GP would have stated that in no doubt it is in my head. What I am saying (badly) is fatigue is a warning sign. Something is causing it, persisting fatigue is not normal. Keep on at them. Sorry for going on but I hate the way GPs slap depression on unexplained things like fatigue. Good luck Sam
Thanks for the replies - hypothyroidism seems to be a fit (although as a rule, I avoid self diagnosis websites). Going to ask my GP about it when I see him on Friday.
Samantha - I understand what you are saying - glad you got sorted in the end.
I had such a chuckle reading your posts. I am waiting for my neuro consult and went to my GP for pain and fatigue, I take loads of meds including Amitriptyline, Gabapentin, and Zomorph so I’m bound to feel tired, but he insisted on a depression score and no matter how I tried to tell him that I couldn’t function due to pain, fatigue etc he just responded with “so that will be a 3 then” . I have had depression and know this is not it but he knows better. I can laugh now but I could have choked him. I’m starting to think that that’s their response to cases they don’t know or can’t be bothered with.
I’m sorry I can’t give help or advice but I can sympathize. You aren’t alone in your frustrations.
I suffer from both. I have mild depression and I get fatigued which is a symptom of MS. It certainly doesn’t sound like you are depressed, far from it. You sound quite chipper to me. That’s really annoying that the Doctor is just throwing pills at you. It’s the easy option I suppose. I agree with Karen et al. The only thing that you can do is get tests done. I am a strong believer in self diagnosis. I was told five years ago, when I had my first attack not to look on the web. I wish I had done, as I had really bad optic neuritis. I had loads of tests done for two weeks. They didn’t send me to see a neurologist, they didn’t send me for an MRI and told me they didn’t think it was MS. They told me after two weeks that they didn’t know what it was and sent me on my merry way, none the wiser. Four and half years later, after a really horrible attack, I was diagnosed. So I suggest you assert yourself. It’s your health and it’s your future. The sooner you find out what the problem is, the sooner you can deal with it.
I know what you mean about GP’s being dismissive of fatigue, I’ve been suffering with it for years and drs always seem to play it down but it can be dreadful. I would say go back to the gp and be assertive but polite, you might also want to take a food diary with you so that the GP can see you are eating a well-balanced diet and therefore any nutrient deficiencies are not diet related. If you haven’t already had them tested, I would be asking for them to test your tsh (thyroid) levels and your b12 at the very least as both of these can be linked to fatigue. Sorry if this hasn’t helped but I wanted you to know that you weren’t the only one feeling fatigued.
Well, good news. Spoke to the doctor today and I’m going in for blood tests next week, including thyroid.
I think he accepted the fact that I’m doing >5 hours skating a week plus 1-2 hours ice hockey which maxes out the heart rate (150-160bpm) for a minute followed by 2 mins recovery at a time, then the lethargy is not brought on by a lack of exercise.
Although not likely to be MS I’ll still report back here to let you know how I get on when the results are in, a week today.
Well, good news. Spoke to the doctor today and I’m going in for blood tests next week, including thyroid.
I think he accepted the fact that I’m doing >5 hours skating a week plus 1-2 hours ice hockey which maxes out the heart rate (150-160bpm) for a minute followed by 2 mins recovery at a time, then the lethargy is not brought on by a lack of exercise.
Although not likely to be MS I’ll still report back here to let you know how I get on when the results are in, a week today.
It’s perfectly understandable for you to think of MS given your mum, but genetics is only one of multiple factors in MS, so while MS is a possibility, it’s still pretty unlikely. The assumption that your fatigue is depression and due to your relationship problems seems a bit too simplistic to me, especially given your neurological symptoms and that the antidepressants haven’t helped. It’s got to be time for your GP to accept that a neurological opinion would be sensible surely? Maybe start with a really thorough battery of blood tests though? Things like vitamin B12 deficiency, other vitamin or mineral deficiencies, thyroid dysfunction and other things may explain your symptoms - and be relatively easy to treat. One thing’s for sure: you need to find out what’s going on. So a firm discussion with your GP needs to be top priority I think. Good luck. Karen x