Suggestions anyone?

I have been struggling with severe fatigue for 4 years now.  I was dx'd with chronic fatigue by my neurologist. At that time I had MRI's MRA's blood work CT scans of the abdomen, colonoscopy, stress tests with echo.  I think I have been thoroughly tested.  The fatigue is ongoing. It comes and goes and I can't seem to put any kind of pattern to it. I have a hard time exercising or doing much of anything besides what is absolutely necessary.  Any ideas what to look for or try next? I was considering complementary medicine.

[acker]

bum predicament! it sure sounds like cfs when nothing is showing up on tests. it sure gets tiresome on top of tiresome when it months turn into years like yours.
nutrition is what we mostly start with, right?, and then we just do the basic minimum that needs to be done.
for me, the best thing to 'do' was rest; remove myself from stressful situations [e.g. drive in offpeak hours]; learning to be kind to self; breathing, praying, accepting; relaxing about the whole thing - see, i found half of my fight was resisting circumstance - some would say 'fight it' and 'fight the illness' and 'don't let it beat you' - well, the only fight is within, and the illness is a messenger, not a friend but not an enemy either;
i got off the track there, but i am 3 years into it, just getting significantly better now. i think the above has helped.
yes, quite usual it is to come and go without much reason or pattern.
with cfs, 'doing no harm' is a great start. the first dr's i saw were going to cause me harm [they suggested 'drink coffee',' drink an energy drink', 'take a walk/ taichi' - very dangerous to suggest this to someone who is EXHAUSTED-to-sickness... incredibly dangerous]. all that to say you need to find the treatment that suits you.
pick and choose.
what works for someone doesnt necessarily work for someone else [as i'm sure you've found].
i'm thankful for this forum because we share and pool our experiences and this is an illness that can a practitioner can barely prescribe for if they haven't had cfs/ fibro/ similar, themselves...
good luck!

[helen41]

One of the cardinal signs of chronic fatigue is called post exertional malaise. In the same way that "fatigue" is an understatement, so is "malaise". Pushing yourself to exercise, where you have to use aerobic energy, is about the worst thing you can do when you have chronic fatigue. It seems that so far, pacing yourself is the only effective way of regaining function.
That being said, these are exciting times for CFS. They have recently found a strong corrolation with the XMRV retrovirus and all of a sudden research money is going toward testing, and I assume treatment won't be far behind. Hang in there, allow yourself to go slow and take comfort in the knowledge that the research seems to be coming.

[forestelf]

Thank you for the replies.  I confess I do get frustrated- I was always such a go-getter and I still want to be.  I think a careful look at my diet may be in oder.

[acker]

agreeing with helen41! exercise is a bad idea. if you can do gentle stretching, just to maintain flexibility and range of movement - do this.
huff n puff - NO.
no doubt you are (sorry, were) a go-getter. most of us here are the go-getter type - probably what got us running on axle here in the first place :(
no one can do anything to help except i have been so encouraged by people here who make me feel less alone :)

[forestelf]

I am having another really bad day so I am reading over this again.thanks for the advice.

[chippi1]

Hi, I can definately relate to the chronic fatique, as I have that also along with the Fibro. A few weeks back it got so bad I seriously was thinking that I don't want to live like this. I have a 4 month old grandson who I take care of a couple days a week when my daughter works and knew that I had to do something to improve the way I was feeling and was really desperate. So, I did some research online for supplements that are supposed to help with fatique and after much reading and checking for interactions with my current meds, I decided to try Ribose, it got very good reviews from those that tried it. I was skeptical, as I am with most things that are supposed to help, as I've tried so many things and nothing ever seemed to make a difference. So, I found it at our local health food store, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid and CVS did not carry it. It was $21, which wasn't too costly. I bought the chewables rather than the powder, thought that would be easier, and chew 2 in the morning. I noticed a major improvement by the second day and have to honestly say I am impressed and pleased with this stuff. My energy level has increased, my muscle pain and fatique has decreased dramatically and my cognitive abilities have improved, I don't have the severe Fibro Fog any longer. I still have bad days, but they are nowhere near what I was experiencing. Good days are the norm now, which I haven't experienced in a long time. I hope if you decide to try it that you will have the same positive results that I have, let me know if you do try it and how it works for you.   Blessings,    chippi