Anyone using stimulants?

[Minimadmatt]

Just wondering what experience other CFS sufferers have had with stimulants. I'm in the uk and it's virtually impossible to get prescribed here but know many in the states use adderall amongst other stimulants. I myself have experimented but have to obtain through unorthadox methods. I find it helps greatly with the brain fog and I feel normal again and so long as I don't do too much I feel great. If on the other hand because I don't feel fatigued I do more then the crash will still follow. As long as I don't try to push myself then I at least FEEL normal.I am also using Bu-Trans patches that are a life changer in terms of the muscular and joint pain. Would love to get it legitimately prescribed so I could be monitored properly.

[LV2SPD]

CFS has got to be the worst thing to have because none of the drs can seem to diagnose it and treat it as a real disorder or disease! I've suffered with it for about 13 years and it is truly debilitating. The only thing that has given me my life back is a stimulent which I too obtain illegally because the dr treated me like I was asking her if it was ok to murder someone when I suggested trying an adhd medication! So much for going about it the legal way...

[Kcjo10]

I have been taking Adderall for many years for my CFS. It is the only thing keeping me in the working world. I am prescribed 30mg extended release twice a day. I try to only take it once a day and only on days I need to accomplish something. The drawbacks to it are that it makes anxiety harder to control. I also worry what it is doing to my body long term. I have also been prescribed Provigil and Diet Pills in the past. They help but it seems they loose effectiveness over time.

[RickVaug]

My CFS started with my Hep C TX
It has slowly gotten worse over last 9 years
I was put on Ritalin for awhile which made me awake but still feeling physically drained
In desperation last year I tried an "unorthodox" method and had the same results as you. I did very minimal because I wanted to go to sleep that night
I had a very wonderful normal day. I know this is not a solution and talking to the doctors about it is problematic. The use of these on a constant basis creates an entire world of other bad things.
I am trying to find out why something like that can make me feel normal and what my body is doing / not doing to produce the same results, to get back to the way I used to feel.

Trying all sorts of vitamin supplements right now to see how that changes things. There are a lot of posts about legal things that have helped others

Best of luck ---- hope you get well

[choo_choo]

In the US they prescribe stimulants for a condition called "shift work disorder," which is when people who work rotating shifts have problems with fatigue because their body never gets used to a particular schedule.  So, being that fatigue is a big problem with people who have CFS, it doesn't surprise me that the stimulants are helping you.  It would be interesting to know whether any drug manufacturers have studied this.