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Cognitive Fatigue only... while Physically Healthy. Anyone like me?

Messages
11
**English is my second language, and the fatigue making it worse :(

Hi, I am a male, 26 years old, been suffering from abnormal fatigue since I was 21.

It started after a single binge drinking episode, I believe.

My symptom is persistent and disabling mental fatigue, but ironically I am physically quite healthy unlike most of you.

I don't have post exertion malaise, and have no pains at all (except little discomfort on both shoulders)
I can literally walk all day long if I am motivated enough to overcome the mental fatigue.
So I can say I am physically very healthy.

My mental fatigue is persistent and interfere almost all activities. I always have low energy. I can't concentrate on complex thinking, numbering, and anything that requires complex mental power. social interaction with people became very hard task to me. And the sensation of fatigue itself is quite discomforting.

I had to quit my university (the top one in my country) and have no job.

Like many of you, I've been through many clinics and tests, but nothing came out eventually.
I've also tried almost every supplements I can take. but they also did not help me much, if at all.

A cup of coffee helps me a bit. it's better than nothing. I've also tried ritalin(methylphenidate). At first it was a near-miracle drug, but in long-term it was no better than the coffee. I drink few cups of coffee throughout the day.

I just want to know if there are patients like me. I may fall into the criteria of CFS, but I know I am different from most of CFS patients.
 
Messages
80
You check for ebv or cmv? They seem to have different effect on each one of us. If you test IGG or IGM to any one of those then you got CFS.
 
Messages
64
Do you know which alcoholic beverages you consumed during this binge-drinking episode? Did you drink anything mixed by someone else? Anything that did not come out of a closed, branded bottle or can?
 
Messages
11
Do you know which alcoholic beverages you consumed during this binge-drinking episode? Did you drink anything mixed by someone else? Anything that did not come out of a closed, branded bottle or can?

nope. it was beer and korean vodka. there was nothing unusual with the products. i just drank it too much.
 
Messages
64
You say you are in a good condition except for mental exhaustion. Do you benefit from physical exertion? Do you feel more clear headed after a bout of exercise? What are your eating habits?
 

Tito

Senior Member
Messages
300
When alcohol from fruits is distilled, the beginning of the distillation may contain cyanides that are toxic to the brain. Producers of cheap beverages may not discard that first part of the distillation. Do you know what "Korean Vodka" is made from?
 
Messages
11
You say you are in a good condition except for mental exhaustion. Do you benefit from physical exertion? Do you feel more clear headed after a bout of exercise? What are your eating habits?

Exercise does not affect the symptom, just gives me more physical type of energy. // I think my eating habit is relatively healthy (either before and after the onset)
 
Messages
11
When alcohol from fruits is distilled, the beginning of the distillation may contain cyanides that are toxic to the brain. Producers of cheap beverages may not discard that first part of the distillation. Do you know what "Korean Vodka" is made from?


I don't know the detail of production, but it's very popular drink in Korea, which are sold several billion bottles a year (here's a link to wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soju)

Consequently tons of binge drinkers are there, but having permanent symptom from it, like me, is very rare.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
if you have only brain fog but are otherwise healthy, I would look into gut related stuff like candida...IBS...etc.. just guessin'
 

Fogbuster

Senior Member
Messages
269
I also suffer from just mainly mental fatigue. I have low energy and just cant understand why..
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
I also suffer from just mainly mental fatigue. I have low energy and just cant understand why..

Low energy is a symptom of many illnesses and does not necessarily imply you have ME/CFS. If you haven't already done it, you should have your primary care physician investigate thoroughly other possible causes of your low energy. Particularly if you are in the UK, you could be misdiagnosed. Take a look at the ME/CFS Primer for Clinical Practioners. There's a lot of good information there about what ME/CFS really is, tests your doctor should run, and possible symptomatic treatments. Starting on page 12 is a Diagnostic Worksheet you could quickly run through yourself to see if your doctor has properly diagnosed you.

It's worth pursuing further because many other causes of low energy are treatable. :) ME/CFS is a serious, potentially life-destroying illness. No one should accept that diagnosis without plenty of evidence that it isn't something relatively easily treated.
 
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3
Hi strophy, I have a very similar story to you. Like you, I am physically very healthy but I have this horrible persistent mental fatigue that never goes away :( I always have low energy and I sometimes feel as if I am in a dream like state.

My mental fatigue started suddenly 2 years ago after taking a single dose of diflucan (fluconazole) for thrush. My only other symptom is I bloat after everything I eat or drink! So I’ll wake up with a flat stomach but by the end of the day I look highly pregnant!

I've had every test done (for both the fatigue + bloating issue) but all results have come back negative :( I used to think I had CFS (mainly because of the sudden onset) but I am 100% physically healthy (I run, ski, go to the gym regularly etc.). Could anyone shed some light on what this could be? Have you found any answers strophy?
 
Messages
2,565
Location
US
It started after a single binge drinking episode, I believe.


Have you tried liver cleanses? The better ones (not the easy type where you just take pills). Other types of cleanses too. May not be a cure but they could help.

Also investigate your sleep. Do you feel fatigued when you wake? Is it easy to wake up? Do you stay asleep at night or wake? Does it feel like light sleep or good deep sleep?

And someone can observe you for a while at night and see if you stop breathing. Apnea is very common if you are overweight or a big person, which I don't know if you are.

Did you have a lot of stress during the time you got ill?
 

L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,200
Location
Canada
There are some others on here who only have problems with mental exertion and can exercise as normal. Most people here have some level of both physical and mental exertion problems.

Do you get physical pain sensations from mental or social exertion, or is it mainly a tired, sleepy feeling even after exertion? I get tight, suffocated achy feeling in my head from mental exertion, in addition to the clouded thinking and sleepy feeling. It is a feeling of not enough oxygen to the brain that is different from the tiredness I felt when I was physically well.
I hope you have something that is easier to treat than what most of us have!
 

helen1

Senior Member
Messages
1,033
Location
Canada
I second Daffodil's suggestion to look into abnormal gut flora. Bad bacteria and/or overgrowths can definitely cause serious mental and cognitive issues.
 

sregan

Senior Member
Messages
703
Location
Southeast
Hi strophy, I have a very similar story to you. Like you, I am physically very healthy but I have this horrible persistent mental fatigue that never goes away :( I always have low energy and I sometimes feel as if I am in a dream like state.

My mental fatigue started suddenly 2 years ago after taking a single dose of diflucan (fluconazole) for thrush. My only other symptom is I bloat after everything I eat or drink! So I’ll wake up with a flat stomach but by the end of the day I look highly pregnant!

I've had every test done (for both the fatigue + bloating issue) but all results have come back negative :( I used to think I had CFS (mainly because of the sudden onset) but I am 100% physically healthy (I run, ski, go to the gym regularly etc.). Could anyone shed some light on what this could be? Have you found any answers strophy?


I'm looking into this also. Recently I was reminded that thyroid can cause these issues. I know T4 thyroid and vitamin B3 are manufactured in the gut. You might try to supplement with B3 and/or Tyrosine (for the T4) and see if that helps. It's possible the diflucan might have killed off some friendlies in your gut that were producing these.