New variation of fatigue

[outdamnspot]

I guess it goes without saying that I've had some variation of fatigue since being unwell. However, about a week ago, after a severe crash, it hit a new low. I was previously diagnosed with atypical depression and a symptom of that was leaden paralsysis, i.e. the sensation that your body is 'heavy' or made of lead. I feel like that now, except 1000x worse. It's almost like I'm trapped in my body, and it feels so heavy that small movements like texting are difficult; it's not just fatigue/tiredness, I feel like I'm being crushed.

Has anyone experienced anything like this, and have any idea what causes it, or is it just another 'crash' symptom?

 

[Seven7]

That for me can be electrolyte unbalance ( I get IBs during crashes and one thing leads to the other) if I add pedyalite or any oral IV I feel muchhhhhh better.
I also have to monitor the bloood pressure make sure is not too low ( I know becuase willl get very dizzy unpin standing) then I load on salty things.

 

[Mary]

I was previously diagnosed with atypical depression and a symptom of that was leaden paralsysis, i.e. the sensation that your body is 'heavy' or made of lead.

This is how I feel when crashed. I am wondering about this being called a symptom of atypical depression. I don't trust doctors and their diagnoses - too many of us have been told we're depressed when doctors don't know what the heck is going on. You might have been depressed but I've never heard of it causing a physical feeling of leaden paralysis. Yes, they call it "atypical" which seems to mean they can make the diagnosis fit any sort of symptom. I may be too cynical here, but maybe not. In general, depressed people may not feel like exercising, but they are physically capable of doing it. Whereas people with ME/CFS would give anything to be able to exercise, but are physically incapable of doing so.

Because your new terrible exhaustion (for lack of a better word) followed a severe crash, I'm guessing it's related, though not necessarily - (how's that for equivocation? )

@lnester7 makes a good point about electrolyte imbalances. When my potassium is low, I have severe fatigue. Also when my phosphorous drops I develop severe fatigue as well. A simple thing which can help low potassium is drinking lots of low-sodium V8 which is high in potassium. And dairy products (among other things) are high in phosphorous.

And branched chain amino acids help me a lot with recovery from crashes.

Do you have a decent doctor to work with on things like electrolytes, etc.?

 

[outdamnspot]

This is how I feel when crashed. I am wondering about this being called a symptom of atypical depression. I don't trust doctors and their diagnoses - too many of us have been told we're depressed when doctors don't know what the heck is going on. You might have been depressed but I've never heard of it causing a physical feeling of leaden paralysis. Yes, they call it "atypical" which seems to mean they can make the diagnosis fit any sort of symptom. I may be too cynical here, but maybe not. In general, depressed people may not feel like exercising, but they are physically capable of doing it. Whereas people with ME/CFS would give anything to be able to exercise, but are physically incapable of doing so.

Because your new terrible exhaustion (for lack of a better word) followed a severe crash, I'm guessing it's related, though not necessarily - (how's that for equivocation? )

@lnester7 makes a good point about electrolyte imbalances. When my potassium is low, I have severe fatigue. Also when my phosphorous drops I develop severe fatigue as well. A simple thing which can help low potassium is drinking lots of low-sodium V8 which is high in potassium. And dairy products (among other things) are high in phosphorous.

And branched chain amino acids help me a lot with recovery from crashes.

Do you have a decent doctor to work with on things like electrolytes, etc.?

That's interesting. I do trust the atypical depression diagnosis, because my mental health issues predated the CFS (including severe OCD). However, leaden paralysis was the first major symptom I noticed when my depression began 10 years ago, and I'm wondering if that's also when my CFS began, since there were some other signs.

I do my best to keep up on electrolytes because I'm on a Keto diet -- so consume extra salt/potassium salt. My doctor is kind of useless sadly, and my blood tests from a week ago were fine I keep trying to fight the leaden feeling or figuring out what could be causing (making adjustments to diet etc.) because it makes me feel literally trapped in my body, but that isn't getting me anywhere

 

[Mary]

@outdamnspot - okay, atypical depression can be a real thing. However, that doesn't mean that your leaden fatigue is one of its symptoms. I don't think it is.

Years ago (before I developed full-blown ME/CFS with PEM), I had unusual fatigue, went to the doctor (when I still believed they were capable of helping me), and was given Prozac. No testing, just given Prozac. Well, I hated the way it made me feel and stopped it after 2 days. It didn't help my fatigue anyways - it just made me feel wired on top of tired. I later found a chiropractor who does muscle testing who found that my adrenals were wiped out. He gave me an adrenal glandular (Drenatrophin PMG) by Standard Process and within a few days my energy started to return. I had to take about 3 x the regular dose because I was so weak. He determined the dosage by muscle testing as well.

Doctors seem to know so little about what's going on with us and their default position is we must be depressed without doing any real investigation. Fatigue can be due to so many factors: adrenal problems, low potassium, low phosphorous, low B12, low folate, PEM, low thyroid, etc.

You might have adrenal issues, they can cause severe fatigue. Low phosphorous caused severe fatigue for me, as well as low potassium.

I've had to do a ton of experimenting on my own but also muscle testing done by a competent chiropractor has helped me so much. It's helped determine deficiencies and how much of what to take, it was a huge help with detoxing, I would be much worse off if I'd never come across it.

So I think there are probably things that can help you but it will take some investigation, as you know. I highly recommend muscle testing as part of that investigation because it's helped me so much. (don't worry - most people I suggest this to nod politely and quickly change the subject I don't expect anyone to do it just because I suggest it, though I wish they would at least give it a try)

 

[outdamnspot]

I don't want to sound dramatic, but if the fatigue persists, would it be a waste of time going to the ER? I guess my concern isn't that it's directly 'dangerous', but the severity is making me feel completely trapped in my body, which is becoming very distressing and provoking suicidal ideation. My guess is fatigue is just too non-specific a symptom for them to do anything about, though it has been accompanied by vomiting (blood a couple of times, though mostly bile).