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Treatment for depression in chronic fatigue syndrome

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antand23
antand23

I was diagnosed with CFS three years ago. Depressed since December 2015. Tried Citalopram (20mg)....terrible side-effects and had to stop. Have now been prescribed Prozac (20mg), but very reluctant to take it. CFS is fatiguing enough without the depression on top so desperate to do what I can to feel less anxious/down. Any advice?

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • jackie00198
    jackie00198 antand23

    Posted

    People with ME/CFS tend to be very sensitive to antidepressants. I, too, tried several, and couldn't tolerate side-effects. Prozac actually threw me into an extremely anxious state. It was terrible. So I decided to try a non-medication-based technique: meditation. I took a free, 6-week course offered online. It is totally secular, sponsored by the University of Massachusettes Medical School. If you Google "Palouse Mindfulness," you'll find the course. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who's a well-renowned expert, put together the course. It helped me enormously with both anxiety and depression.  
  • joanne71205
    joanne71205 antand23

    Posted

    I was diagnosed with PVF in May last year, along with severe anxiety and depression, still awaiting full CFS diagnosis. Anyway, I too was prescribed Citalopram and the first time I tried it the side effects were horrific, violently sick, much worse anxiety, dizziness.... the list went on and on, so I stopped taking it. I carried on for another couple of months with no medication and got worse and worse. GP offered me Prozac but for some reason I decided to to give the Citalopram another go. I started on 2.5mg (1/4 of a tablet) then increased by 2.5mg about every 5 days to a week. The side effects were still there each time I increased but not nearly as bad as before. Once I got to a full dose and had been on it a few weeks the difference was like black and white. 11 months later and I am off the meds completely, I still have to pace myself and experience lots of CFS symptoms but provided I listen to my body I can achieve a lot. Am I the person I was before this happened, no! However, I have a decent quality of life but live within my limits which have, and fingers crossed will continue to, increase. Don't give up on the Citalopram, start very low dose and increase very very slowly. Good luck x
  • wknight
    wknight antand23

    Posted

    you need to try it as its important to lift your mood. You won't know if its going to be a problem until you give it a try and it might be fine. 
  • amanda34743
    amanda34743 antand23

    Posted

    Hi I've had M.E for 5 years now, with symptoms which got increasingly worse, which led to really bad depression! After all this time with terrible feelings off low worth I came off my duloxetine, in fact I stopped everything as I was suffering so much and thought , why am I taking all these meds they don't work!!! 2 months ago I went down the holistic route, I found out I was yeast, wheat, rye, gluten, barley intolerant!!! Since I have cut out my diet I feel so much better, unfortunately the pain in my bones n joints not gone but a mega long list of symptoms have!! My opinion! Go natural, find out natural remedies and go with it! Our doctors are killing us with pharmaceutical drugs.... Try CBT, meditation, changing your diet if it's full off processed crap, 2 months and I am a different person mentally xxx
    • antand23
      antand23 amanda34743

      Posted

      Thanks..very interesting. How/where did you get the tests done for these intolerances? (BTW, I decided against the Prozac as the Citalopram experience was so awful and I feel my mood is lifting, albeit quite slowly). Am now giving homeopathy a go...it is cheap relative to other therapies so not much to lose (if it has no impact). But changing my diet is one thing I haven't yet tried.
    • jeanp
      jeanp antand23

      Posted

      There;s fair bit about diet on the web about paleolithic diet, which might be a bit drastic. It did help me, I was on it for a few months. My GP referred me to a 6 week mindfulness course, and this also helped a lot - maybe you could find a local group? or ask your doctor if he/she could refer you to a mindfulness teacher? I found being in a group a lot better than trying to figure things out for myself using the internet, and the group helped support each other.
    • jackie00198
      jackie00198 jeanp

      Posted

      I took a free, secular 6-week mindfulness meditation course online. Google "Palouse mindfulness."
  • pixie22
    pixie22 antand23

    Posted

    You could try the prozac. I've been on venlafaxine and mirtazapine for several years, and they have been very good at treating the depression, without making the ME symptoms any worse.
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