Unexplained fatigue comes and goes

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I have been experiencing extreme fatigue for many years. Not CFS because I have no other symptoms---just fatigue that puts me on the couch and may last for a few hours or all day. No amount of sleep or rest makes a difference and when I rebound it's like it never happened. I can be laying on the couch and 30 min. later be working in the yard. Sometimes I'll go for days without a problem and when my husband died in 2004 I went for nearly two years with no fatigue. If it was depression that should have been one of my worst times. I have been taking Zoloft for years and have tried weaning myself off of it several times only to crash severely. I am a 78 yr old woman in very good health other than this. I have a large yard that I keep up by myself and when I'm feeling good there's not much that I can't do. But when this strikes I'm not capable of anything other than to lay around until it passes. It seems that I will regain energy in the late afternoon. Not always, but a lot of the time. I have blood work done yearly and there's nothing wrong there. I take a thyroid supplement and it's also checked on a regular basis. The fact that it comes and goes with no explanation makes it hard to plan anything. This has been going on for about 20 years and the thing that keeps me going is knowing I will eventually feel better.

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5 Replies

  • Posted

    Have you lost or put on weight ? 

    If you take thyroid supplement you may have underacting thyroid problem that maybe casuing the fatigue.

    • Posted

      I haven't lost of gained weight and I have my thyroid levels checked regularly. When this first started I had a really good doctor and we both thought it might be my thyroid but according to my bloodwork it wasn't. What is so strange is the way it comes and goes. When I'm doing well I have the energy of a much younger person (I'm 78) and when I'm down I'm not worth two cents. No other symptoms or pain which seems to go along with CFS so I'm pretty sure it's not that. Thanks for your response.

  • Posted

    It's not the same but when I started to feel that extreme tiredness I would have to lay down. I am not a mapper but I was so tired I couldn't keep y eyes open. I didn't know that in a routine blood test they do not test your B-12. When they checked it sure enough I was deficient . Started taking the under tongue B-12 along with K and D. That has made a world of difference for me. I hope this helps you. P

    • Posted

      Thanks Patricia. I'm due for some blood work very soon so I'll make sure they check my B12. I would think if that was a problem it would be ongoing and my fatigue is so unpredictable and I can be down one minute and then 30 min. later be back to normal. This has been going on for years and at one time it was much worse than what it is now. I would have times when it was all I could do to speak I was so exhausted. I'm not a depressed person but the Zoloft seems to help in some way and my doctor said as long as I didn't have any ill effects from it to continue taking it. I've tried to get off of it several times just to see if in fact it was helping and would crash really bad and have to get back on it. I'm glad you found a solution to your problem as it's hard to find a doctor that will listen and try to help.

    • Posted

      That's a shame you have this considering you obviously took good care of yourself. It took me going to Mayo Clinic to get that figured out. I don't think doctors really care that much about people anymore. If they instantly don't figure out the problem they either let you go home in that condition without resolve or send you to another doctor. Drugs are their answer as well. Have a good day

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