Another Diagnose My Illness Thread - Severe Fatigue

PPAR alpha wrote:

Because multiple hormones are secreted by the pituitary, and the absence of a derangement in one of them doesn't rule out a pituitary adenoma.

That said, I'd have a very low suspicion for that in the first place (and even lower with a normal prolactin), but nonetheless your PCP's initial reasoning (if you're truly relaying his actual thought process) is slightly off.

Either way, good luck.

Just some more ideas wrote:

Hey, I'm not an expert by any means, but I had a similar experience. My freshman year of college I contracted mono 1st semester and tried to run through it. Bad idea, I started drinking coffee copiously, and beat myself even further into the ground, digging a pretty deep hole. This combined with rigorous academics, and some weekly alcohol overindulgence left me with a severe brand of CFS for almost 2 years. I consistently had a temperature in the low 97's (although this runs in my family). I never got that amount of blood work done, but my Iron was fine and my mononucleosis cleared up approximately 2-3 months after first symptoms. Should note: your times are faster than mine were, but I was mid 15's in the 5k, probably 1:55 800m (never got a chance to race it cause I got sick). At the time of my illness I had also strung together a solid 18 months of training for the first time in my life.

I took some time off after the mono and tried getting back into running but had no luck as every time I'd come back I was fighting some serious lethargy/malaise if not the first day back within a few. I have no way of knowing, but I generally assume that I had some form of adrenal fatigue.

What finally allowed me to come back was taking time off, (still went for long walks when I felt up to it), quitting alcohol and quitting coffee. Also I made a point of getting to bed early and eating no processed garbage food when possible. I'm sure most people will take issue with it, but I really think that quitting coffee was the number one most important aspect of my recovery. I should note that I've always been hypersensitive to caffeine and always disliked the effect prior to getting mono. There is something to be said about a sober night's sleep started before 10pm with a full belly of real food. Not trying to minimize your condition at all, I feel for you, I remember how much my CFS sucked. Stay optimistic! Oh and if you have low T... don't masturbate.

David Guzman wrote:

Hey man, I went through something similar. missed my senior year of xc and track due to chronic fatigue. No amount of time off was helping, always felt drained. Blood tests always came back negative. What finally got me back on track to being healthy was taking liquid vitamins and multivitamin pills along with a healthier diet. I wasn't eating enough/good enough foods before and lacked any sort of multi vitamin in my diet. I had to start back running very slowly (couldnt run 200m when I first started back up) but am now running XC for my local Jr. College and running better than I did in HS.

fisky wrote:

For what it's worth, here is what worked for me. I would go through periods of fatigue for no apparent reason. I'd be great for a while, then I wouldn't feel sick, but my running performance would drop way off. Sometimes, I couldn't even finish my interval workouts. This would last 2-3 weeks. I'd cut back running and then return to my training when I felt better. This cycle went on for 2-3 years. Finally, after a particularly bad episode, I saw a doc and was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus.

He said rest. Umm, okay, I'd been resting and that wasn't working which is why I made an appointment to see the doc!

I researched EBV and found some people have recurring bouts, just like me. Some people claimed success with Lauricidin, an extract of coconut oil, to boost the immune system specifically for EB virus. I thought, what the heck, and bought some. In a few days, I felt better. I haven't had any serious bouts of fatigue since then and it's been two years.

Anyway, Lauricidin is about $30 for a month's supply. Just google the word to find the website. It's worth a try. You should know if it's helping in a week or so. I took about a teaspoon twice a day at first. Now, I only take it 2-3 times a week.