Posted by bleauberry on July 7, 2010, at 17:23:06
In reply to Mood shifts. Ritalin IR vs SR??, posted by delna on July 7, 2010, at 10:40:05
I don't have any advice on the ritalin except maybe that if fatigue is the problem, stimulants could worsen the problem in the longterm, despite short term help.
Fatigue. We're talking a vitamin thing, an unsuspected chronic infection, an immune system in disarray, adrenal gland weakness. All kinds of things are being discovered by accident that play into chronic fatigue, and the neurotransmitters we manipulate with psych drugs aren't among them. By manipulating them we can indeed improve the symptoms but do nothing to address the real problem which continues to progress over months and years.
Now, fatigue is listed as a symptom of depression. So the two are often lumped together as one stand alone thing. Which can be misleading.
I think you have to play with the ritalin and see what you can do. But more importantly you should embark on a dedicated research project on anything and everything you can find on google relating to chronic fatigue syndrome. The thing you are dealing with is much bigger than a stimulant is going to handle.
I would suggest three other things besides ritalin.
Low dose naltrexone. Study up on LDN.
Vitamin B12 patches, available on the net OTC.
Cordyceps herb.Those three things will cover a lot of ground in balancing whatever the real underlying problem is. And all have significantly increased energy as the primary benefit with most people, with improved mood as a secondary benefit though more modest or spotty.
The tiredness in the morning and irritability in the evening is probably partially due to ritalin wearing off, but I would suspect since it is so predictable it is more related to the adrenal glands and would still be happening on a more subtle level without the ritalin. Cordyceps is the one that can help there. Other popular ones are Siberian Ginseng (called Eleuthero, not a true ginseng, and Rhodiola Rosea.
At the very least, spend a few hours reading up on the substances mentioned here.
And of course keep it in perspective...just one person's input.
poster:bleauberry
thread:953603
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100628/msgs/953640.html