Not sure, depression or fatigue...

Hey D,
Welcome to the CFS forum!
I hear your frustration , really I do! Whether you have CFS or Depression, I couldn't say. It is a fact that people who have CFS are more likely to have an autoimmune disease (such as Crohn's), or to develop one at some point in their life. So it is possible. But depression sure would seem to be likely, as well, based on your message. I would tend to think that fatigue which can be controlled with ephedra, would more likely be a product of depression. Fatigue from CFS wouldn't be touched, or might even actually be made worse by ephedra. But this really is no way to try to figure it out. You really need to ask a Dr who is knowledgable about CFS. Unfortunately, that is hard to find. Below is a list of links to a few websites and webpages which will be helpful in educating yourself about it. Then maybe you can form some kind of theory of your own. Plus, you'll have info you can take your Dr, if you want to try to be "officially" diagnosed.
Chronic Fatigue Resource Center
Diagnostic Criteria from Centers for Disease Control
CFS Homepage
The CFIDS/ME Info Page
Action for ME
Also, you might want to consult some sort of psych professional, to find out if you fit the diagnostic criteria for depression.
No, I don't think Dr can prescribe ephedra. They can prescribe a regular diet medication, but they're not likely to do that. They would more likely prescribe an antidepressant, which is why I suggest a consultation with a psych professional.
But I think your first place to start, might be to investigate why you're not sleeping. If you're not sleeping, or not sleeping well, overnight, then of course you're going to be tired or fatigued the next day. You might want to talk to your Dr about a sleep aid. Or you might even want to have a sleep study done. A sleep study is basically when you go into a sleep lab overnight, or maybe for several nights in a row. They hook you up to all kinds of monitors to detect your vitals and brain waves, and then at the end of your study, the crunch all the numbers and come up with a diagnosis. There are several different kinds of sleep disorders. And once they've identified it, they can recommend a treatment. A sleep aid from your Dr might be the simplest first try. But I'll leave that decision up to you.
Well, I've given you all the info I can think of that might be helpful, based on your message. Please feel free to ask questions, if you have any, and I'll be glad to try to answer.
Take good care

i'm glad for you d-rule. i hope you keep feeling better:)

Hi D-Rule and preskat
D-Rule, glad to see you are working so hard to figure this out. Actually that is one sign that it might be more fatigue than depression. People with overwhelming depression lose their motivation, and would rather just sit around and cogitate! Well, that isn't entirely fair. It's not that they would rather sit around, it's just that they can't fight their lack of motivation. In CFS, patients are still plenty motivated, and often overcommit themselves, trying to get things done in between bouts of fatigue.

I don't know that much about Crohn's, but the malnutrition seems like a very reasonable idea, as does B12. I hope you're still having positive results.

Preskat, I don't know that much about the steroids. I don't think one can build a tolerance, like with narcotics, but I'm not positive. There may be another mechanism with steroids, which has the similar result. I can only suggest asking your Dr about it.

Thanks for adding your experiences to this forum, guys! I know fatigue affects so many illnesses, and I'm sure this will be helpful to others with CD. All best.