Posted 2/8/2021 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
Hello, I am a clinical psychologist who developed severe fatigue 7 months ago. This followed a mysterious 27-year illness with chronic rhinitis and (much less severe) episodes of fatigue. I am still very fatigued now if I do not take medication. I had a very good response to stimulant medication (e.g. adderall) and more recently to the drug wellbutrin, but the problem is that these medications have all abruptly stopped working after days or even a few months of them working.
I am very frightened that no medication will work for the long term. This summer I spent 10 weeks on the sofa, too tired to do much more than watch TV. I became very depressed as the weeks went by. The psychiatrist I was seeing treated it like major depressive disorder and prescribed increasing levels of antidepressants. For me, the distinguishing factor was the onset. Nothing of emotional significance occurred before I abruptly crashed on the sofa. Yes, the symptoms of chronic fatigue do look like depression, but as a psychologist I would look like some event, change in life circumstances, etc. that would explain depressive symptoms. Over times, people with chronic illnesses often (or always?) do become depressed, but that is secondary to the illness.