phentramine

the only thing that keeps me from total exhaustion is a small dose of phentramine. on it I am able to walk 2 miles a day, off it I am disabled and sleep 15-20 hours a day and get out of breath just from walking to the mailbox....Does anyone else with fibro have a similar story? Any input would be greatly appreciated. My Dr does not seem to believe me... :(

No the doc doesn't believe that off the phentramine I am too tired to do anything...He told me to drink a lot of coffee if I was tired... I can't convince him that at this point I am disabled with fatique.

There is also Adderall and Ritalin. Both which have stimulating properties. I take Adderall. It helps. And even if it isn't a cure, it sure makes life better and easier. I slept for close to two years when I first got fibromyalgia. I took Provigil, vyvanse and concerta. The Adderall helped the most.

I hope that the doctor will help you. These types of medications often get abused and maybe that is why. I hope you have a good day Blissy10.

Hugs, Karen...

That's the problem Sherrine...On phentramine I lost 60 lbs and walked up to 8 miles a day...He took me off it and without the phentermine I was so exhausted I couldn't even make it to the mailbox and went back to sleeping 15-20 hours a day, plus gained between 40 and 50 lbs in 5 months. I am on a 3 months course of it because my weight ballooned so high again. I bite off a 5th of a 37.5 pill of phentermine each day. This is about half of the lowest dose they prescribe. On that tiny amount, I am feeling stronger and able to walk 2 miles. There has to be some clue to what is wrong with me that such a small dose of Phentermine has such a life changing affect on me, and I know it is only masking the symptoms of whatever this illness is, and that is not good at all.

I am a worker. When I have the energy I work very hard on my weight, controlling my diabetes etc. The problem is not that I want to be on speed. I don't. The problem is that I seem to need some sort of stimulant, no matter how small the dose, to not be practically bed ridden. Even the nurse thought it might be a good idea for me to apply for disability at this point in my life. I said "No. I want an answer as to why my adrenals are so shot that I can't walk the dogs unless I take even a tiny amount of phentermine. I want to know what is causing this fatigue so I can get off the speed and still have a life." I don't want to be on phentermine. But at this point it's the only thing that works, and that terrifies me. There has to be a clue there somewhere. The GP's nurse did see the malar rash on my face and she agreed that this is probably more than only fibro, that there seems to be something else going along with the fibro. They are just very frustrated that my lupus panels all come back normal. But I think they finally believe me that whatever this is, something is really, really wrong. Now my diabetes is acting up. I had to see the nurse today because I drank juice and my blood sugar shot up to 522. At that time I asked her about vitamin B shots, because I have heard that they work. I agree with you...I absolutely need to exercise, and I am more than willing to walk, and am actively looking for a way to do it that does not involve drugs, believe me. But at this point, phentermine is all that is working for me. I am 54 years old and diabetic. Speed is the last thing I need to be taking, I know that.

Hi. Sorry to take so long. My biceps are screaming. Now screaming even more because of the prime day sale on amazon. And the sales each day leading up to Prime Day. Way too much muscle control needed.

And I am exhausted.

It seems that your med comes down to helping with 3 neurotransmitters. Norepinephrine probably helps you the most, but as I read it, dopamine also helps. Serotonin is in 3rd place.

I often need to make a correction. I said: a reuptake inhibitor prevents metabolization of a neurotransmitter. That was worded differently in that same study, and that means I was not correct.
"Uptake inhibitors block the releasing effect of substrates by preventing the entry of transporter substrates into the nerve terminal (Hurd and Ungerstedt, 1989a).". My wording was easier to understand, but unfortunately wrong. So I don't know precisely what they do, except whatever it is, it helps with having neurotransmitters between nerve terminals.

Thanks for the sympathy. sometimes its a little relief to say outloud (type outloud): dang this hurts!

There are fibro neurotransmitter studies. And I believe there is a study saying that the meds that are reuptake inhibitors for both serotonin and NE are better than a med that is a reuptake inhibitor for only one of those.

it does not help with diagnosis tho, because you could have both.

Post Edited (Rockon) : 7/15/2016 3:48:52 AM (GMT-6)

SNRI serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.

I take this for depression. It does give you a bit of energy. It does this for me anyway.

I hope you feel better soon...

Rockon, I just wanted to let you know that I saw my GP today...He is very confident that I have fibro caused by depression and doubled my depression medicine and diabetes meds as my blood sugar has been so high... He says I'm not testing for sjorgrens or lupus, so I don't need to worry about either of them, which was a great relief to me. He agreed with your theory that the phentermine was enhancing all three aspects of my symptoms, like you said, but was dubious about the activation of Mast T cell activity in fibro. He said "Weeelll...That may be stretching it a little bit" and that was the end of the conversation...So I'm not sure where to go from here. At least you gave me an answer as to why the phentermine works in me, which was really the info I was seeking in my question on this particular post. But my Dr says that knowing it works really doesn't tell him anything specific about the nature of my illness, which I was hoping it would, and of course he agrees with me that I can't stay on phentermine for any significant length of time.

I hope you are feeling better today. It is so hard to work when in constant pain. Please get some rest and thank you for all your help!!

Thanks Karen!...Yes I am walking 2 miles 4-5 days a week on the phen, but I am dubious that it will continue when I go off it in 3 months, I am just soooo tired...My blood sugar is between 245 and 522 so, yes...I think I mat have hit on the cause of this exhaustion...(PS Never buy a 9.00 dollar blood tester...I have no idea how long my test numbers were off, but it must have been a while!)

Blissy, I was just reading your post. I don't hang out here a lot, just when I have fibro flares. I used to be on the colitis forum years ago but had surgery and am in remission.

Have they tested you for hypothyroid? Just a thought. I imagine they have with so much fatigue.

I was just going to write to tell you that high blood sugars can certainly contribute to fatigue in a big way. Keeping your numbers between 100-180 will help you feel much better.

I get you wanting the phenteramine though, sometimes we feel so bad, we will do anything to feel normal or better. But it is better to fix the root of the problem. Sometimes we just want to feel better now!

I hope the new dosages work for you.

Good luck!