Posted by honey on June 8, 2005, at 18:30:10
Hi,
I just joined the board yesterday - looks like just the place I've been looking for for ages for informed advice! Nice to be here.
Brief intro: I've been diagnosed with ME/CFS for 12 years, and my health has dipped very badly in the last 9 months - virtually house/bed-bound suddenly. I also have a bad anxiety, and depression, if I can separate the two which I think I can - very different sensations at different times. I developed these about 5 or more years into my illness.
I've tried about 8 classic anti-depressants over the years, including lots of SSRIs, and some of the related things like Effexor, and a tricyclic (amitryptiline). They did nothing for my mood whatsoever, and a few of them had dramatically awful side-effects. I stuck with all but the Effexor for the full 8 weeks as commanded by doctors at the time.
Having given up/been exhausted by the process, I've been using benzos for anxiety: valium seems to help for me a bit, but I'm concerned about dependence. I take 10-20mg/day right now. I tried clonazepam (generic Klonopin, unfortunately), but it didn't seem to work as well, and with hindsight may have enhanced the depression. Hard to tell as my body is going through a myriad of infections just now too.
My main problems specific to this board then are: anxiety, depression and extremely poor quality sleep. I don't have trouble getting to sleep, but I seem to be close to consciousness all night, have vivid often unpleasant dreams, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting little or no delta/stage 4 sleep. My ME/CFS specialist tells me this is vital to address my illness. I should also add that I'm currently on 2000 microgrammes B12 shots per week to address the ME/CFS, and may increase these soon - not effective so far.
I'm on a ton of minerals and vitamins, and cycling slowly through benzos, and minerals like magnesium which I'm told may promote restful sleep. Also ambien/zolpidem for a bit. Nothing's helping one bit. Also tried the classic herby things like passionflower etc. I have nitrazepam to try, when my tailing off from clonazepam is complete (moving slowly), but I'm scared of its knock-out effects in the morning. I'm exhausted from the CFS/ME anyway!
Recently I also tried 5HTP - 100mg for a few nights and 200mg or a few - it seemed to leave me completely exhausted the next day which didn't seem to be the case for others. I may try again, but it didn't improve the quality of my sleep over a short period anyway, or mood. Tried St John's Wort a long time ago - again no help.
I'm really sorry for the long, long post. I'm just looking for any advice on what might be good to try next for the nasty combination of awful quality sleep/depression/anxiety. I'm particularly interested in SAM-e, but confused by the different claims of effectiveness of different brands. Can anyone recommend one, possibly with a UK supplier?
Also I read conflicting reports that TMG may work as well as SAM-e at a cheaper price because it's a precursor, and others that claim that this is unproven, and is only useful to take *with* SAM-e to reduce homocysteine (along with B12, B6 and folic acid - any idea on amounts?). Or can I rely on some of the advertised SAM-e "complexes" which contain these in the same pills to keep the homocysteine down? And is SAM-e likely to energise me too much in the day and make my sleep worse?
I've read lots of really useful articles by people like Larry and I'm trying to guess at other things to try. Tryptophan? Taurine? Niacinamide? And what kind of doses of magnesium should I be aiming at, and does it need other minerals to help it along? Such a lot of options, and I'm very sensitive so need to proceed slowly, so I need good guesses on what to start with, as trying may take so long. Is magnesium citrate a reasonably well absorbed form (I used to use oxide, but heard it wasn't)? I had a red-cell magnesium test and *wasn't* deficient, but I hear these may not be reliable.
I should also add I'm on a very restrictive diet just now: no refined sugar, not wheat or cereal or additives and no dairy, so have to be careful about tablet contents.
I'm on a lot of other supplements: Vit C 1000mg/day, D (2000 IU/day), Gingko Bilbao (for hearing loss/tinnitus). I hear it's likely that my sleep problems may be due to disturbance in the HPA access, but I'm desperate to find something to promote deeper sleep. And something to relieve the anxiety/depression, at least a bit.
Sorry this is so long with so many questions. If anyone can answer even a few, I'd be really grateful...
Honey
poster:honey
thread:509747
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050510/msgs/509747.html