Fatigue

My general PD symptoms are not too bad (I do not shake yet).
Apparently I have level 2 of 5.
But the fatigue I am suffering is horrific.
I am only 53 years old and have been diagnosed 2 years.
Any feed back would be appreciated.
 
Chris2222
Suffolk, England
Chris

Welcome to healing well.Hopefully you will never get tremors .not everyone with PD does.You did not mention the meds you are on,which may be a cause of fatigue.Another possibility is depression which you need to alert the neurologist about.It may also be one of the numerous symptoms of PD,which might be corrected with a med tuneup,and finally do you get enough sleep at nite?I would definitely consult the Doc.on this.Stay well,and stay in touch.Wish you the best.Ed


Ed-Diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1998.As long as I can fish life is good.Keep a great attitude.It benefits all.
 
support Healing Well thru the sponsors and with donations.The light is always on stay well,and listen to your neurologist.

I take 100mg of Amantadine twice a day and Madopar125 4 times a day.

Sleep ok and not depressed.

 

Hi Chris
 
I too suffer with fatigue and of all the symptoms I get count that as one of the most debilitating. I belong to a support group for PD sufferers and from what I see and hear ALL of the members suffer from tiredness to some degree and some to the extent that they doze off during the meetings.
 
However as Ed suggested its best to get it checked out...its good advice. For example I was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure 6 months ago and as a consequence have found out that I am anaemic which in itself brings on fatigue.
 
Also, do you feel better when the weather is warm and sunny: I know that I do.
 
all the best BILLY
I was diagnosed with PD 4 weeks ago. I am 58 years old, and I do have tremors on my whole right side. The fatigue I experience is horrible, and I'm not sure if it from the tremors wearing me out, my depression, or the sleep disorder that I have. I take Carbidopa/Levidopa for both the PD and the sleep disorder. I just recently found this site and I'm glad to be able to chat with others who have the same illness.

Den
Cincinnati, OH
Den,

Welcome to healing well.Glad you found us.Tremors will tire you out,and so will PD in general.If you have only been on meds for a short period of time it may take your body some time to adjust.This could also be causing extreme fatigue.If you haven't already done so, let your neuro know what is going on.Stay in touch,and let us know how you do .Best to you.Ed


Ed-Diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1998.As long as I can fish life is good.Keep a great attitude.It benefits all.
 
support Healing Well thru the sponsors and with donations.The light is always on stay well,and listen to your neurologist.

Den/Billy/Ed

Thank you all for your comments.

I have researched PD extensively since I was diagnosed 2 years ago both via the Internet and through buying and reading every book I can find. Yet I have found very little about the fatigue aspects of PD except the speculation that the disease may target the energy producing cells in the brain.

Like you Billy I find the fatigue symptom the worst to handle and was beginning to wonder if it was something other than my PD causing it. However, extensive heart and blood tests have come up with nothing else.

It's like a switch is turned off in my brain and I am suddenly totally wiped out. Which can be a real problem if you are away from home, so consequently I travel away less! Sometimes a couple of hours rest and I am ok again, sometimes not.

In my case I do not think it is sleep or depression related as while I do sometimes feel sorry for myself I am not depressed. Also my fatigue started well before I was diagnosed so I cannot blaim the medication. I do wonder if PD sufferers may be more prone to CFS/ME particularly as one of the speculated causes of this syndrome is "an abnormal response from the central nervous system".

Anyway when I found this Web Site I was interested to see what feed back I might get as I have not previously been in contact with anyone else with PD.

Regards

Chris (Suffolk, England)

 

 

 

 

Hi All
 
Interesting so see that Chris gets no tremors with his PD which means tremors cannot be blamed for his fatigue.  Thats not to say that tremors do not cause fatigue in others but the more you see, hear and read of this disease the more you have to accept that everyone is different, some of us get this some of us get that but, in nearly everyone, fatigue is present.
 
Like you Chris I get a sudden loss of energy which in turn causes anxiety (because its another reminder that I've got PD) and I just have to give in to it. I go and have a doze in the armchair.  I get periods like this and, for a week or two, am just useless, not all the time but enough to make me reluctant to plan things. Then, for no reason I feel relatively well (note the relatively) and I wonder why I'm popping so many pills. This feeling well period can last a week or maybe only 1 day and then I'm back to the tiredness.
 
So Den, don't dispair because hopefully, overtime, you may be able to get a pattern that makes your symptoms more manageable.  I have had tremors since the beginning, thats 6 years, and am able, at times, to controll the tremors through force of will (and of course the good old levadopa)
 
The illness wont get better but your perspective of it can do and I find it helps reading through the board and realising you are not on your own.
All the best BILLY

Chris2222 -- I see you are in England.  Do you have any info on the PD Patch.  Have you tried to get it.  I hear it is available there.

 

 

I believe Rotigotine was licensed for use as a transdermal patch in the UK earlier this year but I have not tried it as I cannot tolerate dopamine agonists.

I do not know if Levodopa is available in patch form yet but I did read recently that The Michael J Fox Institute gave $490 000 to a drugs company to assist in the development of such a patch.

Regards

Chris

Hi Chris , nice to hear from someone else in England.I live east sussex and feel bit isolated at times.I understand about devastating fatigue its horrible specialy when you can't do a thing about it.I have had mirapex added to my meds and it has dramaticaly stopped the tremors which is great but the dreadful tirednes is still there.also my eyes seem to be failing me.I have a pdns who visits me regularly think i'll tell her about that when she comes she is like a guardian angel to me.do you have one visit you?wish you all the best..Grace L

Hello Grace

 

No I do not have any home visits from anyone and thankfully so far no tremors but as you say the fatigue is just awful. I take Amantadine which helps with the fatigue but unfortunately it lowers my blood pressure and if I take more than 2x100mg a day my blood pressure drops below acceptable limits and then I feel really light headed which is as bad as tha fatigue.

Chris

Hi, I've been dx for 3 years and take requip 3mg 3x a day, selegiline 5 mg 3 x a day, and carrbidopa/levodop 25mg/100mg - 1 1/2 tablet 3x a day.I also take coQ10 400 mg 3 x a day. The CO Q 10 is very helpful to me with fatigue. This can be pricey but well worth it.


You are not fully dressed until you put your smile on.

Yankeemom,

Welcome to Healing well.Glad you found us.As you know I'm a redsocks dad.Stay well.Talk soon.Ed


Ed-Diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1998.As long as I can fish life is good.Keep a great attitude.It benefits all.
 
support Healing Well thru the sponsors and with donations.The light is always on stay well,and listen to your neurologist.

Grace

 

Where do you get your coQ10 From? How much do you pay. At the dosage level of 1200mg a day that you take my initial research is indicating a cost of £120 a month. I assume our GP's cannot prescribe it.

 

Chris

Hi Chris, I purchase my coenzyme q10 at a dixount warehouse in the U.S. Sam's Club or Walmart. I buy the 200 mg softgel pills and there are 50 in each jar.I pay betweeen $27.00 -$30.00/jar. You are correct because it is an over the counter supplement, a physicians script can not be written.
1 Jar lasts 1 week and 1 dose. At $30.00/jar I do pay almost $120.00/month
YankeeeMom


You are not fully dressed until you put your smile on.

Yankeeemom,

Thanks for the q10 info. I guess at $120 a month it must make a big difference to you to take them?

Did you start on 1200mg a day or build the dose up slowly like other PD drugs?

Chris

Does anyone notice the heat or weather makes your fatigue worse?  I am a newly dx'ed MSA'er and also have Multiple Sclerosis and have heat intolerance anyway.  But I have noticed that this summer so far, I live in the Midwest with high humidity, has been much worse for me physically then prior summers.  Thanks


 

Yes I agree I used to love hot weather but not anymore.
I live in the uk and its 25C and very humid here today and I feel awful.
Have also felt fatigued all day.
Hello Chris , yes this fatigue is a beast and one it seems you can't beat, i usualy sit in the armchair and wait for it go ,but yesterday was a really bad day it lasted the whole day,felt quite fed up. Today has been great, you can never tell when the switch off is going to happen and I really hate not being able to plan ahead.But I really love it when I can smile and laugh and boy can I talk which I think is due to the mirapex. friends and family think it quite funny . If thats all I get from the mirapex I won't mind .Talking I mean , other people seem to have horrible side affects , so if my side affects cause a laugh thats great . The party never gets dull while i'm around , they even stand behind me and wind me up ( the mind boggles ) I hope you are smiling...cheerio for now...Grace.