I remember the exact moment my body ran out of thyroid hormone after my thyroidectomy. Was having no problems at all until 2 weeks post-op. I was walking from the kitchen to the living room and all of a sudden, boom! I almost collapsed from no muscle strength at all. I made it to the couch and there I stayed. Even laying down was exhausting. I was put on 150 mcg of T4, dose increased to 175 mcg after 3 months, after another 3 months they added 5 mcg of T3 twice a day. Eight months after surgery I finally began to feel alive again.

I haven't discussed it with a doctor recently but about 15 yrs ago it was 'suggested' that I have FMS or CFS; the internist was't quite sure which. I have gone with FMS after my own investigations but deal with alot of fatigue anyway. I can sleep until 10:30 in the morning and be ready for a nap by 3 pm... I'm always tired but my sleep at night is always disrupted. I rarely sleep more than 2 hrs at a stretch and often lay awake for long periods of time in the middle of the night.

I hate it!

I take b12 and vitamin D at double the recommended dose every day but I'm still tired. I don't eat carbs so can't blame it on that or sugar and I've had my thyroid tested numerous times. I just feel wore out all the time for no good reason except maybe the pain meds I'm on. I try to combat it with coffee but it doesn't really do anything for me; maybe that's what keeps me up at night.

Yes, I have CFS and pretty bad Deg. Disc Disease. I tried Adderal and it caused insomnia. Provigil works almost as good but costs booku $$$. I will probably not be able to afford it in 2012.

Dixie,
How long have you had CFS?
What does the doctor do to treat it now? I have heard adderal will give you energy but if you take it and dont need it, it can have some bad side effects in the long run. I have heard of college students taking it to cram for test and mid terms and since they dont need it that they are now suffering from long term problems from taking it because their system was functioning fine and they messed up the make up of it or something like that.

But if it is Chronic I dont think coffee or any sort of energy pills will work but if they can figure out if something in your body is not working right like the thyroid and fix that it may take care of the problem.

How many hours a day do you think you sleep?
I sleep all messed up hours in the day a few at night and then I lay down for a nap and then cant sleep at night, so i am sort of opposite and I dont think I get the right kind of sleep and that messes me up as I feel tired all the time.

I know how sleep can have such a effect on our pain also it can make it worse or better depending how we sleep and for how long.

Thanks for this topic dixie....I am currently awaiting results to see if I may have CFS/ME so this has answered a lot of questions I have. Having chronic fatigue is pants...what I find is if I 'keep going' Im just about okish...but if I stop for a sit down or anything, I cant get up again. Determination once again although this is harder and harder to keep up.
Hope you get sorted Dixie...when I go for my consultation with the CFS clinic soon, if I get any good advice etc Ill let you know xx

Vitamin B12 and D3 only do so much. ( I am taking them because almost all Lyme patients are found to be super deficient in these two because the bacteria uses them to reproduce, so if I take it while I am not on abx I am feeding them but if I am taking abx I am getting them to have new babies that I can murder...muwhahahahhaha sorry I just hate these little buggers inside me). I am still really tired all the time but maybe that is in part the abx's fault....hmmmm who knows my poor decrepit body just can't take these stresses anymore (it creaks and groans and basically sounds like and I move like a 70 or 80 year old).

I do not know if I have CFS or not but I do know that I am tired all the time even after sleeping for 8 hours The littlest thing wears me out.. so I totally understand where you are coming from.