5 replies to this topic

[MTB John]

Just been in for reassessment one year port injury.
Other then chronic fatigue and some major spasm issues I am doing pretty well.

I've been experimenting with a few different spasm meds and getting some good results. That just leaves fatigue. The Dr thought that Ritalin may be worth a try but wants to consult some other specialists before making a final decision.

If you have tried this please let me know what results you had.

Thanks,
J

[ulsterkeith]

let me know how it goes,i'm tired of being tired between work physio and working out from home,and then not being able to sleep through the night is drivin me nuts.

[Simba]

Is the chronic fatigue due to disability or could it possibily have another cause (i.e. medical condition?

Isn't ritalin now banned as a medication in some countries due to side effects?

If you are having trouble sleeping at night a neurologist can prescribe zopiclone for you...it's a prescription drug tho and can't initally started through a GP. My husband uses it sometimes and it doesn't have any side effects if the usage is kept stricly to every other night (can't be taken every night).

Hope they are going to do a thourough investigation into this issue for, being in NZ myself I can say our medical system is not very good so I would advice looking at all avenues and asking lot's of questions.

A diet high in complex carbohydrates (pasta is really good), fruit & vegetables will also help fight fatigue naturally and provide you with the right intake of energy for wheelchair lifestyle. As well as this eating complex carbohydrates at night time (dinner) will boost your biochemical levels and make you feel sleepy. I know in NZ they recoomend to lower carbohydrate intake (be careful who you listen to on this one and look at their actual qualifications & experience in terms of disability as beliefs vary considerable in NZ and people who are actually properly knowledgable about diability are far and few between) because of the concern of wheight increase, but this is the best source of energy you can get. Could be an idea to try out, unless you already have done this...then i guess meds are the next port of call.

[Tetracyclone]

That's funny. Pasta and bread, all processed wheat products make me sleepy. I do great with brown rice.

Meds deem to make a lot off us sleepy, though i am one of the lucky ones- if there was sleepiness at the beginning i got over it. I suffered malnutrition for the first 8 months post injury from loosing a lot of weight. It took me a long time, some luck, and careful attention to diet to get my energy back.

Good luck.

[MTB John]

It's not lack of sleep. Most night's I sleep right through. I'm on Baclofen and Clonazepam for what my Doctor describes as sever spasm. I have never felt like the Baclofen helps much. When ever I have increased the dose the spasm improves for a few days and then is back to normal. Likewise when I have had Botox I have not felt much improvement I'm trying to get off the Baclofen and what to try Dentrolene but I'm still convincing my Doctor.

I eat well high carb and plenty of veg but I also work hard, weights and physio.

I'm a high functioning Tetra but my physio once explained that my walking exerts as much strain on my body as an AB doing an Iron man. Some of the spasm helps my walking but mostly I'm fighting against it. Hence the fatigue.

At any rate since the earthquake everything seems to have been but on hold so nothing has changed, expect the weather which of course is making the spasm worse.

Thanks for your advise though..

[Simba]

No problem. Sounds like your fatigue is mainly due to your injuries, then I guess discussing medications would be the most sensible option for you right now. You're a walking quad? Husband was too until 2000 when last nerves gave way and resulting in full-time wheelchair dependance. Fatigue is also a normal aspect with disbility particulalry when you are working & exercising on top of that, disabled people use about 7-8 times the amount of energy to do the same thing as AB's. Good to hear you are eating the right things in terms of replacing some of that extra loss of energy. The weather is knocking the crap out of anyone with health problems in this country at the moment, we are also having lots of problems re-adjusting so you are not alone there, this weather change is a difficult time.

Wish you well finding a solution...don't really knwo anyone on ritalin for spasms/disability so can't really comment on how that will work out for you.

Hope things will impprove for you.