2 replies to this topic

[Aesc]

Basic profile: 29yo male, no previous history of serious illness (thalassamia beta blood trait), previous smoker/drinker/drug user but not since incident:

 

About 18 months ago I had an overdose on various prescription pain medication and sedatives I was prescribed after an automobile accident: tramadol, codeine, some unidentified benzo-like thing (I was in Asia at the time of the accident and not totally sure what the drugs were). I barely survived the overdose but afterwards was overcome by an incredible weakness and lightheaded feeling which has not passed for..18 months now. My symptoms are:

 

- Fatigue, constant but worst in the morning and gets a bit better in evening.

- Lightheaded feeling, constantly, like I'm on the verge of fainting.

- Colourful TV "static" everywhere. (I had this a bit before, possibly an aftereffect from drug use. But now it's constant and intense and hard to see past it to reality).

- Brain fog and inability to concentrate.

- Difficulty sleeping well at night, waking every few hours.

- Occasional heart arrhythmia (racing or too slow, missing beats).

 

I have had a lot of tests done with doctors; I'm not exactly sure what they all were right now, but they included heart ultrasounds, 24h heart holter, and standard blood tests like biochemistry, blood count, liver/kidney/thyroid/parathyroid/diabetes, MRI of brain, and everything is normal. I've seen more than half a dozen doctors and none have a clue what's wrong with me. My main doctor thinks it may be a Chronic Fatigue type thing related to a past glandular fever infection, but I find this really implausible since I was feeling totally fine up until my OD. By this stage I feel the doctors don't take me seriously since all these tests in 18 months have turned up nothing. Yet the symptoms are totally debilitating for me.

 

For the last 6 months I've taken combinations of the following supplements without any noticiable effect:

 

-Methylfolate

-Magnesium (Malate)

-Alpha Lipoic Acid

-Acetyl L-Carnitine

-Rhodiola Rosea

-Ginseng (Siberian/Koren)

-Ashwaghanda

-Valerian, chamomile and other natural sleeping herbs

-Multivitamin

-Fish oil

-Vitamin D

-Electrolyte salts

 

In addition I eat a healthy diet, I try to do a little exercise each day if I can find the energy.

 

 

Does anyone know what could be wrong with me or what else I could try? I'm about to give up. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Edited by Aesc, 31 May 2015 - 09:02 AM.

[niner]

The fatigue and lightheaded feeling sound like a mitochondrial injury.   You might see a distinct improvement from a mitochondrial antioxidant like C60 olive oil or MitoQ.  Those would be my first choice.  An additional thing to try is PQQ.   Let us know how it goes.

[Aesc]

The fatigue and lightheaded feeling sound like a mitochondrial injury.   You might see a distinct improvement from a mitochondrial antioxidant like C60 olive oil or MitoQ.  Those would be my first choice.  An additional thing to try is PQQ.   Let us know how it goes.

Thanks so much. I'd never heard of mitochondrial injury before but I just did some reading and it does sounds like a plausible explanation.

 

Can you recommend a source for the products you mentioned? While I'm at it, is there any other supplements I should consider to repair/regrow damaged mitochondria (eg. N-Acetylcisteine). Would you recommend I continue with any of the supplements I have already mentioned?

 

Also, is mitochondrial injury of the sort I may have sustained able to be verified with a test my doctor could order?

 

Thanks again.

Edited by Aesc, 31 May 2015 - 03:19 PM.