Friday I participated in a meeting at a chemical dependency treatment center. This is a place where people have been medicating their problems with stimulants and who are learning to use communication, conflict resolution, and coping skills to ride through life's challenges so that life does not defeat them. One of the biggest problems in this population is stimulant use, in the form of methamphetamine.
The message this and other treatment centers are working hard to encourage...is that when you listen to your body, it will tell you if you need to sleep, eat, address a conflict, or participate in a relaxing activity to help ride through situations that cannot be immediately addressed. When you push through feelings and ignore what they're telling you, you can push yourself to a point so low that it becomes tempting to use chemicals to pull out of the situation.
Today, I was reviewing research and ran across an abstract that completely contradicts this point of view. This article discusses the "potential" for treating CFS with neurostimulants, such as bupropion (Wellbutrin), dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), and methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta).
No wonder treatment centers abound. The drug industry is advocating throwing stimulants at problems that very well may best respond to intensive self-care. I'm not trying to say that chronic fatigue is not a genuine problem. I just wonder where the logic is in trying to blast a person out of a fatigued state that may be telling us something very important about the person's overall health, their lifestyle choices, and the way they deal with stress.
It's no wonder our many public service attempts at reducing illicit drug use fall on deaf ears. The message seems to be that if you can figure out a way to present your problem to the doctor in a way that fits with an "official" medical problem, you can legally buy a way out of your problem. If you're less savvy, or don't have access to a doctor who is open to such creative thinking, you can still get the job done. It just might land you in jail at some point down the road.
An addict is an addict, whether legally managed or scoring treatment off the street.
Valdizán Usón JR, Idiazábal Alecha MA. Diagnostic and treatment challenges of chronic fatigue syndrome: role of immediate-release methylphenidate. Expert Rev Neurother. 2008 Jun;8(6):917-27.
1 comment:
Chronic fatigue syndrome, aka CFIDS, aka myalgic encephelomyelitis, is very real. It can be managed to some extent with lifestyle changes (which often have to include not working, as ANY exertion can make the person much worse). Your concern about treating the crushing fatigue with stimulants is well justified. Fatigue is one of many symptoms of the underlying problem, and not the cause itself. Tricking your body into thinking it's capable of doing something it shouldn't doesn't solve anything in the long run, and may hurt you.
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