{"id":29995,"date":"2021-12-20T07:02:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T13:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?p=29995"},"modified":"2022-11-14T13:48:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T19:48:26","slug":"root-causes-of-chronic-fatigue-part-8-prescription-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/20\/root-causes-of-chronic-fatigue-part-8-prescription-drugs","title":{"rendered":"Root Causes of Chronic Fatigue, Part 8: Prescription Drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When new or even long-established patients arrive at WholeHealth Chicago (in person or via telemedicine), our practitioners walk them through what we call the medication ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We ask, \u201cWhat are you taking, both prescription meds and supplements?\u201d These days, people often see a range of health care providers and take many supplements, so it\u2019s important to keep one master list, especially when so much is prescribed or purchased with little thought of potentially dangerous interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pause for a moment so I can link you to one of my favorite cautionary articles<\/a>, from the Harvard Center for Ethics. This piece calls prescriptions drugs a major health risk and cites statistics showing that correctly taken prescription drugs are estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death, usually due to unexpected side effects, drug interactions, and so forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this frightening fact, the number of actual deaths from correctly taken prescription drugs is a proverbial drop in the bucket when compared to the side effects prescription drugs generate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most pills won\u2019t kill you outright. In fact, if thoughtfully chosen by someone who remembers to renew his or her medical license, and who periodically prunes your drug list, they might do you some good, longevity-wise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fatigue is a common side effect<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Far more common than death are side effects, and one of the most common is chronic fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let me start by saying that at least two or three times a month a new patient schedules an appointment with me for chronic fatigue. They\u2019ve seen their primary care doc, maybe a specialist or two, and they\u2019re all set for me to diagnose them with something esoteric like chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS)<\/a> from black mold or subclinical hypothyroidism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead I ask, \u201cTell me why you\u2019re you taking these various drugs. How long have you been on them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My patient often looks confused. \u201cI don\u2019t remember. I think I had reached the highest dose for anxiety and this was added. I\u2019ve been taking that two for years, and I take an extra for sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My fingers fly over the keyboard and I show him that four of his six daily meds list fatigue as a side effect. All are on automatic renewal and his psychiatrist has retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this patient, the next few weeks to months will be a slow and cautious tapering off. Treating black mold would be easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of fatigue-inducing drugs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s begin by listing the most commonly prescribed medications that are notorious for causing fatigue as a side effect. You yourself might by taking one or more of these, and if it\u2019s working well, with zero side effects, that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, by the way: when you were first prescribed any of the following, did the doctor warn you about fatigue as a side effect? Probably not. It\u2019s usually glossed over, like weight gain or problems with focus, concentration, and word finding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of us is biochemically unique, so every drug on this list may not apply to you personally, but here are the usual fatigue culprits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n