Sharon with all you have been through I can see why you pass out. You are very active in the morning and that is great maybe u do too much at one time. We are not as young as we think we are.
I have to pace myself big time! I, too am post menopausal throughout all this. I am always cold but have hot flashes (not too bad) throughout the night when sleeping and I get up a few times a night still (5 months w/j pouch). I know my body just doesn't absorb nutrients (like it use too) so I am always fighting fatigue. I was never a napper before all this but sometimes when I do sit I close my eyes and get the best sleep. I feel like a guy who can close their eyes anywhere and get a quick nap in. So, I am thinking your body just needs the rest!
Roberta

Have you had your iron checked? I think being active is great...however, I think the level of your exhaustion is something worth checking into. As RLC said, you may be doing too much all at once...but, I truly relate. I think many of us are Type A and if there is something that needs to be done, we can't relax. I had many years of therapy to accept the fact that I could let something go until tomorrow and allow myself some me time. However, I also have serious anemia/blood issues that put a strain on my level of energy during certain periods. So I guess what I'm saying is perhaps you may want to run this by your doctor and suggest some blood tests, if they haven't already been done. Then get into counseling -- ha!

Oh, and of course you can add menopause into this equation! Hot then cold. Happy then sad. Tired then wide awake. Hungry then full (mostly hungry). And the list goes on. I ended up on HRT for my hot flashes, however within 6 months was diagnosed with breast cancer and my tumor was estrogen positive, so the HRT certainly exacerbated the growth. Be careful with any hormone replacement.

Thanks So much RLC, Laurie,
I just had my blood work done and other than a low-grade infections, my blood work was good...they don't do the really indepth stuff but my red-count was fine. I hear you on the always cold then suddenly hot although the hotflashes were really embarassing about 5yrs ago while I was still teaching in an amphitheater (the students would crack up laughing while I was turning red & fanning myself like crazy)they are mostly gone...it is the cold, freezing, sleep that bugs me most and then I wake up baking like a roast. In the daytime I really don't get them much.
My Gyn doesn't believe that I need HRT and says that since the hotflashes are almost gone I can pass. I can't seem to get them to do all of the other blood tests here (vit Bs, D, etc) and anything else that could be giving me this.
I am (or at least was) an A type and until my work and house are done and my workout (1+hr or low impact cardio +pilates/stretching)is finished I cannot stop. Once I stop I just cannot get up. Period. The house could be burning down and I cannot move.
That is the part that scares me. I do pace myself and the weekends I only workout but don't do anything else and still collapse. Hubby almost laughs. It is like someone pulled a plug on me and all bodily functions cease. He makes sure that I eat a well balanced meal but it doesn't change anything.
I take suppliments to so I need ideas here. I want to go back to work but don't know how I can under these conditons (nap under my desk?)
Sharon

Sharon, maybe you need to have your epilepsy drugs adjusted? My SIL was on some that put her to sleep for nearly the entire day. She recently went to Mayo, they took her off the current meds and put her on new and voila - she's doing great right now, just an occasional nap now and then. Just a thought ...

Thanks NancyAnn,
I never even considered it.
Will check it out.
I just got back from my GP apt and he ordered bloodwork but I had to beg, plead and cry for him to check the dosage of my Vit Bs and D...he never even thought to check the Tegretol levels...he is checking my kidneys for protiens and creatin levels due to my excessive usage of NSAIDs.
That's it...will see what the results are...off to nap or I am going to fall over.
Sharon

Sharon - I just found out I am anemic (like Laurie said) and finding I am feeling a little stronger on the iron pills. I was thinking the same thing about your tegretol levels because I am sure that can cause havoc to your system.

Keep us posted.
Roberta

Laurie type A personality for sure! I have had to really adapt to this new life, for sure! I don't sweat the small stuff anymore!

Roberta

Ha ha -- I promise that you'll find so many of us are Type A's. I think it should be listed as a precurser for IBD.

Keep us posted as to what they find out, Sharon. I didn't know you had Epilepsy as well. Damn girl!

Laurie,
I got the book thrown at me at birth...my mom took dystelebene while pregnant with me...that along with my 'heriditary genetic' problems left me with d'Heler's-Danlos syndrom( a chronic collagene deficiency that means that I just don't heal properly= my sutures don't hold and nobody wanted to belive it), congenital deformities in the whole digestive tract, reproductive organs, heart and epilepsy...not fun at all. Every time that they cut me open I end up needing 6 more surgeries to fix the first one.
I figue that without the d'Heler's-Danlos I would have had the reconstructions done when I was young and that would have been it...instead I had dozens of 'unnecessary surgeries' because nothing stayed sutured. On the good side, I build very few adhesions so I don't get things gummed up in there either (great candidate for surgery through laporoscopy)...I have met only one girl with the exact same problems including the epilepsy and her mom took dystelebene too so if figure that must be it. Not a fun drug.
I am not complaining but I just wish that they would have believed me 30 yrs ago when I tried to explain that I just don't 'glue'. Since the diagnosis things are a bit easier...they take it seriously and use the necessary precautions (permanent sutures, mesh repairs etc)
Life is fun, isn't it? Now I am dealing with chronic pain.
Sharon