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strength & energy?

skn69skn69Member
Ok, I am a few years out from my last major surgeries, eat well, tons of fruits, veggies, lean animal protiens etc with minimum dairy and starches (we won't count the ice cream binges and the peanut butter!)...I keep my numbers up with targeted suppliments, homemade smoothies and juices and drink no alcohol...I work out climbing hills and stairs or swimming at least 4xs/week and was working part-time til this summer...full time as of Sept, out of the house....
So, since I am doing it all right, sleeping well most of the time and keeping hydrated....Why am I so darn tired all of the time??????
I can't stand it any more...hubby has taken to calling me 'Snoozy'...I get up in the morning and go-go-go til around 2 or 3pm and then I am done...exhausted, can't keep the eyes open, wilted, so tired that I want to cry...it takes a 3hr nap til I can move or do anything else...how am I going to go back to work fulltime?
I thought it was the surgeries or pain, then the family stress & drama, finally the sleep...none of the above...I cannot seem to get a handle on this at all...my bloodwork is fine, my family life is stabalising somewhat and hubby is a bit better so where is this coming from?
I take meds for my epilepsy, anti-inflamatories and vitamins, nothing else...
So tired of being tired.
Sharon
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skn69skn69Member
Jan,
I just read you link and I don't really see myself in it other than the daytime sleepiness...I sleep well at night, never drop off in the middle of anything unless I have lain down first and have never had catalepsy...just deep, near coma-like sleep...this is exhaustion like my body is not getting enough of something or losing it too quickly...like when I had a systemic infection or was severely anemic...
What can I add or subtract from my diet to make this better?
Sharon
Jan DollarJan DollarModerator, RN, retired
Good to know that you don't think it is narcolepsy. There is a related sleep disorder, called idiopathic hypersomnia that probably describes you better, and it is more common. Treatment is essentially the same, stimulants. Here is a link to see if you fit the description. If you rule out the other possible causes, then there you are. Not necessarily something you can fix with diet, except maybe a lot of coffee! Don't underestimate the possibility of depression. You have had a great deal on your plate the past few years (OK, decades).

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline...y/article/000803.htm

Jan Smiler
J JeffDCMember
Sharon, I have days where it is all I can do to not let my head hit the desk in the afternoon. About twice a week, I take an hour to 1.5 hour nap when I get home.

My current doppleganger is cholangitis, which can have a nasty symptom of exhaustion in varied degrees. It is also found in a lot of people who have or have had colitis.

Might not hurt (much) to get your liver enzymes/levels checked.
skn69skn69Member
Other than the grogginess when I wake up from the naps, the rest is moot. It is like being pulled in by waves of sleeepiness, can't keep the eyes open, and then drowning in sleep...It happens about 8hrs after I wake up. I have tried to sheduel my work days to end by 3pm so that I can be home by 4pm but it is going to be very tight...its a bit scary going back to work and not mastering this exhaustion.
I don't drink, take any other meds or drugs and have no problem sleeping when I do.
Is this going to be 'just one of those things' that I will have to live with?
Sharon
Scott FScott FMember
Have you had a sleep study done? Conditions like sleep apnea can cause profound daytime sleepiness, and not everyone with sleep apnea snores. I'd also second the medication side-effects idea. Depending on how critical the timing is, you might be able to gently test it by changing when you take those meds, and observing whether the exhaustion hits at a different time. In an ideal case you could time it so the exhaustion hits at bedtime instead of mid-afternoon, but that wouldn't work for a multiple doses-per-day medication.
C CeeeeCeeeeMember
My extreme fatigue symptoms happen mostly after I eat. Unless I eat very small amounts at any given time, I'm exhausted right after a meal. One of my doctors thinks I am experiencing extreme changes in my blood-sugar levels which are causing these symptoms. I am diabetic. She asked me to take my blood sugar readings before a meal and one or two hours after to note the changes. Of course, I haven't done this. The urge to sleep at these times is overwhelming. However, I've learned that if I fight through it and go for a walk, the symptoms abate. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to do this. When I'm out for dinner with friends, this is very embarrassing. Even worse if some of the group I'm with doesn't know me! It is at those times I order a very simple meal....such as a side salad....and eat very slowly. That works for me. Good luck in finding a strategy which works for you. When you do, please share!
skn69skn69Member
Scott,
The meds are supposed to be 3xs/day so that kaboshes that idea...yes, anticonvulsives make you tired and sleepy to some extent so I take my doses only 1 in the morning and 2 at night to avoid the midday consequences but it isn't helping with this...I will be getting up a 5am to go to work and coming home after 6pm with a 1.5hr travel time each way...I am stressed up to the gills about this...I can not yawn my way through classes when standing on a stage! I am upping my iron slightly in hopes of a little energy burst and trying to eliminate all daytime sugar in favour of salt or coffee so that I don't drop off from the blood sugar burst that CeeeCeee mentioned (I get it too, as soon as I eat carbs or sugars...I actually have been known to use them as defacto sleeping drugs...a bar of chocolate and I am sound asleep!)...
Pray that I survive this...I have been fighting so long to find work and now that I have it this is spoiling it.
Sharon

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