Chronic Fatigue is killing me

[thecd]

Hi folks,

 

I'm a 27 year old white male and for the most part of my life I've been full of energy. I remember waking up in the mornings when I was younger and couldn't possibly go back to sleep because of how much energy I had.

 

I had a pretty rough divorce a couple years ago and pretty much since I've had sleeping issues. It started off as anxiety and progressed to breathing issues. But as much as I want to believe I've rectified the situation, I still rarely wake up refreshed and I am constantly exhausted. I am getting to the point where I am just tired of life. I'm so tired at work, I come home and go to sleep. I don't want to do anything else but rest. It's tough maintaining friendships and relationships because everybody wants to do stuff and I am just too tired to do anything. I am not overweight and I do no smoke tobacco.

 

I don't think I am depressed. I want to believe I got over my ex and everything that happened. I am not sad by any means, usually very happy-go-lucky. I am a very big goof, and jokster. Sometimes I think that I mask my pain with humor, although in this very moment I can say I am pretty happy with life and I'm grateful for everything. I don't know...

 

I am constantly physically drained. I do not have diabetes (that I am aware of). I have watched my diet and try to avoid meats and sugars (they put me right to sleep). My doctor doesn't think there is anything wrong and that it is all in my head.

 

I was diagnosed recently with sleep apnea. I'm still waiting for my new machine. I tried the test model for a bit, and it did help, but not to the extent that I had hoped. Maybe I just need to be more patient. Blood work doesn't show anything out of the ordinary either. I started working out again twice a week and slowly increasing that. Exercise certainly helps. I try and avoid hitting the snooze and oversleeping because I also know that has an impact. I have 1-2 coffees a day but only in the morning.

 

Anyways, I've gotten to the point where I am just going to accept that I have chronic fatigue and there's not much I can do about it. I was wondering if any of you have been through this or know someone who has and might have some tips for me.

 

I have so much work to do on my home renovations and daily chores. I'm starting to slip and I don't think I can keep up much longer. Some days I have barely enough energy to stand or sit down. What's worse is that a friend of mine with cancer has more energy then me. I just don't understand.

 

Thanks

Edited June 30, 2016 by thecd

[circlesinfinity]

Hi folks,

 

I'm a 27 year old white male and for the most part of my life I've been full of energy. I remember waking up in the mornings when I was younger and couldn't possibly go back to sleep because of how much energy I had.

 

I had a pretty rough divorce a couple years ago and pretty much since I've had sleeping issues. It started off as anxiety and progressed to breathing issues. But as much as I want to believe I've rectified the situation, I still rarely wake up refreshed and I am constantly exhausted. I am getting to the point where I am just tired of life. I'm so tired at work, I come home and go to sleep. I don't want to do anything else but rest. It's tough maintaining friendships and relationships because everybody wants to do stuff and I am just too tired to do anything. I am not overweight and I do no smoke tobacco.

 

I don't think I am depressed. I want to believe I got over my ex and everything that happened. I am not sad by any means, usually very happy-go-lucky. I am a very big goof, and jokster. Sometimes I think that I mask my pain with humor, although in this very moment I can say I am pretty happy with life and I'm grateful for everything. I don't know...

 

I am constantly physically drained. I do not have diabetes (that I am aware of). I have watched my diet and try to avoid meats and sugars (they put me right to sleep). My doctor doesn't think there is anything wrong and that it is all in my head.

 

I was diagnosed recently with sleep apnea. I'm still waiting for my new machine. I tried the test model for a bit, and it did help, but not to the extent that I had hoped. Maybe I just need to be more patient. Blood work doesn't show anything out of the ordinary either. I started working out again twice a week and slowly increasing that. Exercise certainly helps. I try and avoid hitting the snooze and oversleeping because I also know that has an impact. I have 1-2 coffees a day but only in the morning.

 

Anyways, I've gotten to the point where I am just going to accept that I have chronic fatigue and there's not much I can do about it. I was wondering if any of you have been through this or know someone who has and might have some tips for me.

 

I have so much work to do on my home renovations and daily chores. I'm starting to slip and I don't think I can keep up much longer. Some days I have barely enough energy to stand or sit down. What's worse is that a friend of mine with cancer has more energy then me. I just don't understand.

 

Thanks

 

Hi there,

 

Is there anything new that you may have incorporated into your diet? And are your sleeping habits consistent?

 

First, do not compare yourself to your friend ). I assume that he/she maybe meeting consistent obligations that are in tune with their body.

[Satu]

I was badly fatigued for months, and thought I'd just have to live with it.

 

Then I started with a cough.

 

Three courses of antibiotics did nothing, and then I started to cough up blood.

 

It turns out that I had Tuberculosis.

 

I had to take the five strongest antibiotics in existence, for six months, and now I'm back to normal, with no fatigue.

 

I'm not saying that you have TB, thats very unlikely, but chronic fatigue is not normal, and something is causing it.

 

Go back to your doctor and get him/her to test you for everything that could possibly cause your fatigue.

 

 

Take care.

[central]

How wide a range of test have you had for various conditions? Chronic fatigue has often been used as a catch-all for unknown/undiscovered illnesses. So, it could be almost anything, including thyroid problems, an autoimmune issue, or Lyme disease.

 

 

And there apparently is a kind of gut bacteria that does seem to be associated with chronic fatigue.

 

 

Researchers just linked chronic fatigue to changes in gut bacteria - ScienceAlert

[LastAcorn99]

I’m sorry about your divorce, and all the struggles you’re facing. I know how frustrating it is to have lots to do, but be drained of energy to get though the day. Sending you prayers.

[Buddhist]

I still rarely wake up refreshed and I am constantly exhausted. I am getting to the point where I am just tired of life. I'm so tired at work, I come home and go to sleep. I don't want to do anything else but rest.

 

Sometimes I think that I mask my pain with humor, although in this very moment I can say I am pretty happy with life and I'm grateful for everything.

 

I am constantly physically drained. I have watched my diet and try to avoid meats and sugars (they put me right to sleep). My doctor doesn't think there is anything wrong and that it is all in my head.

 

Blood work doesn't show anything out of the ordinary either. I started working out again twice a week and slowly increasing that. Exercise certainly helps. I try and avoid hitting the snooze and oversleeping because I also know that has an impact. I have 1-2 coffees a day but only in the morning.

 

Anyways, I've gotten to the point where I am just going to accept that I have chronic fatigue and there's not much I can do about it. I was wondering if any of you have been through this or know someone who has and might have some tips for me.

 

All of that could easily be anxiety, particularly if you've had every test known to man and everything comes up normal. Anxiety can often make you feel as if you're suffocating even though you're breathing normally. It feels like shortness of breath except you don't feel the need to take more rapid, deep breaths. This is a common anxiety symptom.

 

Anxiety also interferes with proper digestion and is commonly found alongside gerd, the exhaustion and chronic fatigue was something I also experienced and I have anxiety. Meat, BTW should not put you to sleep unless it's particularly high in tryptofan, i.e. turkey. If I eat a steak at night it will keep me alert and awake.

 

I still would not rule out adrenal fatigue though unless you've had specific tests for it and it's come up negative. In either case the 'cure' is the same.

 

- Routine, routine, routine. Going to bed at the same time every night, getting up at the same time every day. Exercise at the same time each day. If you can't sleep I highly recommend the NatureSpace app, it has nature soundtracks which are awesome and extremely cheap. It also has a sleep and wake up timer which are useful. White noise that's nature based helps your body to let go and sleep. TV, radio, music doesn't do that.

 

- Eat proper meals regularly, more often smaller meals are better than three large ones, especially if you do have anxiety then a large meal will be difficult to digest and your body will do better with small regular easy to digest meals. Eating regularly also ensures you do not experience hypoglycaemia which will make you feel drowsy and irritable.

 

- Care for your gut bacteria. That means cut out the white flour products (it causes candida overgrowth which will fatigue you and make your anxious and irritable) and every meal must have a base of vegetables. Vegetable fibre actually feeds good gut bacteria, it can't live on flour products. Boost your gut health with a spoonful of naturally cultured, unsweetened, unflavoured greek style yoghurt. Make sure it's got live culture in it. Much cheaper than taking probiotics. Easy to make a salad dressing out of this, some lime juice, spices and olive oil. Gut health is directly linked to fatigue and anxiety levels.

 

- If you are avoiding meat where is your protein coming from? Living on high carb diets has been known to aggravate anxiety in sufferers because of the instability to creates in blood sugars. You need to eat meat, or another good source of protein. Protein shake if you have to but you need the amino acids to regulate your circadian rhythms.

 

There are no quick fixes, it's a longterm lifestyle adjustment that will take months to bring significant results. But that's better than no results at all and still being chronically fatigued a year from now.

[Els]

If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, that sounds like an explanation for fatigue in and of itself. Humans are very reliant on sleep - and if you're not getting sufficient quality sleep due to sleep apnea then you will definitely be tired in the day. Hoping your sleep apnea machine helps.

 

Also, do you have anything that excites you in your life? Do you enjoy your job, or have hobbies that you look forward to at the end of the day, people whom you look forward to seeing? Your psychological state affects your body more than you would think. When I was suffering from depression, I felt the same way as you do. Switching careers was the magic bullet.

 

All the best!

[Justanaverageguy]

All of that could easily be anxiety, particularly if you've had every test known to man and everything comes up normal. Anxiety can often make you feel as if you're suffocating even though you're breathing normally. It feels like shortness of breath except you don't feel the need to take more rapid, deep breaths. This is a common anxiety symptom.

 

Anxiety also interferes with proper digestion and is commonly found alongside gerd, the exhaustion and chronic fatigue was something I also experienced and I have anxiety. Meat, BTW should not put you to sleep unless it's particularly high in tryptofan, i.e. turkey. If I eat a steak at night it will keep me alert and awake.

 

I would agree with Buddhist. Went through a divorce a couple of years back and had almost the exact same symptoms. No matter how much I slept I never felt refreshed could barely get out of bed - I also had some other symptoms like difficulty concentrating \ brain fog.

 

I went to a bunch of doctors none of which really had any idea or gave me any good advice. A friend suggested most likely cause was digestion issues and after some tests it turned out I had early stages of leaky gut syndrome. Essentially this condition is often brought on by periods of stress \ anxiety. You digestive system is highly reliant on blood flow. 70% of the immune system is based here and the intestinal wall lining is completely regenerated every 24 hour period.

 

When affected by stress \ anxiety your body's circulatory system is deeply affected and blood flow greatly reduced. If maintained this leads to issues with digestion system. Often the body can't fully regenerate the intestinal system in your body leading to LGS. It then can't extract nutrients etc from food you have eaten properly and you end up with symtoms that often appear like Chronic fatigue.

 

For me I went on a health kick. Juice and salad fast for a week following by a prolonged period of healthy eating. Whole foods eliminating carbs and heavy meats and anything artificial. I stopped drinking alcohol for a month and reduced intake when I started drinking again. I also started supplementing with l glutamin which is what the body uses to rebuild your intestinal lining and also started taking probiotics. Within a few months I was feeling 10 times better.

[JoeSmith357-1]

I have sleep apnea, it sucks. Couple that with living with an insomniac and having sex a lot, it can be physically draining on you long term.

 

I adjusted to getting around 4.5-6 hours of sleep every night for about 2 and a half years. It does take a toll on your body.

[Tayla]

Supplemental oxygen therapy , iron and any of the b12 shots will aide in this type of fatigue. Sleep apnea is directly impacted by your o2/co2 balance.

 

I had to do o2 supplement til I improved on my ratios. after three months and better breathing excercises, my body re balanced. The b12 definitely helped too!

[skydiveaddict]

ambien............

[spiderowl]

Believe me, I do understand! I have suffered from chronic fatigue for years and I know exactly how it feels. It sounds from what you say that yours is related to sleep apnea rather than being chronic fatigue syndrome as such.

 

I don't know much about sleep apnea except that it can leave people feeling exhausted. I know there are treatments but I don't know how successful they are in practice. Lack of oxygen is likely to make you feel tired as is the constant sleep disturbance. It seem to me it is worth trying the treatments to see if they help.

 

If your fatigue is due to chronic fatigue syndrome and not sleep apnea, then all I can say is that there is proper research going on now into the physical causes. One day we may have answers. For some time, research into causes was neglected because it was assumed sufferers had some sort of psychiatric problem and just weren't acknowledging it. Now with pressure from CFS/ME patients and patient funding, physical research is taking place. I have not found a cure or anything that helps. Even sleeping a lot doesn't help. Nothing helps.

 

What I would suggest is to eat fresh, natural foods where possible. This is what I am trying to do at the moment. I think it might help. It's not that easy to find such foods as organic foods are expensive and many foods are transported many miles, but one can only try. I am hopeful that if I eat fresh, natural, healthy looking vegetables and other foods, that it may do some good.

 

I wish you all the best with your health issues. People do not realise what it is like to permanently feel exhausted.

Edited July 12, 2016 by spiderowl