Fatigue

Andrew_Ryan_89

Hey guys,

I thought I would try this forum as online searches and visiting the GP has not resulted in anything.

I am 26 and most of the time, especially at home, I am tired. I don't sleep well and my body feels tense when going to bed. On the weekends especially where I am not forced to get up, I just feel so down at times to a point I can't move too well. I remember going to the shopping mall and it's a struggle to walk sometimes and admittedly have to sit down and take breaks. I don't feel out of breath or anything like that, I just feel cranky (for a lack of a better word).

I have seen a chiropractor, GP, taken iron supplements, worked out for months straight and nothing has worked. Blood test revealed low Vitamin C and nothing else.

This has been going on for years, 10+ and started when I was around 14-15. The reason I know I feel not right if I remember a day at school. Didn't do anything the night before but (and it hasn't happened since) I "remember" actually waking up. It's hard to explain what I mean there but it felt that I slept undisturbed and my awakening wasn't something sudden. The whole day I just felt fantastic. I felt lighter, stronger and had a big smile on my face all day. It was weird. I would take random sprints because I felt so full of life and again, just felt light.

In the 10+ years since then, I have not had a day like that ever and I have pretty much settled for having periodic naps and not sleeping properly and the lethargic feeling I have.

What prompted me to post on this forum is that I now feel it is affecting my career. Regardless of the lathargy I always battled through it as it was physical and I was still driven to work and achieve. Now, it's seems like it has "spread" to my head and I find myself coming home from work with a !!!! load to do and just collapsing on the sofa and making every effort not to move.

Any hints, tips, and fellow stories will be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

Dill

Oh gosh, poor you. Can the doctor not send you for further tests to establish the cause of the abnormal tiredness? Depression or M.E. spring to mind as possibilities, but they are just a guess.

faerielight

sounds like me to me, I have it and it really sucks.. have you ever had glandular fever?

Mojisola

Andrew_Ryan_89 wrote: »

Regardless of the lathargy I always battled through it as it was physical and I was still driven to work and achieve.

If it is ME, this is the worse possible thing to do.

Read up on ME on the ME Association website and discuss it with your GP.

choille

Would you consider meditation?

Sounds as if you are not relaxing before bed, merely slumping & therefore not really tired enough to get a good sleep possibly? I don't know if it's that or you are a bit down, or if there is physical underlying reason why you feel drained..

I do think you should have more bloods done & you going back to your GP & telling them how you feel.

theoretica

I had something rather similar and suggest you add food intolerances to your list of things to check out. My body seemed to be taking all its energy dealing with things it would rather I didn't eat (gluten and dairy in my case) and not leaving much for me!

A.Penny.Saved

Sounds very familiar to me.

The cause could me a few things as already mentioned in this thread. Depression and CFS/ME included. Unfortunately there is no reliable test for CFS. I have had it for over 30 years and my Dr still has no clue and no idea. I found the cause and explained it to my Dr but she still has no idea saying that there is no research to confirm what I say. Researchers often university students are hopeless and have little idea or experience.

Can you identify the times when you feel most tired? Is it constant or is it worse at certain times of day or night? After eating etc etc? Try to connect things you did in the hours previous to the tiredness.

Do you ever get any reaction when you eat? Do you feel tired after eating such as high protein foods? Do you ever get a runny nose without having a cold/flu or hayfever? Any allergies that you know of? Any weakness in your arms or legs? Any pain or discomfort in any part of your body?

These are some things to think about. I have some ideas but it is difficult to know whether they apply to you especially with nothing too abnormal in regard to blood results such as low white cell counts or abnormal liver enzymes.

Torry_Quine

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

Sounds very familiar to me.

The cause could me a few things as already mentioned in this thread. Depression and CFS/ME included. Unfortunately there is no reliable test for CFS. I have had it for over 30 years and my Dr still has no clue and no idea. I found the cause and explained it to my Dr but she still has no idea saying that there is no research to confirm what I say. Researchers often university students are hopeless and have little idea or experience.

Can you identify the times when you feel most tired? Is it constant or is it worse at certain times of day or night? After eating etc etc? Try to connect things you did in the hours previous to the tiredness.

Do you ever get any reaction when you eat? Do you feel tired after eating such as high protein foods? Do you ever get a runny nose without having a cold/flu or hayfever? Any allergies that you know of? Any weakness in your arms or legs? Any pain or discomfort in any part of your body?

These are some things to think about. I have some ideas but it is difficult to know whether they apply to you especially with nothing too abnormal in regard to blood results such as low white cell counts or abnormal liver enzymes.

There is no known cause for ME so your GP is right to be sceptical of your claim.

A.Penny.Saved

Well I know the cause with no doubt whatsoever!

It is believed that CFS/ME sufferers have Increase Intestinal Permeability Syndrome, research is currently investigating this and will be available later this year I understand. I am way ahead on this, the cause is a bacteria! A bacteria which replaces the digestive mucosa with a biofilm in order to to allow large food molecules to enter the bloodstream in order to provoke an immune response and histamine release. This benefits the bacteria and enables it to exist. Antibiotics will not affect them. They adapt to anything that threatens them sacrificing bacteria near the surface of the biofilm in order to update their DNA to resist attack. Persister cells are their ultimate safeguard.

jenniewb

OP I was just wondering what your diet is like and if there was a reason for your vitamin C levels being low? (i.e are you eating a varied diet with enough complex carbs, beans/pulses, enough fresh fruit and vegetables and drinking enough non-caffeinated liquids?) I know it sounds like a minor thing in the face of what you're struggling with but when I was growing up I ate not very well at all. Not a lot of food but a lot of bad choices. I was underweight but had absolutely no fresh fruit in my diet and vegetables only if they were forced on me (and I counted ketchup as a salad item!) and it wasn't until I changed things when I got older that I really noticed the difference and it did make me feel like I had more energy. I am by far the bearer or all dietetic knowledge but I know this really helped improve my energy levels quite noticably at the time. It can feel like a huge ordeal to change your diet or even eat at all when you feel very low and fatigued but if you can bare with any changes for 2-4 weeks before deciding to give up you might find things help a bit.


Other than this; keep going back to your GP. Doctors have this unsaid rule where if they send you away with an answer/pills/tests and you don't go back because you are not satisfied with the answer or results, they assume you are either happy enough with things how they are or have miraculously recovered. If you have not seen your GP since to say you are still struggling, make sure you go back or your GP will assume you are fine.


Keep a diary, keep a sleep diary also, note things you feel could have a part in everything (what you decide to include is up to you and more often than not your instincts will help you decide, everyone is different and you know your body best). If you notice any patterns -eg things making it worse, a diary can help show evidence of this or even disprove theories people offering help can have. I have insomnia and was told by a sleep neurologist that it was "due to all the clubbing and using the computer so late at night". I had not been to a club for 8 years and at the time had no computer (and smartphones had not been invented.) If I had a diary at the time it would have been evidence to show that these things were not existent in my life and I'd have had a better chance at an actual diagnosis. Its these sort of things that can really make a difference.


If you do find you get a diagnosis like ME or depression, don't give up as there is a lot of support out there but if you have any doubt what so ever and do not feel things have been adequately ruled out, make sure you make a point of fighting for things to be tested properly. IBS, ME, even Depression and many other disorders are in many cases unable to be tested for so they get given as a diagnosis when a medic doesn't have a clear answer and gives one of these as a last resort as they are unable to be tested for. If you are unsure or do not feel something fits, make it clear you want a second opinion.

System

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

Well I know the cause with no doubt whatsoever!

It is believed that CFS/ME sufferers have Increase Intestinal Permeability Syndrome..

Rather a contradiction there.. :think:

OP I would return to the GP or seek a different one if the one you are seeing is less than helpful. It is unusual to be low in vitamin C in our society. You would have to have a dreadful diet for the cause to be environmental as opposed to organic.