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techstepgenr8tion
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24 Feb 2012, 8:06 pm

For some reason the last couple days I feel like I've been tied up and submitted by my own brain chemistry. I've been off of caffeine for over a year now, no problems until recently with this but when I got home yesterday I was yawning like crazy, almost falling asleep on my way to martial arts, and needed coffee to wake me up.

Tonight I got home from work and I had to lay down, it felt like something was almost squeezing/dominating me into submission. I layed down for an hour and a half, got up for dinner, and feel like I need to lay back down again right now. I've been known to feel tingling around the front of my head when I'm chemically off or running on empty (when I *really* overdo it that tingling starts feeling like my brain is wrapped in leather or like I volunteered it as an ashtray outside a local bar). As of right now I feel like my whole head is wrapped and I want to go lay down again. Can't really sleep right now but its just strange, I've never heard anyone describe fatigue or anything really like I am now and it still seems to be a me - alone - sort of mystery.

Am I talking jibberish here about the internal sensations I get with these kinds of things. I know its not mono, I've had this off and on my entire life, and I still remember being even five or six years old with this same feeling. I would be laying on my bed with my face sort of off the side stairing at the carpet, my parents would be getting after me for laying around but I'd feel like my body and mind were just wrapped in lead and like gravity was just taking its course. :?


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questor
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24 Feb 2012, 10:53 pm

The feelings you have been having are your body's way of telling you that:

1. You have been packing too much living into your waking life--over doing it.

2. And, that you are not getting enough sleep.

The solution is simple. Cut back on your daily activities, and get more sleep, and stop over doing it.


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24 Feb 2012, 11:04 pm

I have been feeling the same thing. And recently have been perpetually exhausted but when I lay down of course my mind races too much to ACTUALLY fall sleep. but, no matter how much sleep I get, I never feel rested. I've just chalked it up to being overcome with stress.

And something else, when I'm suddenly awakened from a deep sleep, my heart races unusually fast. Like, so fast I can literally feel the blood rushing through my body and hear the beating in my head and feel it in my ears....weird?? Has anyone else felt this?


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Apple_in_my_Eye
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24 Feb 2012, 11:20 pm

I was diagnosed with "chronic fatigue syndrome" years ago. Even with a less than normal schedule I seem to run out energy more quickly than normal. In fact, so much so that I forgot what it was like not having to "push" all the time, for years. I took Adderal (legally) for the chemical boost, but eventually it was doing more harm (insomnia) than good so I went off it.

I think that my brain just has to chew harder on what input is coming in and I have to put significant mental energy into staying oriented and doing various compensations (which are pretty ingrained and hard to turn off, nowadays) to get things done in a normal way. Well, used, to; living like a hermit, now, heh.



eigerpere
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24 Feb 2012, 11:28 pm

It may sound unrelated but I get very tired as you describe when I become dehydrated. Coffee would only make matters worse being a diarrhetic. See if you are getting enough fluids and rule that out as a possible cause. It's very disturbing to be that fatigued and sometimes is a very simple problem that can be very easily alleviated. I hope it isn't anything more serious.



techstepgenr8tion
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25 Feb 2012, 1:48 am

questor wrote:
The feelings you have been having are your body's way of telling you that:

1. You have been packing too much living into your waking life--over doing it.

2. And, that you are not getting enough sleep.

The solution is simple. Cut back on your daily activities, and get more sleep, and stop over doing it.

Interesting. I don't think I'm quite burning the candle at both ends at this point, nor was I when I was a kid. I'm starting to think Apple_in_my_Eye might have a point, ie. I might have either sub-diagnostic-threshold Chronic Fatigue since its been with me all of my life and hit me at odd times.

I think what caught me off guard is that it hasn't been proportional this week to anything really. I've been making sure I get at least 6 1/2 to 7 hours of sleep per night, the melatonin has been doing its job; seems like absolutely nothing has been out of step, the only thing I can add is that I haven't drank a drop this week and I suppose....I might be going out on a limb here... that the weeks that I don't feel like going to sleep from evening on by Friday are the nights where I'm having at least one mixed drink (whiskey + something) per night when I'm on an off night from class. My guess, if that's making any impact at all - its likely not an alcohol dependency so much as that I've always felt like my brain has been underpowered for what it feels like it needs to do and perhaps the alcohol cuts expenses enough that I'm able to run significantly 'lighter' for several hours. I really can't think of a better explanation. The only other thing - we've had really strange yo-yo weather; I'm in the Midwest US and right now we're enjoying weather between 30 F and 60 F on a regular basis, within the same day, etc.. I'm just trying I guess to figure out what's hitting me specifically at the moment or what makes this week different from the one before it.

Truthfully though, aside from my 8 to 5, I did little more than just watch a movie on Monday and Wednesday, Tuesday and Thursday I had martial arts but I didn't have to necessarily strain my brain or do anything over-the-top to where it took a whole new level of focus in any sense, ie. it was business as usual.

Apple_in_my_Eye wrote:
I was diagnosed with "chronic fatigue syndrome" years ago. Even with a less than normal schedule I seem to run out energy more quickly than normal. In fact, so much so that I forgot what it was like not having to "push" all the time, for years. I took Adderal (legally) for the chemical boost, but eventually it was doing more harm (insomnia) than good so I went off it.

I caffeinated my way through college, beat on the coffee, drank crazy amounts, kinda treated it like meth. I also did try Concerta for a bit but as side effects build to any medication I take quite rapidly I ended up with a reverse tolerance to ritalin that built up over the course of ten months. I agree on the insomnia as well though; I've never been able to sleep of my own power, caffein made it to where at least every other Monday I'd be going into school or work on no sleep, many nights per week I'd fail to get more than four hours of sleep per night. Its been in the past year or year and a half that I decided to take a serious run on using melatonin and that's made all the difference, in a addition to cutting the caffeine out. I had to cut the caffeine because I was hitting a point where I had every impression that I was on the edge of adrenal failure.

Apple_in_my_Eye wrote:
I think that my brain just has to chew harder on what input is coming in and I have to put significant mental energy into staying oriented and doing various compensations (which are pretty ingrained and hard to turn off, nowadays) to get things done in a normal way. Well, used, to; living like a hermit, now, heh.

As much as I hate to say it....I mean really *HATE* to when it comes to accepting boundaries that are well below what I want in life... this could be it for me in a nutshell and it could be that its the extra 'stuff' my brain has to chew on as a byproduct of having an ASD. The reason I hate that - it means that this isn't going away and that it isn't resulting from a non-genetic condition; that I'm really stuck with it. I guess I'll just have to remind myself to budget energy where I can.

The really sad part in all this - work has been terribly slow. We've been watching Youtube all day off and on for a long time. When we actually get a heavy workload - I'm typically destroyed by this standard :(. That's part of the reason why this is so embarrassing. :oops:


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techstepgenr8tion
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25 Feb 2012, 1:51 am

eigerpere wrote:
It may sound unrelated but I get very tired as you describe when I become dehydrated. Coffee would only make matters worse being a diarrhetic. See if you are getting enough fluids and rule that out as a possible cause. It's very disturbing to be that fatigued and sometimes is a very simple problem that can be very easily alleviated. I hope it isn't anything more serious.

No, very good thought. Truth be told though I've been drinking a lot of water deliberately, then again I have been taking fiber supplements every morning on the claims of what they do for blood sugar, digestive health, etc.. - don't know if that would be sponging fluids off significantly or not. Historically as well I've had problems with being thirsty - often, even as my body's trying to get rid of water at the other end. The later part doesn't happen nearly as much as it used to but, I do get the impression that I am on the high end of the blood-sugar spectrum, not diabetic but somewhere in the pre-diabetic region. Both of my parents are as well.


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techstepgenr8tion
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25 Feb 2012, 1:56 am

Kiddo wrote:
I have been feeling the same thing. And recently have been perpetually exhausted but when I lay down of course my mind races too much to ACTUALLY fall sleep. but, no matter how much sleep I get, I never feel rested. I've just chalked it up to being overcome with stress.

That sucks. Good luck with that, hopefully its just something seasonal or weather-related.

Kiddo wrote:
And something else, when I'm suddenly awakened from a deep sleep, my heart races unusually fast. Like, so fast I can literally feel the blood rushing through my body and hear the beating in my head and feel it in my ears....weird?? Has anyone else felt this?

I haven't but, I do have my alarm clock set to where I hit the snooze twice before waking up. I literally had to because, up until age 25 I was literally able to make myself jump out of bed on the first ring but by maybe halfway through 25 or 26 if I tried that I'd literally feel my brain taring (its the only way I can explain it) and I'd spend the rest of my morning if not most of the day with a pretty vicious migraine. I think getting myself on a better sleep regimen with the melatonin has somewhat lessened the risk of that but I've gotten to the point of realizing that I might have been doing a lot to my body by just throwing myself up and out and ignoring the waking up process.


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Nier
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25 Feb 2012, 5:44 am

I have had what feels like borderline CFS for most of my adult life. I can run out of steam for seemingly normal activities, so that I get home from work & can't stand up any more. Not just 'tired' but my legs can't hold me up.

Sometimes I experience similar what you describe - a feeling like there is an invisible force pushing me down, draining the volition out of my limbs, body, so even breathing is more work. In it's worse form it's like a waking faint - conscious but can't move. Not pleasant.

I'm taking Vit B, D & iron on a more consistent basis to help, as well as tackling GI sensitivities, leaky gut etc etc because getting diagnosed for a fatigue condition seems to be the medical equivalent of nailing fog to the wall.

It's taken me a lifetime to see there is a problem & now trying to see what might be the cause(s) is a big task but worth the effort, given how rubbish I feel otherwise. I hope you find some strategies that will help you too.



lasirena
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25 Feb 2012, 7:27 am

The dizzyness and heart beating to fast sound like symtoms I had with B12 anemia. . .
Do you get dizzy when you stand up to quickly?



eigerpere
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25 Feb 2012, 1:37 pm

Drinking too much water can make one dehydrated too because it depletes electrolytes. A natural remedy is one apple and two celery stalks or an energy drink to replenish. I hope you get checked for diabetes. That can cause other health problems if left unattended.



techstepgenr8tion
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26 Feb 2012, 4:45 pm

Nier wrote:
I have had what feels like borderline CFS for most of my adult life. I can run out of steam for seemingly normal activities, so that I get home from work & can't stand up any more. Not just 'tired' but my legs can't hold me up.

Yeah that's rough. I hope you're able to work something out in terms of a best-fit form of employment that won't quite tax you to that degree. I remember my days of bussing tables at a busy restaurant - I'd work like a machine but all the expression would drain right from my face and I wouldn't even be able to talk, I'd be shaking like a leaf if low blood sugar compounded with that as well. Didn't help the social impressions I made. :(

Nier wrote:
Sometimes I experience similar what you describe - a feeling like there is an invisible force pushing me down, draining the volition out of my limbs, body, so even breathing is more work. In it's worse form it's like a waking faint - conscious but can't move. Not pleasant.

Yeah, its like some sadistic/seductive force squeezing me from every direction and letting me know that its boss. That's the best I can describe it.

Nier wrote:
I'm taking Vit B, D & iron on a more consistent basis to help, as well as tackling GI sensitivities, leaky gut etc etc because getting diagnosed for a fatigue condition seems to be the medical equivalent of nailing fog to the wall.

I hate to plagerize but that's the most awesome exercise-in-futility analogy I've ever heard. I might have to take that, sure a heck of a lot more versatile than peeing in the ocean. :)

Nier wrote:
It's taken me a lifetime to see there is a problem & now trying to see what might be the cause(s) is a big task but worth the effort, given how rubbish I feel otherwise. I hope you find some strategies that will help you too.

It really seems to me like my brain is a 700W sub-woofer with a 4 or 5 inch deep magnet being powered by a 50W amp. BIG bottleneck somewhere.


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18 Mar 2012, 7:38 pm

I've been having problems with fatigue lately. I've always had sleep problems, but have never had any issues like this. I've been under chronic stress the last six months or so and have also been having problems with myofascial pain. MPS is said to cause fatigue, so I guess it's no big surprise or mystery, but it's still been sort of scary, like my body is just giving out on me.