Help. Does anyone else feel overcome w/ fatigue

[L.A.dweller]

by the end of the day?
I have never felt this way in my life (all 20 yrs of it) and i dont know what it is. My head feels so heavy with sleep and i cant concentrate that well. If i speak on the phone i sound incoherent and out of it.
Well, actually i do have an idea of what might be causing this.
I get up in the morning close to 7 so that i can get a parking spot at school and then i have an hour to kill b4 class and end up dozing off b4 it starts. This is only 2 days out of the week.
When i dont go to school i work thurs-sat morning to late afternoon time. By the time i get home from work i feel slightly exhausted but by 8/9 pm i am ready to hit the sheets. It is rare that i stay up til 11pm.
Agh, this is so annoying. Do any of you working stiffs feel this way too?

[Maddy McCall]

1. Get a good physical...

You might have mono. I have had several students in the past couple of years with it, and they had to sit out a semester to recuperate. Their symptoms were identical to yours!

Also, one of my colleagues had Lyme Disease, the symptoms of which are very easy mistaken for mono.

REally, don't you have a free or cheap clinic on your campus? Take advantage of it and get some blood work done immediately!

Let me know what you find out. Take care of yourself, too.

(And, a question: How much sleep are you getting? How do you feel in the mornings?)

[L.A.dweller]

3. Mono! don't scare me like that.

I have made sure to eat 3 meals a day but yet, i do feel this may have something to do with my diet. I'm a little underweight and think that it may be catching up with me now that this new job keeps me active.
I went to a physical in August and had a blood test done. Everything was fine (according to the voice recording of the lab test) and the doc never called me.
In the morning i feel energized from the night's rest but exhausted by late afternoon. I get about 8 hrs of sleep.
- Thanks J-child

[Maddy McCall]

4. Wouldn't hurt to be checked again, though...

If you are dealing with fatigue, you will have difficulty getting through the semester, especially at midterm and final exam times. So, just go get checked, ok?

(didn't mean to startle you--just go to your doc or the campus clinic and tell them how you feel and they can run a few tests--lookout for yourself!)

[L.A.dweller]

6. Good point, I should definitely be thinking

about the future when mid terms come around. As it is now i havent done the reading that i hoped to do today.
The last nurse I saw said that i appeared pale looking and suggested anemia but the blood-iron count came out ok.
I'll take your advice j-child.

[amazona]

2. i used to

I thought I had chronic fatique syndrome and I went through a really rough patch for many, many years.

The sad thing was the cause of my fatique was caffeine (free coffee at the office, Diet Cokes everywhere you looked, etc). Because of my reaction to caffeine, I was never getting a deep night's sleep. For years.

If you have started drinking more coffee, tea, or Coke/Diet Coke lately, give it up for at least 2 or 3 weeks. You will have severe pain/tiredness for several days but IF this is the cause of your problem you will then feel better than you ever felt before.

Keeping my fingers crossed. It took me decades to learn the source of my pain and chronic fatigue -- I had no idea that caffeine does this for a tiny minority.

mountain dew is another one to avoid -- the evildoers are putting caffeine even in the lemon-lime sodas now

[L.A.dweller]

5. I try to stay away from caffinated drinks

even when i eat during the day. But i won't lie I have had some coffee in the morning but i never finish half a cup 'cause i am running late. I'll stay away from that from now on.

So, what did you feel like when u had the "chronic fatigue syndrome" ?

[amazona]

8. like i was going to die for years and years

I was tired and hungry 24/7, and I had a constant ache deep in my muscles. I never got a good night's sleep. The only positive thing is because I was never really asleep I had all these super hallucinogenic dreams similar to narcolepsy -- another diagnosis that was considered. (But speed made me worse not better as it would w/ narcolepsy.) Doctors can't do it all, there are too many diseases and allergies out there I guess. I ended up finding the solution on my own. I just wish it had come sooner.


sleep is good

[Maddy McCall]

10. YES!! You are so right...

I recently gave up almost (notice that I said ALMOST) all caffeine in my diet. I was a caffiene JUNKY and cut back down to one can of caffeinated drink daily, or a glass or two of unsweetened tea.

I went through about a week of feeling horribly tired and sleepy--I guess it was withdrawals--but after that I felt wonderful--still do.

I have no regrets that I don't have to lug around 20 extra lbs and a litre of Mountain Dew all the time just to stay coherent. My lucidity is natural, not chemically induced, now.

Good advice, amazona.

[Maddy McCall]

11. Mountain Dew has more caffeine than any other soft drink...

about twice as much as Coca Cola. Much more than coffee. It is a bad bad bad thing to become addicted to. I know--I was, but have purged it from my system now.

Pepsico is feeling the financial impact of my quitting. I was spending about 8 bucks daily to feed my caffeine addiction!

[REP]

7. Yup

That's a part of my many splendored diseases (diabetes, ankylosing spondylitis, focal segmental glomrulosclerosis, etc). You don't have any of those.

Do you snore? Do you feel sleepy no matter how much sleep you get? Those symptoms, along with night sweats, are common symptoms of sleep apnea, a condition where a person stops breathing repeatedly while asleep. It's a common misconception that only overweight older men have sleep apnea (in fact, I was once told I was "too thin, too female and too young" to have it - and I have severe apnea). It's a life-threatening condition that can cause stroke or heart attack if not treated.

Testing can be as simple as taking home an pulse oximeter and wearing it while you sleep, or as complicated as sleeping in a sleep lab. Treatment is CPAP - basically, an air pressure device worn over the nose that forces the airways to stay open during sleep.

[L.A.dweller]

9. When these feelings of tiredness come i do feel hungry.

And I am sleepy when not active. I've been told, by my mom, that when i was a baby I would sweat in my sleep and i still do today.

[prolesunited]

12. I agree about going and getting your blood work done again

Do you take multivitamins? Wouldn't hurt. Also, what are you eating? Too many simple carbs play havoc with your insulin levels and throw you off kilter. Do you exercise — something that gets your heart rate up.

Although I'm older than you, I was feeling VERY lethargic a couple of years ago. In addition to quitting smoking, I changed my diet substantially and started getting a lot of exercise. I feel better than I have in 10 years.

Are you feeling a lot of stress between work and school? An other major life changes (move, relationship troubles, etc.). Stress and depression also can result in the physical feelings you are describing.

Hope everything is OK and you feel better soon.

[L.A.dweller]

13. I consider my job to be excersice

because i am on my feet for 6 1/2 hrs (i work @ a book store).
Diet consists of greens/fruits, carbs. Life right now isn't really stressful except that i dislike having to be on my feet for so long when i work.
Since the weather is starting to cool down i will incorporate some outside exercise activity on the weekends.
Thanks for wishing me well.

[Susang]

14. I have had this problem for over five years

Finally got diagnosed with severe hypothyroidism. Go to the doctor, do not let them tell you "oh, your just depressed" or "there's nothing wrong with you, it's all in your head".

Two doctors told me the same thing until I found a doctor who actually took the time to listen to my symptoms and do the correct tests. Have your doc check your thyroid (and get a copy of the labs, sometimes doctors assess them incorrectly), vitamin levels (particularly iron, and B vitamins), and get checked for allergies. Allergies are one of the top causes for fatigue and it is ragweed season.

Good luck. If you need any more info or links, etc., please feel free to PM me. I've been through a lot and I have a lot of online resources that were very helpful to me.

[Missy Vixen]

16. Susang, absolutely

LAdweller, when I was reading your symptoms, I was nodding along and thinking "hypothyroidism" as well.

If your doc is a cooperative sort, ask for a TSH test. If the doc is truly a progressive, ask for a free T3 and free T4 test. These measure thyroid hormone in the bloodstream.

As many as 13 million Americans are walking around with thyroid disease and have NO idea. Some of the symptoms: Exhaustion (even after a good night's sleep.) Lethargic. Constantly cold. Brain fog. Difficulty in swallowing. Dry skin and dry hair. Breaking nails. A complete inability to lose weight. Weight gain at the drop of a hat. Early graying.

I'll be thinking of you and hoping that it's just being young, and burning the candle at both ends...

Julie

[LightTheMatch]

15. Hey, also...

the air pollution in LA is some of the worst it's ever been this summer... don't forget to take things like that into account.

[grasswire]

17. work is stressful and busy...

...so maybe you're not getting the kind of benefits you would get from some other kind of exercise where you could feel pleasure while releasing tensions. Swimming maybe, or cycling.

But I also think it's very important to get dietary advice and some non-routine blood tests.

[L.A.dweller]

18. Thanks to all for advice

If you guys read this I thank you. I fell asleep around 10:30 or so and i did not get a chance to respond to all posts.