Do You Think I'm Confusing Being Tired With Other Symptoms?

[Elsa23]

I feel tired the vast majority of the time. Doctors have suggested chronic fatigue. Sometimes I feel really good, but most of the time I feel like I'm really having to push myself to do everything. I wake up most mornings with my heart hammering already, and feel like I get easily over-whelmed. I end up physically dissociating or avoiding. I tend not to feel my body sometimes. I find it frustrating and then a lot of the time I don't feel physically very strong. It's like I have really weak muscle tone (if muscle tone is the correct word to use???) I find that scary in itself. I don't feel like I can trust my boy to react on its own if I need it to. I don't think it's a physical thing as such, because sometimes when I feel in my body I feel strong. I don't feel able to relax properly. It's like if I do I might never be able to get myself going again. Most of the time I say I'm tired because I don't know how else to explain it. Does anyone else ever experience this?

(FYI: I'm female, 23 years old. I have had therapy on and off the last 2 years including EMDR, currently attending)

 

[JustBe]

You might want to have your Thyroid checked.

 

[Elsa23]

Thanks for you reply. I probably should have mentioned that. I've had tonnes of blood tests - checked everything, iron, thyroid, etc and all came back fine. That's why I was thinking it was more a mental thing and maybe to do with the PTSD instead of anything physical.

 

[Beachlife09]

I'm like that too. No matter what I do (exercise, eat properly) I am still tired. And I just have to stay in bed a lot. I try to sleep more, but can't because of nightmares. For me, I know that it has everything to do with my PTSD because on my occasional good day, I have more energy. But otherwise, I'm in the bed.
Sending prayers your way, hang on it will get better :hug:

 

[jaccat]

I had something like this a few years ago. It was like chronic fatigue that went on for days, to the point where getting out of a chair left me breathless. I was weak, constantly thirsty, and not drinking left me feeling sick and dizzy. I went to the doctors, they sent me to the hospital, which gave me loads of tests- mostly on my heart. I was in my mid twenties at the time. The hospital could find nothing wrong with me and in the end I gave up going because I didn't feel it was helping me. This was before I realised how much of an impact my mental health was having on my life. It was frustrating because with no physical explanation I felt like everyone must have thought I was faking it.
Now I realise that I can trace right back through my life times when my body has responded to my subconscious long before I'm aware there's a problem, from childhood sickness to an erratic heartbeat as a teenager. A few years after these episodes my father, who was living with me, was diagnosed with dementia. I think those physical complaints were my subconscious trying to make me take notice. Unfortunately I'm not good at listening to myself.
I hope just being aware that I do this may help if it happens in future.

 

[Elsa23]

Thank you for the replies. I have a habit of really pushing myself to the max and then I crash later. I dissociate so I'm not very good at noticing what my body tells me. Maybe it's time I started to listen just I never seem to have the time. Thank you for the help. I hope you get better too.

 

[Anarchy]

Sleep is my "safe place"

it may be yours too

 

[Elsa23]

Wish it was. I tend to find I have nightmares when I try and relax my body before bed. But I don't have the energy when I'm awake during the day. I just want to shut the whole work out. Sorry for sounding so melodramatic.

 

[ms spock]

I don't know, you could look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatization_disorder.

Good luck!

 

[jaccat]

Don't know if it'll help you but I found very gentle exercise which I built up over time helped me. I started with just a five minute walk up the hill where I live each day, then, when I was a little stronger took up swimming. Going once a week, after a few months I was almost back to normal strength, plus, the endorphins from the exercise helped me feel more positive.

 

[Anarchy]

No need to apologize, it's a good description.

Do you mind if I ask whether your traumas were very early in your life?

The reason is, that the younger we were, the less able to physically act to defend ourselves we were, so we developed our abilities of dissociation to get ourselves mentally away from what we perceived as danger.

if you are in trauma therapy, that is supposed to be exhausting, I've not got there yet - not ready and can't afford it yet either (even relationship counselling used to leave me wrecked).

Have you tried mindfulness meditations as a way to begin to connect to your body and the present? I seen to be suggesting it to everyone, I've found it really useful.

PS
Welcome to the forum (I worked all over Ireland for a good few years, I've zero family connections to Ireland, but loved the place and the people )

 

[Justmehere]

Fatigue or sleepiness can actually be a sign of dissociation, not just something someone is dissociating from. With the way you describe your heart racing before, it may be that your parasympathetic system kicks in, but not to relax, but to eventually dissociate. Dissociation is a sign of underlying anxiety that the brain is checking out from. The anxiety is exhausting and it also can push the brain/body into fatigue that is related to sliding into dissociation.

There are times where I have felt exhausted and fatigued, and doing some grounding has lifted it.