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Long Term Fatigue Anyone?

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Chem Lady

Confident
Hi everyone,
I've read some threads on fatigue on this site before and it was helpful to read many of the comments made. I've had PTSD for 12 years. I've worked very hard to deal with my trauma over the years and I think I've done a pretty good job. I rarely struggle with flashbacks and my therapist often tells me I'm not experiencing any PTSD symptoms... which I find very frustrating. I don't have flashbacks or dissociation problems, although anxiety is a tough one for me, but I still fight lesser known PTSD symptoms every day. My biggest symptom is the fatigue. Before PTSD I had loads of energy. I always said "if I have the time to fit it in my schedule, then I can do it". I could carry on two jobs, do loads of housework, exercise every day, hike, go out with friends, be up late, anything, really. But since PTSD I have WAY less energy. No matter what I'm doing. If I'm at home for months, working full-time, on holidays somewhere, it really doesn't matter what life is like, I will get exhausted and need to take days where I just rest all day. My muscles shake and sometimes I feel like I don't even have the energy to draw air into my lungs. Right now I'm working full-time. I don't engage in any other activities other than work and I need to take a sick day probably once a month or so just to rest. In some of the previous posts, people have spoken of their fatigue, but I don't think any of them were long-time PTSDers. It makes me curious: did it go away for people over the years or improve at least? I would love to hear from others who have had PTSD for a long time and whether or not they struggle with fatigue still. It would really help to have more info.
 
Err, yes. Ptsd'er for 7 years (that was ground zero breaking point anyways), and I too would love someone to reassure me that the fatigue goes away!

And before you suggest it, I work damn hard on eating well, exercising regularly and keeping good sleep hygiene:sleep:
 
I've had PTSD for basically all my life. My symptoms peaked about 12-14 years ago.

I find my fatigue goes in cycles and has to do with how well I'm balancing stress as well as everything Ragdoll listed above at the end of her post. Because I tend to cycle, it's hard to tell when I'm doing well vs when I'm overworking myself as a means of avoidance. :meh:
 
Agreed Ragdoll Circus! I get so tired of hearing that I need to exercise more or eat better! I sleep a minimum of 8hrs each night, I'm as fit as I can get considering the fatigue, and I've always been old fashioned about cooking home cooked meals with loads of veggies and very little fat and salt. I'm not deficient in vitamin D or anything else. I've had my thyroid checked and my doctor has tested just about everything he can think of. I really think it's just PTSD related, but there isn't a lot of information on it out there that I can find.
 
I was only diagnosed 4 years ago but have had PTSD symptoms since 2007. The problem was that no one recognized the PTSD. I was diagnosed as bipolar, having major depressive disorder and anything else doctors could diagnosis.
The hardest part for me is also extreme fatigue. I know how you feel. I too, like you, had huge amounts of energy. I felt like super woman. Now I can not work full time and doing just 20 hours per week exhausts me. I have had blood work done to see if there may be another explanation for the fatigue. Have you had blood work done? Is there ever a day when you feel less tired? Is this a condition we are stuck with for life? How many hours of sleep do you get each night? I sleep at least 9 hours per night and wake up still exhausted and out of energy. I drag myself through each day. It is an awful way to feel.
 
Mine is face in lap, look like a just did drugs, dizzy like im drunk, exhaustion (and still have to drive to work).

It scared the f*ck out of me when it first came on. I couldnt stay awake even with 5 cups of coffee and whom knows how many caffeine pills but anxiety was sky rocketed right with it. My therapist called it "tired and wired" but tired didnt discribe this.

I had all the tests, for everything. At the time all they found was my thyroid being low & vit D very low so was prescribed synthroid and 1.5mg 50,000 units vit D (vit D once a week) and told to lay off the Vit B12 as it was off the chart.

I had thought maybe the thyroid wasnt leveled off but it was fine as was the vit D a & B12 the next week. Nothing else found. My MD at the time was my therapist's family doctor, they referred patients back and forth and so he knew i had a therapist. With the 2 Dr heads, they finally claimed it as a mental physical symptom.

I was also given addrall to help, BAD idea if you have anxiety.

I would make sure to have all medical causes ruled out as there are a ton of medical causes for fatique. But yes, I can relate completely. It now comes and goes but when its here I cant stop the Xanax (did that once) because the anxiety is still there and i will still explode so i just have to bulldoze my way through it. It always seems to follow my mental state.
 
I would love to be reassured that the fatigue goes away. There are days every now and then when I can still get lots done, but they are very few and far between. Most of the time I can barely keep my eyes open. Sometimes I wonder if it's because some part of me wants to avoid the world. Other times, I really want to do something, but can't keep those eyes of mine open no matter what the incentive is.
 
I didn't know about fatigue. I have had PTSD for ... Damn it, at least 20 years I guess, at this point. Eight years ago I began to get tired. And every year it got worse. Last year I lost the ability to work even 30 hours a week. This year I just... Haven't been working... And am still quite exhausted.

I get more exhausted when my self-care is low, so I do my best to keep basic self-care going. Eating a healthy meal, balancing the food groups. Sleep at least 7 hours a night (my body has been swinging for 8 hours lately but sometimes a nightmare bad enough happens and I can't get back to sleep. This unfortunately still happens multiple times a week). Vitamins.

I don't exercise (actually, never have) and I really should but I just can't. There's barely any room where I live to move in, and I can't afford a gym membership, and I have very bad memories of being stalked so the idea of walking around outside actually triggers me. And I know that before eight years ago I was working 60-80 hour weeks just fine without exercise.
 
During depressive states im a wall starer.
Quite literally, I think my longest virtual catatonic state this bout was 13 hours.

So I find after a period like that my energy levels are so low that im very fatigued from just small activities and need to rest frequently.


Frustrating since im usually a flat out hundred mile an hour person with tonnes of motivation (haha, motivation sounds so much more together than 'nervous energy', so let me just go with it ok)

I always find, the less I do, the more fatigued I become and know that I NEED to make myself move or pretty soon I wont be able to at all.
But try telling my depressed brain that?

Thats the only advice I have, MAKE yourself so something, just one small thing everyday, regardless of fatigue.

I also refuse to nap while the sun is out. I dont care if I only slept an hour the night before, I wont allow myself to go to bed til its dark again.
 
Honestly, Ava, that's reassuring to me. Not to say I'm happy that you struggle with fatigue 20 years in, but to know I'm not just weak minded. Really, I know I'm very strong-willed, but for the last 12 years I haven't been able to will myself out of the fatigue. It has improved slightly over those years, but it seems like I'm not improving anymore and this is just as good as it's going to get.
I also agree that if I don't take care of myself or if I am not careful about how much energy I'm spending, the fatigue is worse.
 
I too have times where I'm very fatigued.
Mine comes in cycles due to CFS diagnosed in 1995. PTSD was diagnosed in 2011 but had the symptoms since a teen.

When it flares I get as much rest and veggies as I can. Some days it's a chore just to get out of bed or due mundane, daily tasks.

Since I've been symptomatic since I was a teen I'm not sure if the fatigue is related to PTSD or not. There is no cure so I basically try to treat the symptoms.

There is a medication available called Provogil. I'm not sure why it's prescribed, I was working the over night shift at the time. It helped.

As for completing tasks when it flares up I only put 3 things (15 minutes allotted for each) on my to do list. I then will add 3 more if I feel up to it.
 
I have had PTSD my whole life. The fatigue comes and goes along with many of the other "known" PTSD symptoms.
The thing is "they" being the professionals don't know themselves. There is research that points to the stress chemical/hormone put out by our brains various pharmacies affect our cells in our blood. These cells in our blood get trapped or cling to our muscles and other parts of our bodies like the stomach and intestinal tract. It makes the muscles tighten and have to work harder which uses much more energy causing exhaustion, they cause changes in our stomach and intestines causing absorption problems so we don't get everything we need from food even when we do eat healthy. They cause IBS symptoms, celiac disease symptoms, and other autoimmune disorder symptoms. They also slow down our metabolism. Yet when someone like myself goes to the doctor and gets sent for test after test, nothing is found. Not because nothing is wrong, they don't know what to look for.. So if you are feeling fatigued and are eating healthy maybe, just maybe, you are showing more PTSD symptoms then you realize.
 
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