lifetime lethergy

looking back, all my life i've suffered from various stages of lethergy - and now in my 40's it's really starting to become a problem and i don't want to live like this anymore.

as a child i was written off as lazy. as a teen and early 20's i wrote it off as burning the candle at both ends (even tho i didn't and was sleeping 10-12 hours a night). in my late 20's i wrote it off as stress caused by going thru a divorce. in the early 30's the adreneline of a new relationship, battling with hubby's ex, renovating, stepkids etc seemed to keep me fairly on the level. in my mid/late 30's i wrote it off as being a new mum.

but now i am beginning to see "it" for what it is. i eat well (except for the odd chocolate breakout and a glass of wine with dinner), i sleep 7-8 hours a night, i keep fit(ish) but wake up every morning feeling exhauted and like a could do with another 8 hours sleep. now i am finding i have to have a midafternoon nap to be able to function in the evening and if i don't get a nap, i am written off by around 4pm.

i've had the blood tests for thyroid, iron and cholestorol. had the liver and kidney functions tested. had the ecg. no results. next step is to go back to the docs and request to have have an overnight sleep test done.

i suspect it might be my sleep patterns. i am a light sleeper and for as long as i've known i dream very vividly to the point of extreme realisim. i have conversation with hubby will i sleep (although he claims he can't understand me). i can conciously control the directions my dreams take and sometimes wake up believing i am in the middle of what is actually happening in the dream (the other night i dreamt we had gone out and had a very boozy - but fun - night and i woke up at 4am with that "sick stomach" feel one has when having drunk to much). i have never sleep walked.

has anyone else gone thru something similar? i am wondering how one actually sleeps during the tests with all those wires hanging off (being a light sleeper). is there anything else it could be? i doubt it would be depression as this has been a lifelong issue.
 
I can't help with your problem Lizzie, but your dreams sure sound interesting. I have the most weird dreams. I often can't remember them, but on the occasions that I do, they are just so very strange and always make for a good conversation.
 
Hi,

That is really spooky, what you have described is almost exactly how I have felt my whole life. I am now almost 34 and have always felt constantly tired. I can not ever remember a time when I didn’t feel tired. It’s so frustrating waking from a seemingly good nights sleep but feeling groggy and lethargic. When I was about 25 it really got me down to the point where I went to see the doc and also had a battery of tests done. Nothing came back so the doc put it down to exhaustion and stress at the time. I did get a little better but I have never felt normal. It doesn’t matter whether I have 2 hours sleep or 12 hours sleep, I always feel groggy after waking and never actually seem to properly wake up all day.

I do have plenty of go in me once I get started on something, but I have shocking motivation. If I can actually get myself going then I can graft like nobodies business. I joke with Emma all the time that I don’t know how to relax, I don’t have a relax mode, I just have an on and off switch. If I sit down to watch TV, or read a book, I am asleep in minutes no matter how interesting the book/film is or how tired/awake I feel at the start, and no matter what time of day or night.

I too have the most vivid and real dreams most nights, but I also suffer from night terrors. These are like nightmares only extreme in content and their effect on you. I often wake myself up shouting and screaming with Emma telling me to calm down, it’s only a dream. Some dreams I have are so real, and superb that I wake up euphoric then come crashing down with the realization it was a dream. I have had lottery win dreams countless times and within the dream I tell myself I am only dreaming and it is not happening, then within the dream I also convince myself that it is real to the point where I feel so much excitement only then to wake up and thing….bummer, it was a dream after all.

Although I talk and shout in my sleep during bad dreams, I have also never sleep-walked (to my knowledge).

I had come to the conclusion that maybe I am just lazy after all, but I would be interested to hear from you if you do decide to go to a sleep clinic. It could be very interesting. I don’t think that I don’t sleep well as I always seem to stay asleep through the night if you know what I mean, but I do fairly regularly have episodes where I have a dream that I cant breathe, it gets to the point where I start to panic as I cant draw breath, then I’ll wake up suddenly and I’m not actually breathing. It’s quite scary as I’ve obviously held my breath for a while and there is no air left in my lungs so it’s difficult to get the first breath back again. This happens to me about 3 or 4 times a year. I think it’s a form of something called sleep apnea? It may be possible that this is happening to a lesser extent more frequently but not enough to wake me up properly and that why I too always feel tired?

I’ll be following this thread to see how many others suffer similar feelings.

By the way, we have no kids and I have a desk job, so it’s not like I’m just worn out.

Let me know if you go to sleep clinic, as I may be interested in trying it myself.

Tony.
 
i don't have the night terrors - in fact i rarely have any nightmares nowadays due to the ability to control the dreams direction. i used to have a lot of nightmares as a child tho.

propogate, i know exactly what you mean - the dreams are so real that they are as if they reality. i to get excited or disappointed on waking and realising they are just dreams ... the most frustrating part is that during the dreams i have tonnes of energy, passion and drive (no, not necessarily sexual!!)) but have very little in my waking life unless the adreneline levels are raised.

the problem is starting to affect all aspects of my life so i will see the doc again once the kid is back at school next year and see where that leads.

oh, also had blood sugars done - all results of all tests were fine.

now time to mow the lawn - i'm sooooooooo excited.
 
fatigue

Personally I would avoid miracle cures and anyone who makes a profit directly from flogging you theirs.
Lizzie and Tony, I have PM'ed you both with my ideas (FWIW).
Best of luck
Harpic
 
Hi - Similar with me. Until recently (last few years) that is, when i finally started paying attention to my body. I have had allergies my entire life and it really does effect me.

The solution is that I take vitamin supplements. First month took 10 per day of various kinds...until my body back in sync. Now I take 2 per day...

Really helps.

Cheers
Aussie
 
I think it's the malaise of modern life.

Personally I favour a round of multi-vital - daily elixir which seems to pep me up if I'm feeling run down.

Another one to look at is hormone balance - various doctors deal with 'rejeuventation' via hormones and they seem to work. Message me if you need a good referral.

The other big energy stealer is stress - I find that my energy levels rise if I'm doing something I like and plummet when it's distasteful.

The upside is that I've found that procrastination is sometimes a useful business too.
 
Also try pushing on your chest just below you collar bone and sort of level with the top of your arm pit. If it hurts you are having lymph issues, try a massage therapist and request massage specific for lymphatic drainage.

hmmm - tender - but is that because of a blocked lymph system, or because i've been mowing the lawns, trimming the edges, moving mulch, painting doors, sanding ... ?

no, i'm not tired because i've been working to hard - asides from the odd hard day (maybe one a month) i tend to take it all pretty cruisey.

this is a lifelong problem that i've only really now have i decided i've had enough. i always used to think going around all day in a semi-daze (tired state) was normal, and always had an excuse, but in the last 6 months i've realised that this is not normal.
 
I really recommend the sleep clinic.

Friend's husband had this, it turned out he was stopping breathing around 30-40 times a night. And yes, you do actually sleep even though wired up. And another person I know did his sleep test at home - he went to the clinic and he was wired up, went home to sleep then back the next morning.

If the sleep clinic comes back clear then by all means explore the massage/vitamins options.
Marg
 
Personally I would avoid miracle cures and anyone who makes a profit directly from flogging you theirs.
Lizzie and Tony, I have PM'ed you both with my ideas (FWIW).
Best of luck
Harpic

I don't get the impression that anyone here is spruiking there wares. A suggestion of some non-pharmacological vitamins, tonics were provided by Julie and Joan.

Harpic, I would be delighted (as I'm sure would others) to hear your ideas. This is a forum where we share and learn. If you need to keep it top secret, why mention it at all that you PM then, why not just PM them personally (without disclosing what you did) and remove conjecture from what it is you won't share on an open board.

I am open and receptive to all ideas, and wlecome your thoughts as listlessness, lethargy and tiredness are things many might be enduring.....please share.

Any natural suggestions that do no harm should be viewed as an adjunct to standard medical (sickness industry) care.

Lizzie, my 0.02, if you are confident that you've had all tests, seen an endocrinologist, etc., etc then perhaps entertain seeing a (word of mouth recommended) naturopath.

Sometimes things like vital greens and/or chlorophyl, a multi-vitamin, and other supplements may assist.

If your diet/nutrition could improve then commit to doing that. Less processed foods (especially carbs and simple sugars), limiting white poisons such as white flour, white sugar salt and so on. Plenty of water consumed consistently throughout the day. Start the day with some lemon squeezed in warm (or room temp) water. Helps alkalise the body first thing and apparently kick starts the liver. Reduce caffeine if this is an issue for you. Sometimes the boost it gives quickly provides a bigger let-down when the effects wear off. Limit alcohol/caffeine late in the day.

Can't help with the vividness of the dreaming, however there may be some metabolic/hoprmonal/endocrine link to that and perhaps improving nutrition may augment whatever else you pursue and investigate.

Just some ideas that have come to mind for the moment. Good luck :)
 
I can definitely relate to what is been discussed here.

I can sleep 8, 9 or even 10 hours and find it impossible to get my a#$% out of bed each morning. I have tried every technique under the sun for years and still have not cracked it.

I know of people that eat Maccas for breakfast, drink soft drinks, coffee all day and drink like a fish on weekends. Yet they are just bouncing off the walls early in the mornings !

I on the other side eat correct portion of protein/ carbs and good fats, drink herbal tea, stay away from alcohol and exercise yet feel like crap each morning.

Once I am up and after an hour or so I feel really good. It's just that morning buzz I so much desire.
 
I would reccommend the sleep study even just to eliminate sleep apnoea as the cause of your lethergy. I conclusively prooved that it was the cause of mine.

I had a sleep study done some 5 yrs ago and found that I sufferred sleep apnoea and actually woke in excess of 100 time during an 8 hour period.

Apnoea is generally caused by the sleeper not breathing due to an obstruction when the body relaxes during sleep. When the body runs low on oxygen, it wakes just enough to restart the breathing process and one is not concious of this wakening.

Since I started using my CPAP machine to sleep with, my life energy improved out of sight. It took some getting used to sleeping with a monster spider sitting on my face but the struggle was worth it in spade fulls.

See here http://www.cpapaustralia.com.au/shopping/cpap-machines.htm?gclid=CNfgtfvDzZ4CFQQupAod7R3vsA

There is a lot of info on the net. Just google sleep apnoea.

Cheers.

Chris.
 
y'know what - i'm just gonna chuck this out there - because after 4 or 5 times you'll know for sure.

see a chiro. you may have a problem upper back like me that affects the circulatory sytem and lungs - specifically L4.

it may be out and you don't even know it - pinching nerves that you're used to being pinched and just enough to disrupt the electrical signals that help your body function properly.

try and find a Gonstead practitioner.

cheers and good luck
 
I've got a suggestion based on similar symptoms as a teen - cut out dairy and wheat for at least a month, and see if this changes anything. Worked for me, and interestingly I now eat lots of dairy and wheat and have no problems at all.
 
Yep, so many potential causes you should start a list and cross them off as you test them :)

My wife sleeps badly, ask your husband "do I breath smoothly or with a gasp when I am asleep". If my wife sleeps on her back she will quite literally shake the bed when she starts breathing again.

Quite a surprise when we first got together, the whole bed was shaking as her body said "BREATH" after not breathing for a minute or so, her rib cage and abdomen convulse as she drags air into her lungs. It wakes me up and I have to nudge her until she rolls on her side, then we both get some sleep. If she sleeps on her back she has very vivid dreams and an awful night, waking in the morning feeling exhausted.

If you sleep on your back try sleeping in different positions, easy and free :)

I have crazy dreams if I have eaten MSG, 621, 627 etc that day, nasty stuff that ! perhaps food may have something to do with it but as you were like it when you were young probably not.

Then again, maybe you drank/drink lots of milk and you have lactose problems, they are very common, mainly because we aren't baby cows :)

I would be using a process of trial and error, but if it is sleep apnoea your husband should have noticed all is not right.

my 2c worth
 
Now my 2c worth.



Have you investigated your heart function?

Leaky valve, blocked artery, murmur could all throw up similar symptoms to this.
Your doc could help you to exclude this as a cause.

Cheers
 
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