Posted on by LydiaA1614

I Hope I Stay Awake Long Enough…

SleepingViolet

My sleep patterns and my appetite have been way out of wack lately.

I seem to be able to stay awake for say four hours and then I can’t keep my eyes open. So, no matter what time of day it is, I end up going to bed and sleeping a couple of hours before I wake up starving.

A very small amount of food (today it was a taco for lunch) will fill me up. Then I do something like making and packing Hubby’s lunch, and I need to lay down again.

Then the other shoe drops – my chronic pain goes full throttle in my legs and sometimes my side, shoulders, and lower back. So, as tired as I am, I get up, use my vibracise machine in hopes to help the circulation and/or my exercise bike to stretch the muscles and tire me out.

The thing is, it is not that I am tired. It is the fatigue from all my conditions beating me up on the inside. No matter how much sleep I get, I never feel rested. Last night my “Gear” watch that my Hubby got me showed in 5 hours I got 4 hours very solid sleep. That is a record for the last few months!

I am going to try to take out the recycling (2 or three trips) in a bit to see if it energizes or tires me out.

Even though my bipolar has been in check for a long time, I worry about my insomnia elevating my moods. On one hand I want more energy but on the other, I could very easily go manic if I am up too long. On the flip side, too much giving into naps could lead to depression, especially when I get so frustrated about not being able to do things.

Caffeine is not an option for me as it will give me migraines. However, I do grab the occasional diet cola and play “Russian Roulette” on whether it will kill or cure me! 😉

I would love to hear from other chronic fatigue sufferers with your ways of dealing with this problem. I know I am not alone.

Lydia!

13 Replies to “I Hope I Stay Awake Long Enough…”

  1. Lydia, best wishes on figuring this out. My needs are much simpler as I conk out and need a 30 minute nap in the afternoon. Does medication cause the fatigue? My brother-in-law had to recalibrate his meds as they were impacting his memory and causing slurring. Take care, Keith

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    1. I have Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which both cause fatigue as does my general chronic pain. I have a nap in the afternoon but it is usually about 1 – 2 hours. I am on medications which can cause drowsiness and the other side-effects you mentioned; however, I have been on them so long it is hard to know what their affect is on me.

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      3. Lydia, please don’t worry about any offense taken on my part. None taken. You are so sweet. With all the things you are facing, I recognize that I don’t have much to offer you other than I feel for you. I am sorry if my brief response caused you alarm as that was not my intent. Take care of you, Keith

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  2. Hey gurl!!!..
    This does hit home and I want to tell you that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!! I can relate to the sleeping and not sleeping my pattern is that I am usually up every 30 minutes to every hour no matter what so I do not sleep more than that at all…even when I take my Trazadone sometimes it helps but still up and sometimes it doesn’t and like you when I don’t sleep or I should say up for over 24 hours I start to have a flare …I do need to find an app for my phone that shows sleeping patteren and things like that I seen a few then forgot about it lol… They wanted me to do a sleep study but to busy with taking care of my dad…Yes we have to watch out for that ugly depression sneaking in when we sleep to much oh the wonderful mind lol…I to have trouble with depression I am on abilify for that along with cymbalta for fibro pain…did I read that you take trazadone as well or was that someone else?? My food intake has really gone down so the opposite of you lol.. but I eat when hungry and not when not hungry lol I am down to 118 I believe ..Is your weight fluctuating ?? but I read you not eating much a taco I guess we need to eat better food too but then to tired to cook lol…my better half is great he has been cooking and everything for us when he isn’t sick lol…
    CFS is mean and I hate it..Do you work outside the home job? or disabled? I hate when people think just because you don’t work outside the home and sick and disabled that they think you don’t work at all..please… I wish they could all step in our shoes the ones that have chronic illnesses …..
    So in reality I think I just went what you are going through gurl…. The last 3 days have been amazing for me THANK YOU GOD!!! …
    But I do believe you may be going through a flare with everything acting up on you.. Just know that it will pass I know as hard as that may seem it will..Just a matter of time I guess since I am still learning as well… I just pray for you and your well being and that this will pass fast.. I felt like I was down for a year… I know it wasn’t but other health factors were involed with other things but I was down for a long time I would get up have coffeeeee try to do some paper work and bills and back to bed sometimes as early as after noon… mainly around 3 i would have to lay down for the rest of the day and night I would still be up every 30 mins and hour.. I don’t know if it was due to since I am out and have been out of vitamins and vitamin D3 5000 IU a day….I just do not know gurl what to say to help you only that it will pass and do not be afraid of going to the Dr if you are able I remember being to damn tired to do so..lol..My Dr wouldn’t help anyways.. I asked for an IV of vitamins and she was really rude saying oh medicare won’t pay for it and you can’t afford it..so yeah lol…….
    Hang in there the best you can and I will keep you in my prayers my dear friend
    Hugggs soft huggs to you
    Suzette….

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    1. My food intake is low as well. I can only eat a bit and do it about 6 times a day. I may feel hungry, but my body shuts down after a small amount. I tend to use smaller plates and only put a little food on it so I am not overwhelmed. I did take trasadone for years; however, I have been off it now for probably 10 years. I have been on cymbalta for close to a year now. You are in my prayers as well. I was getting vitamin IV’s from a Naturopath Doctor. They were $100 each but did help. Sometimes you can just take one and it gets things started again.

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      1. Well it seems like you are doing what you should do like eating a little at a time and more often so that is good thing gurl… Same medications too lol.. yeah on and off trazadone sometimes I take it others I don’t since I feel like if its’ not going to help why should I take it then when I do need it I take it and I am up all night I can never win lol.. cymbalta I just went down to 2 pills and the abilify every other night I am doing this myself so I do not recommend it lol I am bad about medications…. but without taking the cymbalta that extra dose my headache have seemed to be not as often so thank god for that..and abilify every other night my eyes are not as blurry but still blurry if that makes sense lol…I go for an eye test for lupus on the 28th since the medication I take causes blindness and my Dr will not refill my medication and my last eye Dr that took care of me left the city but she told me it is every 5 years for this test so I had a rude awaking lol I haven’t seen any eye Dr in over 6 years and have been having problems so we will see…
        Well when I was really sick I would have found a way to get that 100 to pay for the IV especially if it helps hell that’s natural you would think insurance would pay for something like that but oh no………..Don’t get me started on them lol…Oh th Dr also said that it’s only for private insurance and shittttt..

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  4. I probably don’t have helpful advice since I don’t have the same issues as you. I used to sleep a ton on my meds, but since the latest adjustment I’m able to stay up later and get up earlier. What I tried to do when I was sleeping so much was to make the most of the time during which I was able to be awake, and be accepting of the fact that sleeping a lot was the price I paid for being functional during my waking hours.

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