posted
I always feel so fatigue,I try to do some stuff at home,like housework,cook...etc but my body just so fatigued and the muscle feel so weak and sore..
Anyone here has the same feeling,how do you deal with it? you still go to work?
Posts: 158 | From pittsburgh | Registered: Aug 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Are you taking some adrenal support? Liver support? Are you gluten-free? Getting enough protein, lots of vegetables?
Do you take afternoon rest periods? Sometimes, you just have to lie still and rest.
Still, fatigue is a huge issue with lyme, all through treatment. But, with good treatment and good support, it does get better. Along the way, though, life is just not the same - our bodies are just not the same - and an entirely new system of operation needs to be put in place. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
I had to quit work because of the fatigue. I have tried all of the things Keeb mentions except a gluten free diet, and I have been treating for over a year with no improvement in the fatigue area.
However, with my fatigue, I can do a certain amount and then I am done. Like, IF I can make it to the grocery store, I could get home, and not be able to get the groceries in the house. Seriously! That happened yesterday, and my husband had to bring them in and put them up.
Good luck, some have had relief from fatigue, but I still see a lot of posters on her who list fatigue as the number 1 problem. So, it seems hard to "fix".
Posts: 893 | From Florida | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Sleep almost always helps my fatigue, so if I have a chance to take a nap or go to bed early or sleep late in the morning, I take it.
I do still go to work, but sometimes I don't get much done and am lucky just to stay upright all day.
My Lyme is actually improving over the last few months, and I have not had as much fatigue as before. It has been my most disabling symptom.
Eventually I tried to arrange my life so I could do laundry and grocery shopping on my days off (one on each day). I would buy frozen or deli food and heat it in the microwave on disposable plates so I wouldn't have to cook or wash dishes; anything I could think of to minimize the amount of work I had to do outside of my job. One week I got really desperate, and asked my mom to make me a big pot of organic, low carb chili so I could eat it all week, and she did.
Ask for help from anybody who would be willing to help you. It helps if you can be specific, like "Would you make me a pot of chili this weekend?" rather than "I need help cooking." Pay for help if you can afford it, in the form of a person to do the work, or paying extra for ready-made food, or ordering online instead of going out to the store, so they will bring it to your doorstep. Ask a relative or friend to go to the store for you.
Okay, that doesn't answer your question of what to do to make the fatigue go away, LOL. Sorry, I don't know.
I haven't tried caffeine. Something like that might be a temporary fix in an emergency, when you have no choice but to be functional, if it works, but in the long run it would be harmful to use it all the time, and you probably wouldn't gain any net energy.
I take warm/hot baths with epsom salts, and that helps relieve my joint/muscle pains, but sometimes if I was fatigued before, I feel a bit less so afterwards. I have also gotten a bit of relief from fatigue when I have gotten a massage. Those things might buy you a couple of functional hours, if they help in your case.
Rest has been the best remedy for me--both because when I have the fatigue, I can't do much else, and because if I get a lot of sleep every day and try not to push myself too hard, I get less fatigue and less often. I had trouble with this until I made myself a rule that I go to bed at 10pm every night no matter what, even on weekends and days when I'm feeling better.
That has helped me average 7-8 hours of sleep on work nights and 10-12 hours on days off, rather than the 5-6 a night I used to get before that.
If you live with others, then having a rule for your bedtime (and possibly naps, too) makes it easier for you to take time for your own needed rest and say no to their demands, or ask for their help with tasks you just don't have time (or energy) for.
When I first got sick, the fatigue would come on suddenly sometimes. I would be out doing errands, and suddenly I would have to get home immediately and lie down. Later it started coming on gradually through the day and would take a few hours to reach that level. Later still, I started to notice improvement in my symptoms in various ways, and one was that I stopped getting the fatigue so often.
As to cooking, I still haven't got that figured out well, but it seems like it would be helpful to cook a lot on the days when I'm not working, and then have extra meals in the fridge or freezer to just heat up during the week. I still haven't gotten organized to do that, and on the weekends I am tired and I want to sleep or lounge around, or if I feel well, then I am out doing all the things I normally am not able to do.
One thing that is hard for me, but important: we need to take it easy and only use up half of our energy when we actually have some, rather than using it all and then some trying to make up for lost time and do everything during that brief window when we're feeling good.
Also, do tell your family that you are "sick" and not "tired" when you can't do the domestic chores or family obligations. You are not just too lazy to do them. You have an illness that prevents you from it and requires rest to recover.
-------------------- Don't forget to laugh! And when you're going through hell, keep going!
Bitten 5/25/2009 in Perry County, Indiana. Diagnosed by LLMD 12/2/2009. Posts: 756 | From Inside the tunnel | Registered: Jan 2010
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Marz
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3446
posted
Some people swear by Eleuthero.
I was on the capsules for 3 months and didn't notice a difference.
I was switched by LLMD to Herb Pharms non-alcohol liquid last week, but it's too soon to tell. It's supposed to be more effective than the dry herb.
It's the third thing I think on Buhner's protocol for lyme.
Posts: 1302 | From USA | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Does anyone feel the fatigue we have it's very hard to describe to people..
My husband asks me what's the exactly feeling I have,I don't know how to describe,just feel like to die,..extremely fatigue!!
And it seems come and go,I can be ok one day and another day feel like crap again..
this disease is so hard ..
Posts: 158 | From pittsburgh | Registered: Aug 2009
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blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
It's more like a major lack of energy. Can't function physically. That is what I started telling people because when I say, "I'm so tired". They respond, "yeah, me too. That's what happens when you're older and dont' get enough sleep." It's hard for people to understand.
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- When I tell people that I have a chronic brain infection, that shuts them up. And it helps me to remember the serious nature of lyme. Of course, a person would have profound fatigue (and that word does not even come close). This explains a bit more of WHY fatigue is so deep with lyme:
Topic: NATURAL SLEEP - Links to articles & supplements
==========================
It's very important to have this book as a reference tool for self-care and support measures. It answers so many questions in detail that is impossible here on the forum.
last year i was working 4 hrs a day in my son's cafeteria (aka lunchlady), a very physically demanding job! i wasn't diagnosed until last month so i didn't know lyme was causing this, i thought it was the job.
when i would get home i would literally collapse on the couch. i would be pretty much immobilized for the next 2 hrs until i had to peel myself off the couch and get my daughter from the bus stop.
i only have 1 bathroom on the 2nd floor and i began going right before i left work so i wouldn't get home and not be able to make it up the stairs! so my point is do everything that you can to set yourself up for a nap...
i have started going to sleep a little sooner than the usual 1am which is helping a little. i'm hoping to keep moving that up so i will get in bed by 10:30 at the latest.
i try to rest as much as possible and as someone else said, ask for help whenever i need it. i've had friends volunteer to clean my house, parents to bring/make me food, people to come over and watch my kids so i can lie down for a few hours.
my fatigue always hits me worse in the afternoon, around 2. does that happen to anyone? i start "talking drunk" as my husband says and my body just stops working. if i take a nap in the afternoon, it gives me enough energy to get me through the night.
i don't rely on caffeine, soda, sugar to keep me going anymore. i seemed to crash and burn! i had a brief withdrawl from it but got over it pretty quick. i didn't go gluten free but i changed to lower & good carbs and that seems to help a little bit.
Posts: 95 | From IL | Registered: Jun 2010
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
quote:Originally posted by LightAtTheEnd: ...we need to take it easy and only use up half of our energy when we actually have some, rather than using it all and then some trying to make up for lost time...
Right, you need to pace yourself.
Carol
Posts: 6956 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Natural whey protein and light weight training kicked my fatigue to the curb and it never came back. Two scoops a day along with exercise did something amazing. I was so tired for the first month I thought I might not make it. Amazing combo many benefits for the body.
Posts: 501 | From Cleveland Ohio | Registered: Apr 2009
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
I need naps, they are the only relief I've found.
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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get better...
Posts: 243 | From Charleston, SC | Registered: Oct 2008
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littlebit27
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 24477
posted
I explain it to people as whole body exhaustion. Where I just feel like my body can't and won't do anymore. Or no matter how hard I try I just can't keep my eyes open.
My Fatigue is worse when I am at home and not concentrating on something, while at work where I am going a mile a min I do better. It's weird.
But once I get home, or sit down, it's just like this wave of fatigue hits me.
I'm going to try the eleuthro (spell?) and see if that helps...we shall see.
D Bergy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9984
posted
Has anyone tried Coconut Oil for fatigue?
It has a great deal of energy that is easily absorbed. It is antibacterial and antiviral, so the properties would indicate it could help in the short run, and over time it may help even more.
I do not have Lyme, and my wife no longer has symptoms of the disease, but it may be worth trying out. I do not really see any possible down side, other than it may not work.
Dan
Posts: 2924 | From Minnesota | Registered: Aug 2006
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