Fatigue

[vesperholly]

Vitamin D deficiency is especially common if you live in the northern US or Canada. I think the minimum for proper absorption is 15 minutes of sunlight. My city is constantly overcast, so there are many days in the winter that I never really see the sun. I've taken Vitamin D for years and it does help.

[maatTheViking]

Vitamin D deficiency is especially common if you live in the northern US or Canada. I think the minimum for proper absorption is 15 minutes of sunlight. My city is constantly overcast, so there are many days in the winter that I never really see the sun. I've taken Vitamin D for years and it does help.

They backtracked on how much Vitamin D you need, btw - but I don't remember the article. When I was pregnant with mini-Viking (2.5 years ago), my blood tests showed Vitamin D deficiency. At that point I was taking multivitamins, calcium with vitamin D (about 500 mg) and 1000 mg Vitamin D supplement. When I told my doctor she just told me to continue, not to take more . I have since dropped the Vitamin D supplement, and I don't consistently take calcium any more. This pregnancy I didn't get told I had Vitamin D deficiency - huh? I thought. And my blood test was in Autumn and not summer like with mini-Viking... Maybe having a kid already takes me outside more

[Prancer]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I am taking the ferrous sulfate version, but was not taking it with anything acidic. The doctor didn't mention that. I will look into the heme version of iron.

I was put on iron supplements about a year ago and my iron levels actually got worse until I started taking Feosol, which is a combination of heme and non-heme iron.

It also doesn't affect my stomach, which ferrous sulfate always did.

[MacMadame]

They backtracked on how much Vitamin D you need, btw - but I don't remember the article.

They actually increased the recommendation. They used to say something ridiculous like 200 IUs. Now it's 2000 IUs. Also, the labs say normal is anything over 30 but to truly have optimal help, you need to be over 50. Over 30 will keep you from having rickets but that's not the same as optimal health.

As for getting Vitamin D from the sun, it's the best way to get it but it can be hard in North America. At most latitudes we have something called Vitamin D winter where the angle of the sun is such that you aren't going to make Vitamin D by being exposed to it. So for months out of the year being outside doesn't help at all. (This even happens during the summer at certain times of day but, of course, that's a tiny fraction of the day.)

This article talks about getting it from the sun without getting skin cancer:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about...ndoor-tanning/

[Bailey_]

Fatigue is such a difficult thing... I often wonder if the fatigue that I feel is normal, or if something is wrong.There are times when I just get so run down. I look around a friends who are so busy with work and running their kids around and thing -- they seem to have so much more energy than me. I'm envious sometimes because I find that I just can't do that. But then again, perhaps they are powered up on coffee and feeling exactly the same as me. I have always needed a lot of sleep -- a good night for me is 8-10 hours. I can function on less for a few days but then I just get really run down. I just often wonder what others are feeling and if I'm "normal" -- so it's interesting to read your posts.

[Erin]

Fatigue is such a difficult thing... I often wonder if the fatigue that I feel is normal, or if something is wrong.

I know how you feel...to some extent, I feel like you could only know if it is "normal" if you have had something that is abnormal and think about the difference between that and the normal, if that makes sense. If I think about the way I feel 90% of the time now compared to the way I felt 90% of the time before when I had sinus issues exhausting me, I know now that this is normal and the way I felt back then wasn't normal. But when I spent about 3 years being tired all the time and the only explanation that bloodwork showed was a slight iron deficiency (and I didn't feel any better when that was resolved), I started to think that maybe it was normal and I was just being a big baby about it, even though I know that there was a time when I hadn't felt that tired. Now that I don't feel that way anymore, it is super clear that it could not have been normal, but it is hard to determine without a baseline for comparison.

[Laney]

Fatigue is such a difficult thing... I often wonder if the fatigue that I feel is normal, or if something is wrong.There are times when I just get so run down. I look around a friends who are so busy with work and running their kids around and thing -- they seem to have so much more energy than me. I'm envious sometimes because I find that I just can't do that. But then again, perhaps they are powered up on coffee and feeling exactly the same as me. I have always needed a lot of sleep -- a good night for me is 8-10 hours. I can function on less for a few days but then I just get really run down. I just often wonder what others are feeling and if I'm "normal" -- so it's interesting to read your posts.

Bailey, I know EXACTLY how you feel! I couldn´t have descriped it better!!! I always have the feeling that everybody around me has much more energy than I have, don´t need so much sleep as I need and all. I couldn´t even imagine to have children, it´s exausting me even to think about it. I eat healthy food, try to be as much as possible outside in the nature to get more energy - it´s also the only thing that really helps me. But the fact is, that often I´m just sooo tired and runned down. Maybe some people are this way and others aren´t? I hope for both of us that it will become better in the future!!!

[Anita18]

Fatigue is such a difficult thing... I often wonder if the fatigue that I feel is normal, or if something is wrong.There are times when I just get so run down. I look around a friends who are so busy with work and running their kids around and thing -- they seem to have so much more energy than me. I'm envious sometimes because I find that I just can't do that. But then again, perhaps they are powered up on coffee and feeling exactly the same as me. I have always needed a lot of sleep -- a good night for me is 8-10 hours. I can function on less for a few days but then I just get really run down. I just often wonder what others are feeling and if I'm "normal" -- so it's interesting to read your posts.

My coworker who is happy when she gets more than 4 hours of sleep a day? She introduced me to "Bubba," which is a 64-oz thermos that she uses for coffee. She's also fueled by OCD and feeling extremely guilty for not doing enough. OCD and guilt will take you very far!

Everyone has their own set point. I can survive on 5-6 hours/night for a workweek but then I crash on the weekends. I'm not sure if that's totally good for me. But I do function pretty well. However, my life isn't really that busy. When I have a lot of places to be at once, that's when I get tired easily and start getting scatterbrained. I have no idea how people survive 1-hour commutes every day! I just want to fall into bed and sleep forever when I get home after one of those things!

[PDilemma]

Fatigue is such a difficult thing... I often wonder if the fatigue that I feel is normal, or if something is wrong.There are times when I just get so run down. I look around a friends who are so busy with work and running their kids around and thing -- they seem to have so much more energy than me. I'm envious sometimes because I find that I just can't do that. But then again, perhaps they are powered up on coffee and feeling exactly the same as me. I have always needed a lot of sleep -- a good night for me is 8-10 hours. I can function on less for a few days but then I just get really run down. I just often wonder what others are feeling and if I'm "normal" -- so it's interesting to read your posts.

This is me, too. And I found that needing sleep and down time was practically considered a character flaw for a teacher. You were supposed to be able to operate on four or five hours of sleep a night and go full speed six days a week and if you couldn't you weren't dedicated.

[maatTheViking]

They actually increased the recommendation. They used to say something ridiculous like 200 IUs. Now it's 2000 IUs. Also, the labs say normal is anything over 30 but to truly have optimal help, you need to be over 50. Over 30 will keep you from having rickets but that's not the same as optimal health.

As for getting Vitamin D from the sun, it's the best way to get it but it can be hard in North America. At most latitudes we have something called Vitamin D winter where the angle of the sun is such that you aren't going to make Vitamin D by being exposed to it. So for months out of the year being outside doesn't help at all. (This even happens during the summer at certain times of day but, of course, that's a tiny fraction of the day.)

This article talks about getting it from the sun without getting skin cancer:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about...ndoor-tanning/

thanks, interesting.

[Bailey_]

This is me, too. And I found that needing sleep and down time was practically considered a character flaw for a teacher. You were supposed to be able to operate on four or five hours of sleep a night and go full speed six days a week and if you couldn't you weren't dedicated.

It is so true. I too sometimes feel like I am somehow lacking when I tell people that I'm tired and need a day at home to rest or say that I haven't gotten enough sleep. As a society, it seems that the general consensus is that you should be able to get by with little sleep and that you are complaining if you are feeling tired -- just suck it up and drink and energy drink. Particularly my friends who have kids -- I feel guilty when I tell them I'm tired and need a day at home to rest/clean my house because I know that they are so busy running with kids, I often wonder what they think... But then again, I'm working a full-time job, maintaining a house on my own, various social engagements and running with my niece and nephew... so it's not like I'm sitting at home doing nothing. I guess, it's all a matter of perception...

[Anita18]

It is so true. I too sometimes feel like I am somehow lacking when I tell people that I'm tired and need a day at home to rest or say that I haven't gotten enough sleep. As a society, it seems that the general consensus is that you should be able to get by with little sleep and that you are complaining if you are feeling tired -- just suck it up and drink and energy drink. Particularly my friends who have kids -- I feel guilty when I tell them I'm tired and need a day at home to rest/clean my house because I know that they are so busy running with kids, I often wonder what they think... But then again, I'm working a full-time job, maintaining a house on my own, various social engagements and running with my niece and nephew... so it's not like I'm sitting at home doing nothing. I guess, it's all a matter of perception...

It's a very bad characteristic of US culture in general. Even if someone can't survive on 4 hours a sleep a night, they still may have something important to offer! It's almost like a contest, to see how little sleep one can survive on. I'm not proud that I sleep so little, especially when I don't REALLY need to.

[Simone411]

I take a multi vitamin that also contains multi B, E, C, calcium, iron and magnesium. My doctor made sure I took a multi-vitamin with magnesium while I was still taking Coumadin last year. The blood thinner made me fill tired and sluggish at times, and my doctor explained that it was consuming a lot of magnesium from my blood. I also drank 2Cal which is similar to Ensure but without a lot of vitamin K since I couldn't have a lot of vitamin K while on the blood thinner. The 2Cal gave me a lot of energy and also helped me to gain some weight back.

[*Jen*]

Fatigue is such a difficult thing... I often wonder if the fatigue that I feel is normal, or if something is wrong.

The best way my doctor put it to me is that if you feel so exhausted that you wish someone would come and pick you up and carry you home or be wheeled home in a comfy bed while you sleep, and this isn't a one off thing but a constant thing after you've slept 7-8 hours, then something is wrong.

There is SO much that falls short of that though, which still might not be normal. You're right, it's so hard to tell, and it varies so much.

My sister was always if she didn't get 12 hours sleep a night, and then she graduated, got a job and had kids and never gets that amount of sleep. It's always with her because she's sleep deprived. Except...she still sleeps, on average, more hours than I do and I get by just fine. I'm an occasional insomniac though, so I've probably adjusted. She probably never will and will begrudge her children for her lack of sleep for the rest of her life

I think the bottom line is, if you're worried about your level of fatigue then it's time to get things checked out. If you're okay with it, then you're probably okay. I was extremely anaemic before I realised anything was wrong though, so perhaps not

[barbk]

If you need more sleep (at night) than someone else does, but you wake up refreshed and revived, then I think it is just a case that bodies are different and yours needs more sleep than your sister or friend needs. I need ninety minutes more sleep a night than Mr. Barbk needs, and that is just the way it is.

If you're tired after taking a shower and getting dressed in the morning, or exhausted after doing a little bit of work, or feel that just moving is like wading through vats of solidified jello -- then to me that is fatigue.

[vesperholly]

There were times, when I was in the middle of my treatment for Graves' disease, that I used to get up from sleeping 8+ hours and go lie on the couch until I had to go to work. In my mind, I wanted to get up and do things, but I physically couldn't. I think a lot of people mistake that for lazy, which is really unfortunate.

I still have problems with it - running errands for 3-4 hours leaves me wiped out.

[JasperBoy]

In my experience introverts need more sleep than extroverts because just being amongst people is draining.
Also, people with fibromyalgia need extra sleep, if they can manage to avoid awaking at 4 AM with hip/back/joint pain.

I have both.

Now that I am retired I can take an afternoon nap, which helps. I also invested in an adjustable memory foam bed. Life is good.