Why Am I So Tired?

[Indieflickers 298]

@@scrapbasket I'll ask my primary care doctor about that!

@@Alex Brecher since I started using the CPAP machine almost a year ago, I find that I actually have trouble sleep more than 7 - 8 hours. For example, today I didn't set my alarm and I still woke up at 6am. I also seem to have a decent amount of energy when I wake up, it just fades fast!

[Indieflickers 298]

Update! Had my appointment with my primary care doc today. The good news is that I've officially lost 100 pounds since surgery 5 1/2 months ago. Also, all my blood work apparently looks great. The only downside to my blood work looking great is that there is no definitive answer on why I'm so tired. The blood panel I had done two weeks ago also included a thyroid test and it's perfectly normal. My Iron is good, my B12 is great, everything is perfect. The doctor said she thinks the fatigue is simply due to my body adjusting to the "dramatic weight loss" (her words). She thinks the further out I get from surgery, the less tired I'll feel. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for all of your suggestions!

[gpmed 623]

@@Indieflickers

Congrats on your weight loss! That is amazing! I suppose what your doc says is good news and bad news. Good news that there's nothing majorly wrong that she can see. Bad news that you don't have a definitive answer. That can be frustrating, but hopefully if you ride it out for a while longer you'll feel better. Keep letting us know how you're doing!

[Indieflickers 298]

Thanks @!

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

Amazing!!! Great job!

I lost 100 in seven months and had bouts of dizziness in there somewhere. It resolved itself. You may get some pep in your step soon.

[Indieflickers 298]

@@JustWatchMe that's very encouraging!

[KristenVSG2014 1,872]

Thanks for the update! That's good news that there's nothing showing up in your blood work. Hopefully after a few more months your energy will pick back up.

[Indieflickers 298]

@krisrpax I hope so! That does seem to be the general consensus.

[NikkiDoc 312]

OP if you were in my area I would say to be checked for Lyme or other tick borne diseases. I don't know how common Lyme is in CA. If you have been to the East coast anytime fairly recently except in the dead of winter I would get tested. If it isn't common in your area your doctors probably won't think about Lyme or other tick borne diseases. There are 3 other tick borne diseases that are fairly common in my area. I am being lazy about looking up the names since I can spell them.

I have had Lyme 4 times, DH has had it 3 times. Fatigue is a big symptom of Lyme. Neither of us has even found a tick or bulls eye on us. We find deer ticks on the cats all the time. DH also got a fever one time shortly before he noticed the fatigue. I get body sore from the Lyme but DH does not. Lyme can have a variety of symptoms depending on the individual.

DH actually always tests negative but his symptoms go away after he takes Doxycycline. He couldn't get a script the last time he had the symptoms and tested negative. But a friend had leftover Doxy from when her horse had Lyme. Symptoms gone after 40 days. We use human Doxy for horses. They just get about 20 pills twice a day.

[Indieflickers 298]

@@NikkiDoc I haven't been to the east coast recently. I don't think ticks are very common in LA but I'll check!

[NikkiDoc 312]

krisrpaz- my saddle fitter recently mentioned going for a sleep apnea test. She has one of the fitness devices that monitors her sleep- FitBit maybe? She figured out she was getting about 3 hours of actual sleep. If you have one of the fitness devices that does the sleep monitoring it might be a starting point toward figuring out if you have a sleep disorder.

Another thought: About 10 years years ago my husband was having fatigue issues. We finally figured out that he was sleeping too deep and never getting into REM sleep. The doctor prescribed him a mild anti-depressant for a few months to get his sleep cycle back to normal.

Since the Valium helped you I wonder if you never really sleep deep enough to get to REM so maybe try taking a Tylenol PM or OTC sleep aid each night for a week to see if it helps. If you don't get enough sleep in the REM stage it can cause fatigue.

I sometime have insomnia and I take a half dose of either an OTC sleep aid or Tylenol PM. If I take a full does of the OTC sleep aid it will cause me to be groggy when I get up. A half dose is enough to slow down the mind enough to sleep and stay asleep. So you may want to start at the lower dose end of things.

[KristenVSG2014 1,872]

krisrpaz- my saddle fitter recently mentioned going for a sleep apnea test. She has one of the fitness devices that monitors her sleep- FitBit maybe? She figured out she was getting about 3 hours of actual sleep. If you have one of the fitness devices that does the sleep monitoring it might be a starting point toward figuring out if you have a sleep disorder.

Another thought: About 10 years years ago my husband was having fatigue issues. We finally figured out that he was sleeping too deep and never getting into REM sleep. The doctor prescribed him a mild anti-depressant for a few months to get his sleep cycle back to normal.

Since the Valium helped you I wonder if you never really sleep deep enough to get to REM so maybe try taking a Tylenol PM or OTC sleep aid each night for a week to see if it helps. If you don't get enough sleep in the REM stage it can cause fatigue.

I sometime have insomnia and I take a half dose of either an OTC sleep aid or Tylenol PM. If I take a full does of the OTC sleep aid it will cause me to be groggy when I get up. A half dose is enough to slow down the mind enough to sleep and stay asleep. So you may want to start at the lower dose end of things.

Yes, thank you for the info! Any research I've done makes me believe I'm not getting quality sleep. I have always had crazy dreams and have a history of sleep walking and talking in addition to my clenching/grinding. When I took Valium I couldn't recall any dreams which was interesting to me.

I've had my eye on the newest FitBit. I think it's called the Charge. Once I have enough saved up I will most definitely get one.

[Indieflickers 298]

@ while the fitness trackers are awesome, I've read that you should take a lot of their sleep data with a grain of salt. I believe that the way the bands measure sleep is a bit on the simplistic side so it's not super accurate. http://m.livescience.com/42710-fitness-trackers-sleep-monitoring-accuracy.html