Why am I tired all the time? Faint, irritable, demotivated, aching body... advice sorely needed

[papermate93]

Hi all,

I am not only new here, but new on health forums full stop. I've been considering reaching out for a while now, and reading some similar issues to my own on this forum has made me take the plunge.




I am a 24 year old female who, according to doctors and blood tests etc, is perfectly healthy. However, I do not feel healthy 5 or 6 days of the week, and I am reaching out because I would like advice from anyone who may think they know the answer. I am going to give you all facets of my story, thank you in advance for reading it.




I suffer from unexplainably timed fatigue throughout the day, paired with occasional headaches. Sometimes I am hit with an agonising headache that absolutely forces me to sleep, it is the only way to solve it. These are definitely migraines, because I experience sensitivity to light when they’re this bad. I get them in the late afternoon specifically and they last for hours.




Despite having fatigue, I don't suffer with problems sleeping at night, which I have learnt is a common symptom for people with fatigue. But no, I sleep well at night, and again, my headaches mean I sometimes sleep well for usually a good two hours in the afternoon, too.




In addition to this, I often get light-headed and feel very faint. I have been sensitive in this way my whole life and it has always been manageable, but it has been getting worse and worse in my 20's. In my 20's, I also developed the vasovagal response to seeing blood in real life, from an injury or needle for example. I am adding this detail just in case it means anything. I only discovered this about myself a year ago when I saw a needle in my brother's arm. I've never been queasy, it totally took us all by surprise.




Next part of the story. Around 5 months ago, I was in a highly stressful job and was deeply unhappy, suffering from bouts of depression that meant I couldn’t get out of bed, feeling so hopeless and worthless I didn’t care for my life. For the first time ever I experienced anxiety attacks, before or during travelling to work in the morning, and this involved intense heartbeats. Not quick palpitations, but a feeling like my heart was about to burst and jumping in my throat, because it was beating so hard. I left the job!, and yet this feeling of a tight chest continues, as do my intense heartbeats. They occur when I am experiencing fatigue or headaches, or interestingly, after I have just eaten a meal. I've been to the hospital for multiple heart checks & scans, and everything is healthy. Issues with my heart have been ruled out (thank God). But it is almost like I am still dealing with the trauma aftermath?




Third part. My body aches all over everyday, in particular my shoulder blade and lower back - I have very mild scoliosis which causes this pain and my displaced shoulder blade. I had 10 appointments a few years ago with an osteopath on the NHS, which began alleviating the pain, but after those appointments I couldn't afford to pay for anymore, and the pain came back.




The pain not only came back but my back's shape is getting worse these past few months. The stretched muscles from my shoulder and therefore across my chest, I believe, exacerbate the tightness of my chest that I started experiencing months ago, as explained above. So with my back worsening and these leftover symptoms of stress still bothering me, my chest no longer ever feels like I am getting a full breath, or like I can expand it fully.

My mental health I believe is sound, now that I have made changes to my job. I freelance from home and have time to pursue my passions. I’m still not thrilled with my freelance work in marketing, but it pays the bills. However, my constant rollercoaster of fatigue and faintness often leaves me so demotivated and desperate to turn off my brain and escape life, I find even my freelance work impossible. I get crazy irritable over small things I read on email, because I get angry wasting precious precious energy on things I do not care about. And this is when I get most upset, because I remember how awful my job used to be, so how can I be so useless that even this new lifestyle is difficult for me?

My diet my entire life has been very Mediterranean with lots of fruit, vegetables, wholemeal pasta & bread and some fish, although I only eat meat once a week due to my own ethical beliefs. I have cut out most meat for around a year now. This has never been a problem in the past, but my research has brought up the vitamin B12 occasionally, and now I am wondering if that is part of the problem. I do eat meat once a week though. My tiredness, aching limbs, anger, unmotivated zombie-like state and awful headaches, they seem so much more than a vitamin deficiency. But maybe I am wrong?

Thank you so much for reading all of this. I hugely appreciate your time and really hope to hear some theories soon. It would change my life if I could feel like myself again.

Thanks

[Jeff1943]

You have done two good things in response to your anxiety disorder: you've seen your doctor and had tests to confirm the symptoms aren't anything organic and you've done something about the job that was causing you too much stress.

May I suggest that where you're going wrong is with too much introspection, you are giving too much attention to checking how you feel and obsessing over every ache and pain and palpitation. The more you concentrate on different parts of your body malfunctioning the more your nervous system responds with more symptoms to occupy your mind.

So instead of continually monitoring your body for symptoms I suggest you do the opposite and just accept them all for the time being. Because if you truly accept them you stop stressing about them and this is what has caused and maintained your anxiety disorder. Stress causes more symptoms which causes more stress which causes more symptoms in a vicious circle that goes on and on. If you stop the stressing you break the circle and all the symptoms described in your posting will eventually cease to bother you.

Somewhere in the past, maybe at the job you hated, your nervous system became over sensitised by stress, strain and overwork. Sensitised nerves then start to send us strange messages and bad feelings. These usually imitate physical illnesses but they are really only glitches in your nervous system and can do you no real harm. Other than make you feel uncomfortable and fearful, of course.

The road to recovery lies in accepting all these tricks that sensitised nerves play on us calmly and without fear or worry. By not fuelling our nerves with worry and fear our sensitised nervous system begins to recover, the tricks cease and we regain our peace of mind. Simply by accepting the symptoms discomforting though they may be.

You may care to read a short book written many years ago by Claire Weekes who was the first to set out the Acceptance Method for recovery from anxiety disorder. It's titled 'Self help with your nerves' and it's available from Amazon both new and used. You will soon recognise yourself in its paged and feel that Doctor Weekes knows you personally. It's that sort of book and over the padt 50 years it has helped untold thousands to recover. The fact that it was written so long ago is obe if uts strengths: it has withstood the test of time. I wish you God's speed on your journey to recovery.