Wondering does anyone find that they get days of overwhelming fatigue ? I’ve had a busy couple of weeks and have been noticing increasing fatigue. I know I should have rested, but kept pushing ahead.
Now feel like I’ve completely wiped myself out with absolutely zero energy.
It’s almost like body will shut down til it can build some energy back up. It drives me insane as haven’t got energy to even get off the couch this afternoon.
Ahh so sorry 💔. I can strongly relate go that right now majorly over done it and I feel so wiped out, still got dinner to do! I felt like I was gona pass out in tesco. So I know exactly how you feel, I'm a carer so I just have to push through the fatigue and then majorly end up regretting it later! I don't know if your like me I need to rest about a day when I've over done it x
Hi it’s hard going being a carer whilst doing everything else. Yes I agree, family go mad as when I’m feeling good I plough through then like you say it comes back to hit me twice as hard. Keep trying to use pot of energy wisely but not being very successful esp when all demands of work, life etc …
Yup, the tiredness gets me down. Some days I'm wiped out. Todsy hasn't been great. Just had meds tweaked again and started a Vit D supplement as that needs a boost.
I get days when I just can't do anything. I never seem to completely wake up. I find a day resting is the only way to cope, usually with a cat on my feet.
Hi ScoobyDoo
Yes, I empathise with your current situation; I feel like this nearly every day.
Once every 3 or 4 weeks I’ll have a day where I feel like I have some energy and I’ve tried a variety of different things including not changing my routine in the hopes of improving the next day too and no matter what I’m left feeling completely depleted of energy sources.
I’m looking at getting a supplement to take alongside my medication (once I’ve sought advice from a medical professional) in the hopes of inspiring some additional energy from within my body 😂
Keep us posted with how you get on and I hope things improve quickly for you 🤞🏼
Best wishes
Soap 🧼
Hi, I get this too. I can be feeling fine and then all of a sudden I have to go to bed and sleep. Like you, it’s as if my body closes down. Thankfully it’s not often but does happen. Rest up and take care x
Oh I can relate to this. I've had a very busy couple of weeks, yesterday I was sitting on the sofa and just dozed off. I usually never sleep during the day. Trying to move my self to get up felt like I was trying to move a tonne weight. I guess it just catches up with you 😕
Hope you feel better today .
I am finding I am getting more tried these days I am 64 years old , Had 2 stents and minor heart attack in 2017 ,I like biking and walking I went out 2 Sundays ago on my e bike 52 mile got some new type of chest pain and on the Monday and rest of the week going very sweaty in the head and going confused and fatigue, But for a few years now I have been getting more tired I work 40 hours in four days have asked for less hours but said no, Manual job, I am worn out when I get home , Been on 80mg of statins for years now
It’s a common problem with some autoimmune disorders
I’m sure loads of us on here can relate. I’m phasing back to work after CABG did 3 days on the trot, came home that 3rd day and could not move out my chair kept dozing off Thank goodness I was off on day 4 cause there is no way I could of worked XX
Yes I have days like that too but have learnt to just give in and rest. I know it’s so frustrating when you’ve been used to leading an active life but once you have a heart condition and are on numerous meds I think you must listen to your body. Some days it’s as though I hit a brick wall and have to stop what I am doing and put my feet up or lie down. Remember tomorrow is another day and what doesn’t get done today can wait…shopping can be delivered…no one will notice you didn’t vacuum the rug…good days and bad days are part of life…it too will pass.
Hi.After 10 days in beautiful Weymouth with lots to do and see,we came home on tuesday i spent Wednesday doing washing,cutting grass etc then back into work thur and fri. Totally crashed this weekend so today I have been served breakfast in bed and going to go back to sleep.
I think we really just need to start listening to our bodies more and rest when we need it(harder said than done I know).
Jules x
Yes some days I'm wiped out by the least thing. I have Prinzmetal Angina so my heart doesn't receive enough oxygen in my blood. Plus I have insomnia which doesn't help. I think on bad days we simply have to give in and rest. There are still things to do for me like knitting, thinking up recipes, planning, sorting seed packets etc. Might not be your idea of pleasure so I hope you find your own.
As someone who has lived with the fatigue of ME/CFS for over 40 years i can empathise
Unfortunately our bodies have limits on how much energy they can make and use in a day - we have a budget, a bit like living on a stricly limited income with only pay cuts on the horizon - if you use more than your daily budget you have to draw on your savings or borrow it from the next day - so once your savings have run out you have to borrow and this incurs interest payments, which are increasingly difficult to repay
the more demands there are on your body's energy the more likley you are to be constantly overdrawn
all health issues make additional demands on us - you say you are a carer, which is demanding, both physically and emotionally (that uses energy too) - also, i'm guessing that you are not in the first flush of youth, so your energy and reserves are not what they used to be
we are constantly urged to do more, be out there, push through, go go go go ........but our bodies just can't take that sort of pressure and we just need to let ourselves relax and replenish our resources
so maybe you could try to plan in more regular breaks and time-out for yourself, tackle things in smaller chunks with rest breaks and learn to say "no, i can't do that ....this time/today/tomorrow......"
no one has yet developed an endless source of energy, let alone our bodies, we have to learn to know and live within our limits🌺
Great advice.I find using the Spoon Theory a helpful approach.
thebraincharity.org.uk/what....
Thank you all for your helpful advice and comments. I think for me it’s the unpredictability of it all, but I do need to start saying “no”, more often.
I have done very little this Weekend in hope of building energy levels back up so as to get through work over next few days.
That in itself is frustrating as find myself using all energy to go to work / study then days off spent wiped out building reserves back up to do it all again following week. Im very lucky with supportive workplace although this hasn’t always been the case, but when feel so exhausted it does make me start thinking how much longer can continue working/ studying. Hoping after this week can get balance better and use my spoons more wisely.
I found i gets more predictable when you work out what your budget is - that took me a few years, i hope you can work it out faster than i did - i have been told that the Multiple Sclerosis Association site has some good info on "pacing" ( what i call enregy budgetting or rationing)
also it's important not to beat yourself up about it - learning to give yourself a break takes time - the pressure to be, do, help etc is huge and difficult to resist
a piece of advice which turned my thinkinking around was the one aimed at parents on flights: if the oxygen mask warning light comes on, put yours on first, then think about helping your children - basically you are no use to anyone if you don't look after yourself🙂
Hi, Milkfairy,
Thank you so much for this link regarding “spoon theory.” I loved that analogy, and it explains so much about how I often feel.
I can relate too, thank you for posting. I had cabg x 4 two years ago, and get lots of good days, but I am also type 1 diabetic for 40 years and some days I feel totally wiped out. To help me through it, I do try and concentrate more on my diet and water intake to make sure my body gets the nutrients it needs. Take care, Judi
hi. I can completely relate to this. I’m really tired all of the time and I think it’s a combination of my heart problems and the meds that I take. The best advice that I was given was to pace myself. Xx
I can also relate to it, apart from the heart problem I have fybromyalgia and psoriatic arthritis and some days I couldn't feel any worse if I'd did it half marathon!! This humid weather doesn't help, but when I feel so exhausted I don't push it, my body says stop. Some people think its laziness but they don't see your everyday life indoors. You take care and thank god for this forum xx
It’s such a relief to read his. I’ve always been very active, walked a lot, going into London twice a week for two classes, done all the gardening, done the decorating and 95% of the housework. I was diagnosed with AFib and heart valve irregularities at age 75, but didn’t feel too bad in the 15 months before I had the valves repaired, although I imagine I’d have eventually felt a lot worse if I hadn’t had it done.
However I imagined that in a year or so after the op I would be as good as new, if a wee bit older! But since the op, over 2 years ago now, I’ve been struggling to regain my energy, and it’s been a nasty shock to find myself still getting breathless on hills, and taking a couple of hours to get going in the morning. I fall asleep after lunch almost every day and again in the evening. My heart beat is more regular, though not perfect, but I expected better than that.
Then how many times have I thought I’ve turned a corner, and feel something like my old energy, and then crash - and the tiredness and bad days last for a lot longer than the good days. And my arthritis and joint pains, which also increase the tiredness, have galloped away since the op - I wonder if the trauma of open-heart surgery has accelerated what was proceeding quite slowly. Or is it the medication? Beta-blockers, diuretics and blood-thinner? I agree about the effect of humid weather - I’ve always found it quite tiring but now it drains me.
Whatever, the advice on here to listen to our bodies is good. Perhaps I have to learn to accept the fact that I’m 78 and I’m not going to regain my previous energy levels but it’s the sudden change from 3 years ago to now that upsets me and the disappointment of feeling almost worse than I did before my operation (particularly when I hear of friends’ 90 year-old mothers who are still playing badminton and walking miles). Perhaps we have to learn to give ourselves permission to be tired and not feel guilty about it!
When I was on beta blockers they completely sapped all my energy, I was napping several times a day and was constantly exhausted. In the end I told my cardiologist that it wasn’t worth the improvement in my heart function for the impact it was having day to day.
I’m in my 30s and I felt like I was in my 90s!
Might be worth discussing it with your specialist to see if they can tweak your dosage or try a different beta blocker to see if you can tolerate it better. My understanding is even a small change can sometimes make a huge difference.
Good luck, let us know how you get on if you do decide to have a chat 🙂
Best wishes
Soap 🧼
Thank you. It’s good to know that people can take control to some extent of their medication.
I did change from Bisoprolol to Nevibolol before my op on the recommendation of someone on here, as I was feeling terribly lethargic. I also changed to taking it at night and did find it slightly better.
After the op the dose was dropped from 10mg to 2.5mg by the surgeon, and during the recovery period, which seems to have lasted for eve, I expected to feel tired, but think that after two years I should feel better than this!
Then in the telephone consultation after my last echo the dose was increased to 5mg, even though the echo showed some improvement, and I was told “if you can tolerate it we’ll put it up to 10mg”. I don’t think so!
I think the effect is cumulative, as after a while on the 5mg I was feeling lethargic again, so I’ve dropped down to 2.5mg. It’s disturbing how even a low dose can have this effect.
I have found the lead cardiac physiologist at the local hospital where I have my echos more helpful than most of the cardiologists in the follow-up telephone consultations at the hospital where I had the operation! With the exception of a delightful young Italian cardiologist who had recently taken up a post in the heart unit.
I can so relate to your problems and that has cheered me up so thank you. I have been on this site for a few years now reading but not writing. I am 76 although my brain tells me don’t be ridiculous surely you’re not that old😊 During 2022 I was hospitalised three times and given diagnosis of three different heart conditions. I also have inflammatory arthritis and a degenerative spine (reading results of MRI scan even I thought crikey that doesn’t sound good)! You cheered me up because someone really understands and I find it difficult that friends don’t really understand the fatigue. I try hard to be cheerful but sometimes angry that I can’t live the life I was expecting to a few years ago. I really miss the long walks that my husband (now virtually my carer) used to enjoy in the countryside where we live. Ho hum but I am still grateful that I wake up every morning.
Yes, I was recently told I have a degenerative spine and degenerative changes in my joints. I have always had good balance, but no longer, and in the mornings my legs feel weak, and as though they have a will of their own. No treatment, the GP said, just painkillers and physio. My husband was given a similar diagnosis about 10 years ago, and seeing how his balance and walking have deteriorated is quite depressing.
I very much sympathise with your feelings. I too miss our country walks, although I was still capable of doing them for some time after my husband had to stop. Little did I think then that I would be in the same boat a few years later. I can at least walk round our local park on a good day, grateful for the benches, but it is quite hard hearing of friends’ holidays abroad, especially in Italy, which I love. Now I have to be content with virtual online trips, enjoyable but bittersweet.
I’ve had some very nasty health conditions, partly genetic, since I was 30, which fortunately were cured, and didn’t think I’d live this long! Like you I can’t believe I’m the age I am. My mother and brother died in their sixties and I think I’m lucky to have developed a heart condition much later than they did.
Onward and …well perhaps not upward, but at least onward!
Oh Finnbert, I wish I could reach through the screen and give you a hug!
It’s so natural to feel a bit “robbed” for lack of a better word and I empathise with your frustrations and that feeling of others not understanding. My mum keeps telling me it’s all about my mindset and I just need to try harder (she’s very much a stiff upper lip Brit - until it comes to her issues 🤣🙈).
My partner is virtually the carer for me and our children and I just “chip in on a good day” and for a previously very independent woman (in my 30s) I absolutely hate my situation.
I’m determined to claw my way to independence again as much as I possibly can but I’m stating to face the reality that I might never be fully independent again and although a bitter pill to swallow, at least it means still being with my family, even if it’s in a slightly different role.
Sending you best wishes and hope that you can find some comfort in knowing you’re not alone 🙂🤗
Soap 🧼
In a weird way, it’s comforting to read that so many others feel the same. I too can have a full of energy day, then the very next day be exhausted and also just don’t feel well. Albeit I just had 2 stents put in in May of this year. I would think I would be back to full throttle by now.
It has taken me much, much longer than I expected to recover from my op, and I know that not feeling well sensation. I’ve given up hope of being back to full throttle! I think operations in themselves are quite traumatic to our bodies, especially if we’re .. ahem.. older. But it’s very early days for you. Good luck to you.
Yes, always because of M.E. but I have noticed that I am more tired than even usual and I cannot think why. Yesterday, I didn't awaken until 1pm. I recently had all the usual blood tests and those seem okay as was Blood pressure. Recently I've been buying good quality supplements - Magnesium, Vit E, D3 and K2, Zinc and B Complex. All things which are supposed to reduce tiredness. They don't seem to be. I'm a bit baffled. Since my Professor of Neurology retired and my old GP, I feel that I am managing this on my own. I'd had this for 47 years so I am as clued up as I can be but alas, I have no answer other than advise do not push beyond your threshold as you may become chronic. Might be worth seeing your doctor, to rule out other causes. Heat will not be helping. I hope that you feel better.Tried a Covid test or ever had Covid?
I can relate to this feeling of fatigue. As well as all the meds we are taking, I do wonder if ageing has anything to do with it. I am now 77.
fatigue
Pericarditis; anxious and overwhelmed 
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Fatigue
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