I am tired. I am
always tired. I have always been tired. And it seems like nothing can change this fact. I'm asking y'all at this point because I'm out of ideas on what to do from here.
Every single day, I wake up and I'm tired. I've tried getting eight hours of sleep a night for a few months (no change), seven hours (no change), five to six hours (no change).
This tiredness has been present when I was on a healthy diet (high in protein and low in carbs with various supplements like B12 and fish oil) and on an unhealthy diet (Pancheros, Buffalo Wild Wings, the good stuff.). This tiredness has been present when I was exercising every day and when I wasn't.
Every day, when I get home from work, whether it's a five hour shift or a nine hour shift, I am absolutely wiped out. No matter how hard I try, if I'm sitting down at all after work, I'm going to fall asleep. If I'm using the computer, watching TV, reading, I'm going to fall asleep.
Obvious solution here is to do something active, but my entire body is sore and stiff, my eyes are dry and throbbing with pain, and the only thing I can maybe bring myself to do is to take the dog out to pee.
I have been on a number of different antidepressants, each inducing drowsiness at various levels. However, now I'm solely on Wellbutrin, which I was told doesn't cause much drowsiness, particularly since it can be used as a stimulant. And yet, the fatigue is still present.
I had a sleep study done several months ago. They found no evidence of sleep apnea or of narcolepsy, so I was diagnosed with ideopathic hypersomnia. They tried a few things that were incredibly ineffective – amitiza, melatonin – and were gonna try methyphenidate (ritalin) before I expressed hesitation due to my history of substance abuse. I'm going to have to give it a try, I guess, and I'm not too happy about that but if it helps then thank goodness.
Let's see, other health facts: I drink energy drinks regularly. Once a day, sometimes. This is to combat the constant fatigue. It doesn't help, 95% of the time. I started this a couple years ago, after the fatigue started, although by that point I was very much a nerd used to playing D&D once a week with a twelve pack of Mountain Dew. Despite the fact that I work at Starbucks, I rarely drink coffee. I also smoke a third of a pack a day, on average.
Other history: I've fallen asleep in a lot of places/while doing a lot of things. I've fallen asleep while driving, while biking, while walking. I have the ability to sit down practically anywhere and fall asleep in a matter of minutes – the bus, a bench, even just lying down on the sidewalk.
I started drinking, in fact, because I kept falling asleep while driving and it was the only thing that could help me stay awake on the road. I somehow got it in my head that a few beers over the two hour drive was less dangerous than my constantly fighting sleep while driving. I also drank a lot to fall asleep and particularly to fall asleep without having to dream. I did this almost every night for three years. I've been sober for eleven months.
This has been going on for a long time now. Six, seven years. Basically, since I began college/since I turned sixteen. It's driving me insane. I can't read because I'll fall asleep almost immediately. I can't write for the same reason. I can't watch TV. Video games I can usually stay awake for, but not always. Why does my body hate me?
posted by Modica to health & fitness (47 answers total) 33 users marked this as a favorite
posted by vacapinta at 3:45 PM on March 12, 2012 [14 favorites]