Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with tired

Why is my Russian Dwarf Hamster so irritable lately?

Jimmie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:52:30 -0800

Why is my Russian Dwarf Hamster so irritable lately? I own a male, Russian Dwarf Hamster. He is nearly 2 1/2 years old. He has been a happy, healthy hamster for most of his life. Recently (the past few months), he has been noticeably more irritable. He constantly nips at human skin. It does not seem like he is just looking for food - he's nipping and not letting go. He will grab onto my skin and hang there as I attempt to pull him off. It doesn't seem like he's trying to pierce my skin though (as he's done when I've frightened or annoyed him in the past).

He does not use his exercise wheel much anymore, and he doesn't show much energy when I put him in his hamster ball.

I have not changed his diet in a while. He has always been happy with the brand/mix I buy him.

--

Possible reasons might be:

We recently moved across country, by car, with him in it. Could this have traumatized him?

Winter is coming and in San Francisco it is getting cold. Perhaps he is eating more and exercising less to prepare for hibernation? Maybe this makes him cranky?

Maybe he's just getting old?

--

Additionally:

He's got a bit of brown fluid in his left eye. I was told that this is common for hamsters, particularly older ones, and nothing to worry about. What do you think?

His stool, eating, and drinking habits all appear fine. He is not exhibiting any signs of wet tail. His weight seems fine. His hair seems like it might be thinning, but it could just be my imagination. His ears have been down more than usual, they are not as perky.

I haven't heard him crying, in fact, I have heard him softly 'clicking' for the first time in his life. Perhaps I just wasn't listening close enough before. I read that this means he is happy/content.

--

So why is he so angry?

Abraham Lincoln is tired in this poem.

Slap Factory — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:03:18 -0800

PoemFilter: They exhumed the bones of Lincoln in order to re-inter him elsewhere, and the former president spoke of being tired, tired of the packing and unpacking and packing again. Do you know the poem? I recall reading many years ago a poem that was written by a witness to the final exhumation of Lincoln's body, which occurred during the process of moving his grave. The author recounts a soliloquy by Lincoln, during which he says that he is tired. It has been thirty years since I read the poem, but I would love to share it with my own children if I can find it.

Does it ring a bell for anyone?

I'm tired of not knowing what this song is! Ba-dum-dum.

Lucinda — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:45:06 -0800

Please help me identify a song I heard about 10-12 years ago. Not much to go on inside. I definitely heard the song between the years 1997 and 2000. It sounded kind of like Nirvana, the chorus was something like "Ohhhhhhh, I'm tired" with a little bit of harmony. It was *not* "Pennyroyal Tea", which is what comes up in Google when I type in "Nirvana i'm tired".

Why do we rub our faces when tired?

stenoboy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:27:04 -0800

Why do we rub our faces more when we're tired? When tired, why do we have the need to give our face - particularly the forehead - a rub? Babies seem to do it more than adults, but maybe that's because they're not socially conditioned yet not to do it.

Do other animals do this?

Help me justify putting off a visit to the doctor because I am poor.

Gonestarfishing — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:01:45 -0800

Another thyroid question... So me-fites...help me figure out if I should go to the doctor or not. Typically I would just go anyway, but I just got my very own brand new shiny health insurance and I haven't yet met my $400 bubble where insurance starts paying for stuff. I have been experiencing some symptoms that would indicate hypothyroidism. They include:

- I feel like my hair is falling out at a more rapid rate than it used to. In sunlight I can see through to my scalp, which has never been the case in the past. I am also getting split ends and my hair breaks really easily. I never. Ever. EVER had split ends in the past, even when I was heat styling my hair almost every day and getting my hair cut once a year. Now I always let my hair air dry, and get a trim every 3 months and still, split ends galore.
- My nails (which were also super duper strong and unbreakable once upon a time) now break much more easily, and start peeling as well from time to time.
- I have had eczema since a child, but for the first time in my life I am getting patches of eczema on my face in the summertime.
- Extreme daytime fatigue, even after changing my diet to include more healthy foods, upping (and lowering) my food intake, going to bed earlier, etc. I pretty much can't help but pass out after I get home from work.
- I was sleeping pretty well every night up until a couple of months ago when I started having more and more frequent bouts of insomnia. The fatigue has been present a lot longer than the insomnia, by a couple of years at least, though now I'm sure it's attributable to the insomnia.
- Unending low grade depression
- Unexplained joint pain. I have flat feet, so if I'm on my feet for a significant amount of time, my ankles/knees/hips/lower back will ache, but often I'll have had a low key day and I still end up feeling arthritic (I'm only 23).
- Constipation
- A once laid back person, I am now more prone to snap at my loved ones in anger when they don't deserve it. I would now classify myself as having a hot temper.
- I had blood work done 2 years ago to test TSH, and mine was at 4.3. My doc said it was on the high side of normal but still within normal range. I got tested again a month after that, and all was back to well within normal ranges.
- Perhaps the most frightening symptom of all is the memory loss/brain fog. I have trouble recalling simple words when speaking and my ability to compose sentences has gone down the shitter. I find myself being grammatically incorrect a lot, but can't think of the proper way of how to phrase things. I was once a star english student and used to pride myself on my vocabulary. I feel like I've been dumbed down by 30 IQ points. I have so much trouble trying to focus my brain at work, but can't remember all the tasks I need to complete.

I know there are other symptoms that I am simply not recalling at this moment in time.

Now I know you're saying, get thee to a doctor, stupid! What perplexes me, and the reason why I am asking this question, is that I am not overweight. I gained weight (15 lbs) when I started college 5 years ago that I didn't lose (lack of exercise, horrible diet) until this past year, when other health issues caused me to be unable to eat my typical diet, or much of anything at all. I now have a healthier appetite (and am making much wiser food choices) and have gained a couple of lbs back, but nothing major.

I have a family history of my paternal grandmother and an aunt (her daughter) having hypothyroidism. It should be noted that they have always been pin-thin before and during their hypothyroidism (but perhaps may be due to their penchant for eating disorders). I am not close with them, nor do I wish to be, so talking to them about this is not an option.

So. Given the symptoms above, and seeing as how some of them may be explained away by other things, and also seeing as how my weight is under control, do I need to see a doctor immediately or soon? I will go if it seems like I need to, or eventually, but money is tight and like I said, insurance bubble (whatever the fuck it's called, I can't remember) hasn't been reached yet so any visit I make will be paid for out of pocket. Have any of you ever experienced or heard of hypothyroidism sans weight gain? If I do have hypothyroidism, will delaying a doctor visit by 3-6 months make a difference?

Also, I noticed today while touching my neck that my thyroid may be swollen? I don't really know what my baseline is, so I'm not sure if it is swollen, or how to judge. I tried googling "how to identify swollen thyroid" and found one video that wasn't particularly helpful. If I tilt my head back, I can see it sticking out from my neck. While I was thinking about it, I also started remembering that for the past couple of months or so, things have taken a couple or a few swallows to get completely down. Maybe it's in my head, I don't know...but do you have any tips for feeling up your thyroid? What should I be looking for?

help me sleep... PLEASE.

isoman2kx — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:35:06 -0800

Please help me sleep. Please :( This is going to be VERY VERY VERY long because my sleeping problems have a 2-3 year history. Any replies I get beyond zero I will be very appreciative of.

I've posted questions/threads this in the past but the past has spanned a while hasn't it? As the months have progressed, each time I post this I'm increasingly frustrated and saddened that I will never have a normal sleeping life to get through college and get my degree. I started having sleeping problems when I started college. To this day, I cannot recall anything particularly horrific happening to me to traumatize my sleeping patterns. 4 years ago I switched from high school to college. That's what a good percentage of Americans do right and? Right.

I have a history of depression and a history of anxiety. Both I would say are not severe. The depression is moderate to slightly above moderate most of the time. I take 120 mg of Cymbalta for it and have done so for almost a year. I have anxiety, I used to take Xanax 3 times a day at .5 mg a clip and now I take it all at night to see if it helps me sleep any since I can cope with the anxiety in the day better now.

My depression/anxiety stems from lack of self-esteem and energy from a lack of sleep. So far it's all making sense right? Ok, let's keep going then.

I've always had a hard time winding down for sleep since I can remember and definitely before I started college. I'm sensitive to light before going to bed and I spend way too much time on the computer before bed (even though I've incorporated at least an hour to 2 hour cool down period before bed now after turning off the computer). I currently see an ENT doctor and a psychiatrist (and a psychologist for talk therapy sessions just to kinda vent really, I never have any big updates to give lol) . My ENT doctor is outstanding while I feel my psychiatrist is useless and I'm strictly on a seeing her every 2 month just because that's what you do I guess when you have all this shit going on. My psychologist/campus counselor is outstanding as well.

Roughly a year ago, I went in for a sleep study because as you'll see later on in this master thesis, I've tried every medication known to man for falling asleep and staying asleep. After an awful night in those horrendous laboratories they call sleep clinics, they said they had enough data despite my whopping 240 minutes of sleep. I was later diagnosed with sleep apnea and frequent arousals with my brain wave patterns. My options were CPAP, throat and uvula surgery (noooooooooo way. nooooooo way in hell), mandibular retainer, treating restless leg syndrome and jumping off a building. We tried a CPAP machine and I just got increasingly frustrating with the thing. At first the mask wasn't right, I got a new mask. Then I just detested all the maintenance you had to do to keep the piece of crap that didn't help me sleep all clean and functional. Later on, the sleep clinic and I tried to treat me for restless leg syndrome. Needless to say that didn't do a damn thing. I was on mirapex, although I don't remember the dosage. I just remember increasing it and then quitting the stuff. After I went back to them after all of that, I wrote them off as idiots and politely never scheduled another appointment with them again. I'm done with them. Best sleep clinic in Houston??? We fix the problems other clinics miss? Oh really???

So that led me to my ENT that I currently see. After a few months of trying nasal sprays (prescription), afrin, and useless saline rinses I decided to have sinus surgery on June 22, 2009. For the medical students out there... I had a balloon sinusplasty done combined with correcting a deviated septum (which doesn't cause problems in most peoples sleep) along with a right turbinate reduction. The surgery sucked balls but now I can breathe better, just no improvement in sleep. Hooray! :) The sinus surgery was my part one out of a two part plan for fixing my sleep. My ENT informed me that he could definitely get me breathing better but the surgery would not be primarily to fix my sleep. If it did so then that would be great, but if not then that was what we had understood going into the surgery so no big whoop. I secretly hoped it would though and had the surgery more so for that reason than fixing my day-time breathing. My second part would be using a mandibular retainer after my sinuses fully heal up. I think at this point, my ENT and I are "entertaining" the idea of when it's all healed I'll have great sleep. At this point, if I got a mandibular retainer it would be through a doctor that my ENT knows and not the useless sleep clinic that I previously went to. I don't even know what good that would do?

Now let us back track to what goes on once I manage to get relatively sleepy. I always eat before I go to bed because I've gotten so frustrated with every other method and medicine I've tried, so that's my first step. I then go to sleep and proceed to wake up anywhere from 3-4 times like god damn clockwork (for the past 4-5 years at least). I've consulted with other friends and they wake up too, but they fall asleep quickly. I usually eat before I go back to bed because in my mind I'm tiring my body out by using energy to digest food and thus it will help me get back to sleep. I know, but it's my theory, valid or not, lol. At this point when I post, I'm always asked well what do you think about when you wake up? Are you short of breath? What is your mood? How do you feel?

Well, I'm almost always irritated because I immediately think "great, it starts again. let's see how many times I wake up this night". Despite my severe sleep apnea diagnosis, I never wake up in a panic or short of breath. My mood of course is frustrated and irritated and I feel the same. Surprisingly, this is the point where I say there is nothing traumatic going on in my life that's causing me to wake up in the night like this. I've got the usual responsibilites such as being the man of the house since my dad passed away last year (again, sleep problems existed long before he passed away and I've discussed this with others at length), going to school trying to finish my degree through being tired as hell, helping my mom with daily house chores, running whatever errands I do, getting a good amount of exercise per week, getting together with friends, etc. It's not like I'm waking up every night 3-4 times because there's some lingering issue. If it's buried deep in my subconscious then that's where it must be and someone needs to Harry Potter my brain and extract whatever haunting fear or memory that is buried there with a magic wand because it sure as hell isn't anything out of the ordinary I can think of.

So now we're done with describing this. Have you fallen asleep yet? :). Within the last 3 months, we've replaced my bed and I have a brand new tempurpedic mattress and tempurpedic pillows - both of which I happen to like. However, the new bed and new pillows are not helping my waking up 3-4 times a night any. It's more comfortable to sleep on, but it's not helping the issue I bought it for.

Ok, aside from that paragraph I've stopped taking sleeping pills. They just don't work. Here is a list of what I have taken and I have been on each of these medications for at least 2 week periods (which in my mind is more than enough to see a difference, I've never believed that crap about give it more time...give it more time. 2 weeks is enough god damn time).

list (most are official sleeping pills, some are not):

Ambien
Ambien CR
Lunesta
Restoril
Rozerem
Trazodone
Seroquel

regular things I've tried:

all the sleep time teas in the world
valerian root capsules
different herbal cocktails (like those bottles that have valerian root, chamomile, etc in their capsules)
different indian teas.
hot baths for at least 30 mins, about an hour before I go to bed.
hot baths with epsom salt (yeah, it doesn't help sleep specifically, whatever right?)
hot baths with different "sleep" salts and other sleep mixtures.

what I haven't tried:

overdosing on drugs and getting permanent sleep. I'm kidding about this as I've entertained the idea, but you get the point of my situation.

After all of that and I really am sorry I had to put you through reading it, but there's just no way to sufficiently describe my situation. I wake up 4-5 days out of the week wanting to kill someone upon waking up or wanting to punch holes in my wall (which I haven't done yet).

What do you guys recommend? I am seriously convinced that certain pathways in my brain are screwed up and that I should almost see a neurologist to see what else could be going on with me. At this point, what would you do? I have tried so many things... so so many things and for what? What has it done for me besides nothing? Who should I take my problems to? Who should I see for this? What battery of tests can help me?

- Travis

I can't stop sleeping!!!

happydude123 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:21:23 -0800

Why am I always soo tired?? For some reason the past 2,3 weeks or so it seems that I am always tired. I sleep normally for about 8 hours (I know, plenty of sleep) yet I am always needing a mid-day nap. Sometime I get so drowsy, I am tempted to just fall asleep while reading. As aside, I am not depressed or anything like that. I take a multi-vitamina and fish oil suppliment + I workout 4 times a week and I am pretty healthy. If the problem continues and gets more serious I will know doubt ask my doctor. But I am just wondering if you guys had any solutions or could give me some insight as to what is wrong with me.

Will drinking coffee daily help my headaches, or just make them worse?

katala — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:51:10 -0800

Will drinking coffee daily help my headaches, or just make them worse? Dear MeFites, I seem to be super sensitive to caffiene withdrawal and think I need to take an all-or-nothing approach to avoid constant headaches. This for me means:

All - Drinking one small cup of coffee first thing in the morning, and one again in the afternoon.

Nothing - Avoiding ANY form of caffiene - coffee, black tea, coke, chocolate, all out.

I don't *love* the taste of coffee like I know many people do, but it does seem to help reduce the severity and occurence of my frequent headaches. Also when I feel a migraine coming on drinking a good strong cup of coffee nearly always hits it on the head.

I know that medically-speaking I should avoid caffiene as it's not meant to be good for people who get a lot of headaches, but I don't want to be in the awful position of falling asleep at my desk on a Monday afternoon and having no real way to wake myself up that won't give me a withdrawal headache the next day.

- Has anyone else been in this situation?

- Do you get constant headaches and find that two cups of coffee a day is more helpful overall than harmful?

- Or do you find your headaches much better when you avoid caffiene altogether (and in which case how do you stay alert without it)?

I would welcome any advice you have to give me, thank you!!

are we dead, or is this Ohio

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:35:27 -0800

Tell a person with depression: Is it normal to require a few weekend daytime hours to just lie in bed and be left alone? I don't mean "for people with depression," I mean "for normal people." I have dysthymia and I am currently on Effexor, which does well for me. I did not know until recently that Effexor caused symptoms of exhaustion in some people.

For a few weekends now I have given myself (almost involuntarily) what I call "fuck-off time" or "go the hell away time" for a full afternoon, where I just lie still with no books or input of any kind and let my mind wander. Maybe I sleep, maybe not. I just have an overwhelming need to be left alone and not move an inch.

I have a demanding job and as a single woman with animals to care for, I have lots of other personal responsibilities. I thought this kind of rest is something anyone would want, especially if they can't afford to do it in a yoga class like normal people. But then I wondered if other busy people really handle their spare time this way. If they don't, maybe I've got issues I need to address.

(Do I get enough sleep on the weekdays? Yes and no. Mostly just enough, 7 1/2 to 8. And of course I shouldn't drink caffeine or alcohol or eat processed sugars or anything else that makes life worth living, but I do, so.)

Brain Drain

parallax7d — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:04:53 -0800

What is the physical resource inside your brain that gets used up when you focus and concentrate for long hours? How do you beef up the ability to sustain concentrated thought, aside from diet/exercise/sleep? Just FYI so I don't get the usual answers about how to "sharpen your mind". I exercise 5-10 hours a week, have a healthy diet and get plenty of sleep. I meditate almost daily. I play games, read books and use a flashcard program daily. I'm constantly studying. It's not that I'm not using my brain, it's just that it's not keeping up without relying on stimulants (mainly caffeine).

I'm so tired, I haven't sleep a wink. I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink...

punkbitch — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:30:40 -0800

I didn't sleep a wink last night. Now the day is beginning. How can I stay fresh? No, I don't mean summer's eve... I was out until late and then started shaving the giant beard I'd grown and honest to god that took over an hour (with a hideous razor). Suddenly I find its daytime. I have to go to work in about an hour and then class later this evening. Any great remedies to cure tiredness? Obviously sleep is out of the question and while I love coffee, I think I've been OD-ing on it lately and would prefer something less jittery. I want something that makes me feel...like I slept! sigh.

Ah, also, I live in Buenos Aires (in case you had an American, British, Aussie etc.. product to recommend).

Finally, since I'm rambling, whatever you recommend obviously doesn't have to be a 'product.' Yoga? Breathing? Ice water? ugh... so...tired...

29 and exhausted... what could be wrong?

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:25:14 -0800

I'm an otherwise healthy 29 year old male who easily gets exhausted and mentally foggy on a regular basis, sometimes seemingly without cause. Not normal-tired, but feeling as if I were 80 years old. It's been like this for at least a year and a half. I have an appointment to see a doctor (endocrinologist) in two weeks, but now that I've finally admitted to myself that I've got a problem... I'm antsy to start figuring out what it might be. Any ideas, hive mind? More details inside... My symptoms are: slow, foggy thinking (almost like being drunk), low motivation, physical weakness/heaviness, emotional flatness, irritability, low interest in sex, low interest in much of anything, a general feeling of "drugginess"... feeling like an altered state.

Some days I have no symptoms at all. When I do have them, I usually start the day feeling fine, then the symptoms roll in all at once. Often around 3 or 4pm... lasting until the end of the day.

When I have my symptoms, caffeine seems to make them worse (especially mental fog). Alcohol, oddly, seems to make them better.

I took finasteride (Propecia) for 4 years (for hairloss), but quit 1 year ago, thinking it might be the cause of my problems. I initially felt better, but then went back to my symptoms, though only 1/2 as severe. This may be the cause or just made an existing problem worse. Either way, I'm more curious about what might have happened, rather than the reason.

Thanks, everybody.

The kindly one

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:17:17 -0800

Is it normal to become exhausted after feeling intense anger or sadness that is accompanied by no particular physical activity? I find that when I am intensely sad or become angry, no matter how I deal with it, I become extremely sleepy an hour later, and the rest of the day just doesn't feel right. It isn't anything I'm aware of doing physically, although today when I was angry I did notice that I was breathing shallowly and quickly. I don't yell, stamp around or snap; that would be unprofessional (unless you own the company!) I just keep my cool and try to be thought of as even-tempered. (It seems to work. A friend once called me "St. [Anon]".)

I do my best not to express strong emotions in front of others who aren't prepared for them, although by myself I will cry. Whether or not I cry doesn't seem to make any difference as to whether I get tired. This didn't seem to happen to me when I was young, and my teenage years were a drama roller coaster.

I'm expecting the death of a dear person soon, so this is just going to keep happening. How -- besides caffeine -- can I help fix it?

Sleepy characters?

kepano — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:22:15 -0800

What fictional characters or real people would you say are defined by their sleepiness or tiredness? My Google-fu was failing me. Is there an obvious source for this kind of information?

Why do I seem to be less healthy when I exercise??

katala — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:02:03 -0800

Why do I seem to be *less* healthy when I exercise?? I'm a 28 year female who's generally pretty healthy, gets by on 6 hours sleep a night, and has never done much exercise until now. I'm also very germ-conscious and wash my hands properly (min 15 sec.) at least 8 times a day.

Last year I decided I wanted to get into shape for summer so I spent 3 months doing weights training with a personal trainer, twice a week, an hour each session. I was incredibly tired and run-down and sore the entire time, and also got bronchitis a few weeks in!

This year I've been going to the gym 3 times a week since January, and I workout for 45 - 60 minutes each time doing something high intensity like running or a bounce class. After about 2 weeks in I noticed I was needing more sleep, I was more tired during the day, and then this week I got a cold that kept me in bed for 2 days when normally I'd be unlucky to get one cold a year and that in winter.

So my question is - why do I seem to be MORE tired and get sick more often when I'm exercising, than when I'm not. I'm definately not doing so much exercise that it should be suppressing my immune system, and I should have been at it for long enough now that my body would have adjusted to the strain?

I'm just left thinking that when I *don't* exercise I need less sleep, I have more energy, and I get sick less often, even though that seems to defy all the evidence for exercise making you healthier and giving you more energy.

Any idea what's wrong with me, or is this normal?? I would really appreciate any help / advice you can give me :)!

How do I make myself want to go to bed earlier?

dyslexictraveler — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:38:38 -0800

What techniques can I use to help motivate myself to go to bed earlier? Remember that old Jerry Seinfeld bit about How “late night guy” always wants to stay up late, but “morning guy” always feels exhausted (and hates late night guy)? That’s me in a nutshell. I don’t get enough sleep, and now that I’m out of college I really have no excuses. My problem is, each evening, I just don’t feel much of a desire to go to bed. Consequently, night after night, I stay up just a little too late, and by the end of the week I’m completely exhausted.

What tricks should I use to help change my habits? Is there anything I can do to help make myself want to go to bed at an earlier hour?

Extra special bonus question: due to my work/volunteer schedule, one night a week I don’t get home until at least 11:45 pm, which means I’ve been away from my apartment for more than 15 hours. On these nights, I find it very hard to go to bed quickly after getting home. I feel a strong desire to spend time unwinding first, and that frequently means I don’t end up going to bed until 1:30 or 2 on those nights. Any suggestions on how to get from “just got home after a very long day” mode, to “it’s time to go to bed” mode more efficiently, would be greatly appreciated.

Desperatly wanting to pay down my sleep debt

jbickers — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:17:23 -0800

I'm totally sleep-deprived, but still have a hard time falling asleep. Any tips? I work two jobs, one of which is on the extremely early shift, and have two small children. As a result, I've gone four years on about five hours sleep a night. It's way too little, I know ... and yet I still have a hard time falling asleep.

Sometimes I manage to pull aside the time for a lunch nap - but end up tossing and turning the whole 30 minutes, unable to get my mind to shut up. It's like I'm too tired to fall asleep. Nights are pretty much the same way.

Anybody have any tips for falling asleep quicker/easier? I do get exercise, and eat a reasonably healthy, balanced diet. (Part of me thinks I'm just resistant to sleep, and have to have everything just so - I've never been able to fall asleep on an airplane, for instance, even on an overnight/international flight. Just can't do it.)

How to combat short-term memory loss due to interrupted sleep?

EastCoastBias — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:30:58 -0800

When your sleep is frequently interrupted and your memory and focus suffer, how do you get back up to speed? As a parent of a ten-month old, I frequently am awoken during the night. I noticed that my short-term memory suffers due to this interrupted sleep schedule.

Is there any way to combat this? Does anyone have any tips, brain exercises, techniques to combat short-term memory loss and the fatigue that follows?

Lately, I've been using lots and lots of caffeine with sugar. I can't keep that up, but I also can't sleep at my desk.

Deja vu? Maybe if my brain worked.

Ctrl_Alt_ep — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:50:32 -0800

Does anyone have any experience with episodic exhaustion? It is really starting to bother me - I've accomplished nothing in the last week and a half.
About 3 months ago I posted a question regarding something similar.
This time it's worse.
So, I've tried to approach this as methodically as I can. As far as I know, this is the third time (each this year) that this has occurred. What seems to happen is something triggers a week where I sleep most of the day, am a zombie when I'm not and suffer from a range of other things. Some of them are really random - like feeling full most of the time and then feeling hungry after I eat. I tend to eat less well and have a greatly reduced attention span during all this.

The first time it was likely stress induced, the second time is a mystery (I still really appreciate the help of the mefites that replied) and now I would think that there are some mental factors with finals in two weeks.
I now assume that this is not a coincidence, and that it is not something obvious, as both times I saw doctors I got no answers (the second doctor lost my blood test results [how do you just lose them?], so I'm not surprised).
Either way I was back to my normal self after about a week. Well, it has been a week and a half since this started, and things are only getting worse.

So does anyone else experience this or have any ideas?
Is it all in my head or is there something that I'm missing? I don't have the hallmarks of a bacterial or viral infection, or of being sick at all for that matter.
How I feel is pretty well explained in my previous post.

Normally I would just go see a doctor and wait it out, but unless I can pay attention to my notes for longer than a couple minutes every hour, I'm going to start failing classes.

Why am I so tired?

Ctrl_Alt_ep — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 09:27:57 -0800

Why am I so tired? Ever since last weekend, I've been feeling worse and worse. I'm more tired and exhausted every day. And I really can't figure out what is wrong with me. But I should start from the start.
I'm slim, fit, healthy and young, and eat very healthily.
I started feeling out of sorts last weekend, after I had been out late. I drank Gatorade (which always makes me fell ill) on the way home, and I felt pretty terrible before going to bed. The next day, after dinner I felt weak, nauseated and I'm pretty sure that I had a mild fever. The glands in my neck were quite swollen.
On Tuesday I felt uncharacteristically tired, and went to bed two hours earlier than normal (doesn't even happen when I've got a cold).
By then I've started playing computer games again, which only ever happens when I'm under a lot of stress or sick (I know, kind of random).
Wednesday I start waking up tired (which continues, and has never ever happened to me before).
Thursday I can't finish my workout, which has never happened before in six years. Physically, now I'm always exhausted. I'm having a lot of trouble lifting stuff and walking long distances.
Friday I went out and stayed out late, but that was completely alcohol fueled. I felt absolutely terrible before going to bed.

Since the start of the week I've been feeling nauseated when I wake up, after breakfast and lunch, and when I go to bed. I've been eating a lot more than normal, and the glands in my neck (always has been a great indicator of how sick I am in the past) are about as swollen as they are when I have a cold. I have been having random, mild headaches. Previously I only have ever gotten headaches from lack of sleep.
I've been sleeping roughly about an hour more a night.

The only real biological hazards I've come across in the last month is getting EndCoat (a poisonous wood sealer) all over my hands and eating pork that wasn't cooked very well (everyone else that ate it is fine).

The worst part of it for me is that I can't think straight. My memory is terrible – I've started forgetting things that have been routine for years. Usually when I have a cold I feel like a vegetable for a week, and then I'm fine. This is different, I've been unable to accomplish anything at work for the last half of the week.
So far I doubt this is mono, as my throat is fine, and the gf is perfectly fine.

Oh, and I'm well aware of the fact that you are neither my doctor or nor likely a doctor at all. Please don't just tell me to seek medical attention, as I can't go to the hospital as it is likely not life threatening, I can't go to a clinic because my malady is not obvious and I can't go to my doctor because it is very unlikely that I will get a reasonable accurate diagnosis in the 10 minutes that I will get. So, before I can pursue medical attention (if it is needed at all), I need to narrow things down. So, Mefi, it's up to you – please help me figure this out.

I probably should have posted this anonymously, but whatever. If, for any reason it is needed, my email is in my profile.

Why, when I get tired, do my senses sometimes go into super-human overdrive?

dunstanorchard — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:45:34 -0800

I'm wondering if anyone has had similar experiences to those described below, and/or can enlighten me as to what's happening. Occasionally, when I get very tired and am doing something quiet, like reading in bed, or working on the computer, my senses kind of go into overdrive.

My hearing becomes so acute that I can "hear" silence, hear the air move. My breathing sounds monstrous and incredibly detailed, and turning of a book's page lets me hear every fiber of the paper bend and rustle.

My touch and sight go crazy too, with everything becoming super "real". The act of pressing a key on my laptop stops being a quick, fleeting sense of pressure, and instead becomes quite a rich, drawn-out, multi-touch, multi-pressure experience.

And while these experiences seem to slow down in my brain, they're not slowing down my actions. And it's not a panic-inducing experience either.

The only thing I can liken it to is what I've read about top athletes going into the zone, and having everything become slow and intense for them while the world carries on as normal around them.

So, would anyone have any what's happening to me, and does this happen to anyone else?

I am not on drugs :o)
I am perfectly healthy in every other way, except I don't have (and have never had) a sense of smell.

I commonly feel a moment of extreme fatigue and drowsiness after a good back cracking. Why?

andythebean — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:38:51 -0800

I commonly feel a moment of extreme fatigue and drowsiness after a good back cracking. Why?

Am I turning into a zombie? What's going on upstairs?!

fogster — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:37:40 -0800

What is this weird sensation I experience? (Have I finally gone off the deep end?) Every now and then (maybe once every few months, although it happened 2 or 3 days in a row last week), I'll suddenly get this strange sensation where I feel as if I'm partially removed from my actions; as if I'm watching myself. Sort of like I'm in a dream, or as if I were a zombie. Physically I function just fine, and I do have control over myself. It's just a really bizarre sensation.

Before you go there, I don't do drugs and never have. I don't even drink. It's happened every now and then since I was a kid. There doesn't seem to be any stimulus that causes it, although I have a hunch it's related to either a lack of sleep or a lack of sugar / general food intake. (However, I ordinarily sleep fine and eat heartily; it's not as if I'm malnourished. When it happened last week, I was pretty tired and hadn't been eating well, but it wasn't anything major.)

I'm a 21-year-old male, in decent shape. Although I've had problems with anxiety, this phenomenon isn't brought on in anxiety-provoking situations, so I don't think it's relevant. Besides sometimes in jest, I don't consider myself crazy. What the heck is going on with me? (Since it's so hard to describe, I don't have anything to search for; I'm hoping someone will be somewhat familiar with what I'm referring to and help me figure out what's going on.)

I know they recommend exercise for PMS... but how do you exercise?

scission — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:28:24 -0800

How do I maintain a regular exercise routine despite period fatigue? I'm trying to start jogging regularly for my general health, as well as with an eye towards a 5k in September. I had a few false starts during the school year, during which I usually managed a half hour workout, 3 or 4 times per week, despite homework and some extracurricular commitments.

I'm overweight (5'6" and 160), but as a college student, I walk everywhere and take the stairs most of the time. (Jogging a 10-11 minute mile on a treadmill gets me temporarily out of breath but isn't a problem otherwise; real life, replete with hills, is harder) I'm not on the school meal plan and try to eat moderate portions, but not always healthy ones.

From a few days before my period until the third or fourth day of it (out of five), I'm very easily out of breath and my muscles get tired a lot more easily. I'll notice my heart rate increase more than it should after one flight of stairs at a walking pace.

I guess the culprit could primarily be dietary, but I've been fatigued during my period since menarche, so it'd be something I've been consistently doing wrong from 12 to 20. I've always assumed that some level of fatigue was typical, but I feel tired enough that I'm unable to maintain my usual level of training. I wonder if some part of it is psychological, but I know that I really do get tired, and it bothers me that I can't perform anywhere near my peak.

Is there an insider secret or some standard solution that female athletes use? Or am I stuck with writing off one out of every four weeks?

How can I make myself feel energized?

tastybrains — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:07:48 -0800

How can I get myself to feel refreshed & energized after feeling run-down for awhile? I constantly feel overwhelmed with life and thus stressed out and burnt out. I'm looking for advice on how to feel energetic again. I feel sleepy, somewhat sick, and run-down most of the time. I have trouble concentrating a lot, and can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. On the weekends when I don't have an alarm to wake me, I can sleep 14 hours no problem.

I'm in my mid-twenties, working full-time, married, living with my husband & two cats. I have been dealing with depression/anxiety (currently being treated with Wellbutrin and Celexa) and am also working to lose a lot of weight. I feel like I'm too young to feel so stressed and tired.

My diet has been pretty darn good as of late, as I've been losing about 1 lb per week - I've cut out almost all sugar that isn't naturally occurring in fruit and have been getting plenty of whole grains, vegetables, legumes, lean protein, and "good" fats (olive oil, etc). I've been exercising about 4 times a week for about 30 minutes and breaking a sweat.

I thought these things would "fix" me, but I still feel like crap almost all of the time. I still have a lot of weight left to lose, but I don't feel like extra weight alone should make me feel so BAD.

This has gone on for more than a year. I have been working with my doctors who basically have no answer except "depression", but honestly since being on the meds, I don't feel depressed anymore. I feel motivated, and there are so many things I want to do, but I just don't have the physical energy.

My doctor has done tons of blood tests and follow up blood tests. She has tested for lyme, lupus, and a gazillion other things. The only thing that is abnormal is my C-Reactive Protein and another inflammation marker are elevated, but they cannot figure out the cause of that.

I don't know what to do to feel better, but I'm looking for advice as to things I myself can do. I know exercise is important and has in the past made me feel better, but lately it just makes me feel even more run-down.

I was thinking I could take a week off in the spring to try & get my energy back, but I don't know how. Most likely if I took a vacation or a long weekend, I would take naps & read, which is all I ever seem to feel like doing.

Help?