Exhausted after light exercise

[Round in circles]

I have no idea which section this really belongs in, if any, so I guess I'll put it here in the hope it doesn't annoy anyone too much.

I'm so fed up of not being able to exercise properly. Some days are better than others where I'll manage to do light jogging for 15 to 20 mins before my energy bottoms out. Other days like today.. I did about 5 minutes very light jogging and 5 mins light stretching and I feel exhausted like I need to go straight to sleep.

In the past I've managed more, but even half an hour on the treadmill running at a reasonable pace would leave me wiped, feeling like I couldn't even get my brain to string a sentence together. All I could do when that happened was to stay lying down until my energy came back up.

Although it's worse now, even when I was young I had stamina problems. My blood sugar levels were ok when the doc checked that. I know my iron and b12 levels are low right now but that doesn't really explain the problems prior to that. I used to do martial arts some years ago and trained 6 days a week, but I always struggled with stamina compared to the rest in my class.

It just doesn't make sense to me. No matter whether I do more or less exercise, eat lots of veggies, complex carbs and protein.. Nothing seems to help. When I ask the doc, she puts it down to depression, but I had this problem before I got depressed.

I just wish I could figure out how to fix this. I'm tired of being tired!

[Oosh]

Make sure you've had good sleep. My stamina is slashed if I didn't sleep well.
Hydration.
Take a strong multivit to make sure you're not deficient in anything.
Fuel - I don't exercise well on carbs. Some peoples bodies respond better to fat as a fuel. Not loads, just a bit of fatty protein an hour before maybe with some bcaas.

Quick way to build stamina and fitness is to hike up some hills, something manageable.

Try exercising after waking. Wake, coffee/tea, exercise before you have anything substantial in your digestive system.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I know how you feel, Im the same and felt like I couldnt reach my best before all this.

I dont ask my GP anything as he has used his "get out of jail free card"as I call it, twice before which turned out to be medication and a dental issue (my dentist was great).

[Catherine S]

Low iron and b12 would explain your symptoms...problem is the doctors have a certain baseline that they measure levels by, but not one size fits all so to speak..so whatever blood tests you had in the past may have shown as normal even if you had symptoms. It happened with me when I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid. I'd had symptoms for some years before they were bad enough to show up in a blood test. But why would your doctor say its because of depression if its known that you have low iron and b12 levels which can cause those symptoms? That puzzles me a little.

[Round in circles]

Thanks for the tips Oosh. I'll definitely try some fatty protein to see if it makes a difference. I've never done any hiking before, being a definite city gal. Don't suppose treadmill walking on a slight incline would work?

I'm not giving up. I refuse to only be able to manage 5 minutes exercise. I feel like a wimp!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Low iron and b12 would explain your symptoms...problem is the doctors have a certain baseline that they measure levels by, but not one size fits all so to speak..so whatever blood tests you had in the past may have shown as normal even if you had symptoms. It happened with me when I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid. I'd had symptoms for some years before they were bad enough to show up in a blood test. But why would your doctor say its because of depression if its known that you have low iron and b12 levels which can cause those symptoms? That puzzles me a little.

It might be like my GP.

When I went on Duloxetine I experienced some adrenaline rushes that were pretty bad so I decided to ask if it was a side effect. My GP told me no, it was my anxiety. After another week of them, I read through the side affects again in the leaflet with them and it said adrenaline rushes were possible. I had never had them before except on one occasion when I mixed several strong sports supplement (all legal) but one was too strong at it gave me a massive adrenaline rush for 30mins. So, I remembered the fealing...it's why I have anxiety about hard exercise now which I'm trying to wotk on.

I also developed facial myopia for 6 months, which I didn't know at the time, but I was due a dental check up so I asked about it. He was very good, confirmed it was teeth grinding from evidence on my teeth and surrounding muscles, it was at night as I didn't know about it and gave me some exercises. I mentioned it to my GP whos reply was "people with depression get that". I asked if there was anything else I could do to get rid of it and his reply was "it's just something people with depression can get". In the end I got rid of it my way.

This is what I mean by my GP's "get out of jail free card" as he pulls it no matter what. I've only asked on 2 occasions and completely lost faith in talking to him like others I spoken to. The advice from one local charity is to use GP's like this as a gateway to other services.

[Round in circles]

I still Believe, sorry I didn't mean that the doc put low iron and b12 down to depression. Those are more recent. I meant the doc linked being exhausted with depression. I've really struggled with stamina ever since I was a kid although I never got it looked into back then. My parents just assumed I just wasn't a very active child.

I've had a couple of thyroid tests that have been slightly off in the past, but it always seemed to be better the next time it got tested, so I've never had to take anything for that.

I guess what I meant was that sometimes I feel like I could go to the doc with a broken leg and it would still get put down to depression. I feel far more stigma from medical professionals than members of the general public.

[Catherine S]

Yes I understand. Its really difficult for us isn't it? Sometimes I feel like I have to do the doctors' job for them, that I have to be the one trying to figure out what's wrong instead of them. So frustrating.

[MyNameIsTerry]

On the subject of iron and B vits, has anyone got any advice on dosage or types?

I was in a supermarket yesterday and spotted iron sachets which are just from Snowdonia.

They were the Ferrous ones and it said they were less likely to cause issues with digestion, constipation and the anti-constipation issue!

[Lilharry]

Do you have any other symptoms? Like brain fog, allergies, digestion issues etc? I became intolerant to exercise last year and at the same time my anxiety got really bad and I had severe digestion issues. The doctors were hopeless - said it was caused by "anxiety". I have since discovered that it's a bacterial and yeast overgrowth in my gut that's been causing it and I have changed my diet a lot. What can happen is that if you have any kind of overgrowth of this type is that the bacteria lets off toxins and when you exercise these get pumped around your body and make you feel like crap.