View Full Version : Can anxiety cause extreme fatigue?
Serenity1990
24-05-14, 12:44
Lately as the day progresses I'm getting incredibly fatigued. For example yesterday I felt really tired come late afternoon and my balance started to go. Then come late evening I felt this whole body tiredness, this overwhelming fatigue both cognitively and physically and I felt like the world wasn't real.
Coming to think of it I've been getting spells of this for a couple of years now. Due to various other symptoms I'm wondering whether this could be MS fatigue, as I've not read anything on here about anxiety causing such extreme fatigue.
Yea Anxiety causes extreme fatigue :( If you think about it when you are anxious your body reacts the same as it would being chased by a vicious wild animal and that is sure to tire you out!
StrayWookie
24-05-14, 12:59
oh shit yeah it is exhausting being anxious. Our brains trickle feed adrenalin into our systems when anxious and the body has to work to burn that off. Hence the elevated heart rates and other physical symptoms. Plus the mental fatigue of constant awareness and worry wears you down also.
Serenity1990
24-05-14, 13:12
Thanks for the replies. Is this tiredness really so extreme though? Obviously I've been tired in my life before but this seems other-worldly, not the same thing at all.
StrayWookie
24-05-14, 13:17
Yes it can be extreme. I know myself I am tired enough to sleep only a couple hours after waking up! I fight it to stay awake thru the whole day, yet oddly at about 10pm every night I am fine.
Mr.Jitters
24-05-14, 13:55
Anxiety can leave me feeling so fatigued that I'm actually scared to nap during the day because, the only way I can describe it is, I feel so tired I'm sure I'll never wake up. Pale as a sheet, too. Like StrayWookie, I usually pick up before bed. It's kinda cyclic, too. I sleep for 7 hours a night, but because of anxiety, I don't sleep WELL enough... so the next day it happens all over again. Used to go on for months.
I found pushing myself to get more tired through exercise much more helpful than trying to improve my rest through relaxation, etc. initially. Quick bike ride about 6pm, bed at 10 and listen to a relaxation track for half an hour seems to sort me out in a few days.
I agree with Mr. Jitters. Even if you get enough hours of sleep, sometimes with anxiety you don't sleep well and don't get well-rested.
ankietyjoe
24-05-14, 16:30
For me the fatigue is more physical. I don't feel like I need to sleep during the day, I just feel like my body can't supply enough energy to my muscles to move at all.
It often feels like weakness, but I've tested myself and I still have plenty of absolute muscle power. I just have no mental or physical energy to move about.
Oh, and don't even get me started on cognitive issues. I can barely string a sentence together most of the time.
Yeah it can but I'd go to a Dr anyway x
Oh boy yes it can cause fatigue.....13 years ago when I was in the middle of my first breakdown I could not even walk upstairs... I crawled on my hands and knees... completely debilitating:mad:
Sarah
Definitely, my first experience of a major 'Panic Attack', I was out walking in the street and suddenly I couldn't lift my legs to walk. They felt like lead and I was so concerned I wouldn't get home. It was if someone had strapped them down to the floor. At the time, I did not understand what was happening to me. I now rest when feeling tired. Lie down for 20/30 mins doing nothing but relaxing the body. I also get very dark circles under my eyes and go very pale in the face. The stomach also joins in with constant gurgling as if hungry, when I have eaten loads and my stomach is bloated. When you think about it logically, we have been pushing our bodies constantly rushing around, not even taking time to eat properly or digest our food. How many people do you see walking around eating, or drinking cups of coffee while driving in their car, having only 15 mins at work to eat lunch because they have to fit everything in their lunch hour or in some cases half an hour. This is the world will leave in today, 24/7. :mad:
Anyone still on this thread???
thismightbezach
12-10-17, 22:46
Absolutely. Last year I was convinced I had a certain serious illness and my anxiety was through the roof. I would sleep 8-9 hours a night and wake up exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open throughout the day. This went on for 2-3 months before I realized there was nothing wrong with me and the fatigue slowly subsided.
I'm totally shattered every day at the moment, some days I literally feel like I want to lie down on the floor and just sleep forever. I have zero mental or physical energy for anything.
braginskaya
14-10-17, 11:05
The short answer is: yes, it can. During my last bout of health-related anxiety (I've been mercifully fine for the last couple of months), I felt so tired and achy and nauseous all the time that I convinced myself I was literally dying, which only made the symptoms worse. As soon as I started to recover from the anxiety and began to eat properly again I immediately felt much better.
Absolutely. Last year I was convinced I had a certain serious illness and my anxiety was through the roof. I would sleep 8-9 hours a night and wake up exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open throughout the day. This went on for 2-3 months before I realized there was nothing wrong with me and the fatigue slowly subsided.
Anything that helped it go? How did you finally realise there was nothing wrong with you?
I'd be interested to know how long the fatigue lasts. Fatigue is probably the main thing I am worrying about at the moment and it never seems to get any better but it's a viscous circle isn't it because the more you worry about something the longer it takes to resolve and the more you worry and that's the anxiety cycle right there.
eternalhope
27-10-17, 16:51
Yep, Anxiety can completely wear you out mentally and physically. Some days it can take all you have to just get out of bed in the morning.
eternalhope
27-10-17, 21:48
I'd be interested to know how long the fatigue lasts. Fatigue is probably the main thing I am worrying about at the moment and it never seems to get any better but it's a viscous circle isn't it because the more you worry about something the longer it takes to resolve and the more you worry and that's the anxiety cycle right there.
It is a terrible cycle, indeed. Especially when we can't resist the urge to Google symptoms, or just start the 'worse case scenario' routine. Then, all hell breaks loose. The mind gets cloudy, and all of the sudden your completely exhausted from sitting in front of the computer. Makes no sense : )
Depending on the situation, it can last for days with brief moments of relief.
Mine has been going on for six weeks now every day :(
ETA: now I'm even more worried that if mine has gone on this long with no improvement, it must be something else not just anxiety. Mine also comes over me in waves a few times a day and it seems unrelated to anything I'm doing or thinking at the time.
Duchesskitty
28-10-17, 15:52
Yes 100%. I find that after a panic attack, I feel utterly exhausted and shaky for hours afterwards, if you think about it, having your body in such a state of high alert takes such a lot of energy so you need a rest to recuperate.
I think of it like running an internal marathon!
Omg yes. I've been struggling with HA on and off for the better part of 7 years now. Sometimes ill go weeks/even months without worrying then suddenly ill go through a period of near constant anxiety. The worst times are a few hours of near panic followed by complete fatigue until I go to sleep for the night. Very very draining.
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