Sudden Extreme Fatigue

[TheLostSaga]

For the past few days I've been struggling with fatigue, it usually strikes at like 7pm-9pm. It is extreme, intense exhaustion. It feels as though I want to do nothing but just collapse onto my bed and fall apart - it doesn't matter how long I try to fight it off, eventually I have to just lay down.

But here's the kicker, I can't actually really fall asleep. At best I can take maybe a 1-2hr nap, at worst I snooze for 10-30min, not really asleep but not really awake.

After I get up from the nap, I feel jumpy and tingly all over my body, as though I've gotten a jolt of adrenaline, and the fatigue is gone.

I can't for the life of me figure out what is happening, or why. It is just a sudden absolute loss of energy to the point where it's hard to focus, hard to do things. Anyone else experience this kind of fatigue?

[ankietyjoe]

It's very common with anxiety and stress.

The reason(s) are complex, my own GP(s) had absolutely no answer when I presented them with the issue as it's not really down to a single cause.

After I did much, much research over 2-3 years, I discovered that the most likely cause is the way the body burns through nutrients when stressed. With high levels of cortisol, you need way, way more in the way of nutrients than the imaginary 5 a day recommendation. Cortisol is what also prevents good quality sleep from happening.

I started out making sure I got enough exercise (counter intuitive right...). 20 minutes brisk walking a day is plenty, walking fast enough to get a little bit sweaty and out of breath.

Secondary to that, I eat 15 portions of fruit and veg a day, steering more towards dark, leafy greens. It sounds like a lot, but it's actually way more of a 'normal' human diet than what we're used to. This really has to comprise of fresh veg, not baked beans or processed foods.

I would imagine it's likely that you've just gone through a prolonged period of stress. It's common for people to feel this way after a bad virus, for example.