Fatigue Info...
 

I know this has been discussed before, but I can't find the thread. I am suffering exstreme fatigue lately, and need some new ways to deal with it!

In January I went to my general practioner for fatigue, she did a bloodwork and results should low on B-12, vitamon D and inflamation.

Went back on B12 shots, and just this week was told to increase shots. Currently in exercise program in Vestibular/physical therapy and walking with hubby at home.

I am not overweight (although I should be with over 6 months of being sedentary). I know the lack of restful sleep and Beta-blocker I'm on for Migraines is a big factor.....but those are things that can't seem to be controlled right now.

Any ideas on ways to cope better with this fatigue? Thanks in advance :-)

I recently purchased a book called "Brainlash". It was written by a PHD who had to recover from a mTBI.

I just read yesterday that she felt that vision therapy helped eradicate a lot of fatigue she was experiencing as a result of the concussion she had sustained.

I have been experiencing a great deal of fatigue myself and I've also been trying to figure out a way to overcome it. So far, when I've attempted exercise, I've experienced setbacks. I'm working 20 hours a week and my job is physically demanding - I'm on medical limitations right now, but I want to do more than I'm able to - at work and at home.

I plan on scheduling vision therapy for myself as soon as I'm done with the Bowen Technique sessions.

I tend to see fatigue as my brain telling me that I'm asking too much of it, and that I need to slow down if it's going to heal.

So I would say I improved my fatigue by going with it as much as I could and resting whenever I was tired, which was most of the time, for months (yes I know it's frustrating and boring and depressing!).

I'm functioning pretty normally now but still notice that I need a bit more rest than other people. I would say that like so many other of our symptoms which we love to hate, the fatigue is really your brain trying to help you help yourself, by making appropriate demands of it so that it can get itself better.

Trying to fight these symptoms is essentially trying to fight your own brain and its defence mechanisms, which will ultimately make your problems last longer as the healing process is delayed. When your brain is ready for it your fatigue will lessen.

Try and work out a decent grading plan - so you do the things most important to you or most difficult first, before you get fatigued.

Remember to leave some energy for things you enjoy as well :)

Klaus! I'm so happy to read that you're basically functioning so close to normal now! I hope the fatigue you experience goes away in time too!!

Thanks EsthersDoll and Klaus! The Brainlash book sounds like a good reference EsterDoll....I haven't heard about vision therapy yet, but worth checking into.

Klaus, I hear what your saying about prioritizing during the day. I have really been trying to do that (one of the reasons I'm not on here everyday) but my type A personality seems to be getting the best of me. I'll try harder.

Thanks again:)

I'm "type-A" too... I didn't even realize it until after the concussion and a lot of the practitioners I was seeing kept telling me that... ;)

I need to remember Klaus's advice too.

That's funny you mention it, with me I actually think I have a little bit of all three types: :eek:

Type A.....I am a bit high-strung and, obsessed about time, and used to be a work-a-holic (at work and home).

Type B..... I care about and have empathy for others

Type C..... failing to cope successfully with stress

Heehee....I am definitely a Type A as well. I guess the PCS is helping me to learn that I need to slow down...it's hard to remember that, though when I want to push myself!!
:rolleyes:

Thanks - me too :D

Despite what health professionals sometimes suggest in an attempt to make us feel better, I don't think one needs to have been a particularly high achiever to be dissatisfied with the energy levels you have following a brain injury - everyone should be really, unless you were incredibly lazy before your injury!

But trying to 'beat' the fatigue is like trying to beat the pain from a broken leg - it's there for a reason (I know the OP wasn't talking about 'beating' fatigue, rather dealing/coping with it, I'm just making a general point).

Are you taking vitamin D supplements? Dr. Nedley found that I was low on Vitamin D and gave me a 50,000 IU megadose to kickstart me, and now I take 4000 IU every day.

Are you taking anything or doing anything for the inflammation?

Are you sufficiently hydrated? Even mild dehydration can cause fatigue and brain fog. As a general rule of thumb, you should drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day, plus an additional 8 ounces for every hour of exercise. For example, a 100 lb. person should drink 50 oz. of water per day, and 58 oz. if they exercise for an hour.

How is your sleep/wake schedule? You might consider some light therapy to help get your circadian rhythm regulated.

All that said, sleep disturbances and fatigue are still the last thing I'm struggling with. I just do my best to stay awake during the day and sleep at night. Some days I make it, some days I crash at 4 PM. :)

I have a semi related question... I'm on nortriptylene, and now that the dose has gone from 10 mg to 25, I'm finding that I am VERY tired... will this pass? Should I sleep, or should I try to make myself push through it?

Yeah, when I was on amitriptyline, I couldn't stay awake for the first few days. It did get better gradually over time as I got more used to it. I don't see any great advantage to trying to stay awake through it.

Just an FYI - I went to get the vision therapy evaluation yesterday and the Dr. said that my eyes are overcompensating and that it's overly draining my energy by doing so - the way my vision is trying to work is taxing my brain.

I found that if you are having a hard time falling asleep at night there's a supplement called melatonin. Can get it over the counter and it works like a charm! No drowsiness in the morning either, which is great! If that's not an option, my neurologist told me that any rest is good rest, if you don't sleep until 1am and then nap in the afternoon, whenever you can is great! Juggling school and/or work is never easy when you're fatigued as many people here can tell you but as others have said it's your brain telling you your body needs less activity (even though doing nothing drives me insane! :P)

Hope that helps!

Thanks for all the suggestions. It is so nice to have a forum like this to bounce ideas off of.

Eowyn,
I am getting B12 injections every 2 weeks now (through my own GP) and I am also working on bringing the Vitamin D up. I believe I am staying hydrtaed but I was not told to take anything for the inflammation?

Infact, whenever I ask what type of nutritionals I should be taking, I'm told by the docs (WC) it wont really make a difference???

Well, MY OPINION ONLY, the doctors can say whatever they want, but nutrition is the thing that seems to have made the biggest difference for me.

I also had elevated inflammation markers. Dr. Nedley said that the vegan diet should help reduce it, plus I could take algal DHA/EPA supplements to help speed the process. I am supposed to get re-checked in about another month but I can already say that my muscle aches and pains are MUCH improved from what they were.

I think that hot and cold water treatments may also assist with this as it increases circulation throughout the body and it seems to me that that would help the body clear out toxins or inflammation as well.

Getting your vitamin D up to normal may help with your sleep issues. The body needs both calcium and vitamin D present in order produce melatonin. If you are deficient in either nutrient, it can interfere with being able to fall asleep or stay asleep through the night. So if your vitamin D was very low, that could be another reason to ask about a megadose to help get you up to normal quickly.

Good luck! Keep on keeping on.

I know from personal experience that allergies can cause inflammation. So make sure you know what you're allergic to and avoid those things - you can even get tested by an allergist if you're not sure. And get the environmental allergies that affect you under control by keeping dust out of your house, running the AC instead of opening the windows and/or taking medicine.

My fatigue reduced a lot when I really became obsessed with nutrition and exercise as well. Hard to tell exactly what the cause was but the nutrition certainly seemed to play a big part.

This in turn was catalysed by what seems to me now to have been an improvement in insight and goal-directed behaviour: for a long time I was kidding myself that there was no point making drastic changes to diet etc because 'I might be better soon anyway'. This now seems totally crazy given how sick I was and I can only put it down to the PCS clouding my judgement.

Anyone with a TBI who is thinking like that, try and snap out of it - your brain injury can go on affecting your judgement far longer than you realise - so get on the nutrition wagon NOW it seems to really help :)