Managing fatigue (or tips to cover up being lazy)

[nodogz]

Caught covid on Christmas Eve and have some long-standing health issues (very anaemic). I am so so so dog tired at the moment and I need some tips to manage this. Married and husband is food shopping, washing clothes and looking after pets. Im at a loss about how to manage this, here's what im doing.

Im working from home full time over four days but im a contractor so can't take time off. I need this job for a variety of reasons.

Sleep: I'm sleeping 10pm to 7.45am ish. It's still not enough. And im not up early enough for life either. Going to bed earlier doesn't seem to work.

Vits: taking b vits, vit d and some iron ( I've been waiting for an iron infusion for four months but due to covid it's delayed) Having heart palpitations but not enough for blood transfusion.

Food: trying to make soup but often not bothering or just eating quick rubbish. Husband is not a cook and just buys takeaways if I don't cook. I don't want takeaways so often don't eat. He's taken over most of house jobs but this is the area he doesn't like. I'm usually happy to cook everything. I do drink coffee but I think it makes me more tired.

Work: booking meetings in (with myself) but sleeping through them. Not great practice but helps me get through the day. I do make the time back.

Body aches: the best way to describe this is like I've been beat up. It's tender anywhere I apply pressure to my body. Sometimes clothes hurt or even leaning against a chair. Im also having daily nose bleeds.

Exercise: trying to do a 30 min walk outside every day but really out of breath. Embarrassingly so. And often sleep after an excertion.

House: house is a tip but can live with that.

How can I get better quickly? I spent all of the weekend on the sofa and in bed but still so tired today. How long will it last? Can doctors help?

I think the biggest change you can make is nourishment. You can’t drive a car on an empty tank and you shouldn’t expect your body to work if it’s not fuelled.

@BabbleBee trust me, I've plenty of "nourishment" around my middle and thighs. I could live off that for a long time!

I have zero motivation to make make food. I'd rather have toast, cottage cheese, cereal despite not really liking any of those things.

As a ME sufferer, I think you need to cut the exercise. Fresh air is fine, but look up post exertional malaise.

Secondly, you must rest as much as you can. I know you want tips to be able to do more, but actually you may need to learn to do less. Hopefully it won’t be for long, but if you don’t give yourself a break now it may take much longer to recover, or perhaps you may never recover.

My ME came on after a nasty infection, I tried to do too much, developed post viral fatigue and it never went away. Long Covid has added complications I know, but rest rest and more rest is the only thing to vaguely work for fatigue.

I don’t want to scare you but I do want you to rest rest and rest again!

Healthy meal kit deliveries? Like Hello fresh or similar? I have no idea what they’re like but they’ll be better than takeaways every night.
Another option: have one night where you cook a huge batch. Get DH to chop veg and so on, then do a biiiig batch cook and freeze. Then he can defrost of an evening and while you might be eating the same stuff, it will make things a lot easier.

Get well soonest. It is horrible and I have all the sympathies

I'm in a similar position.

I nap 1-3 hours every day. If I'm not sleepy I still lie down with a blanket in a dim room and rest for at least an hour.

I go for a walk once or twice a day. Sometimes brisk, sometimes an amble, depending on how I'm feeling (or if I'm in a hurry!). Not far, only a mile or so.

I drink a lot. I'm definitely more wiped out on days when I've not needed a wee every couple of hours. So I have a bottle or cup on the go all the time.

I try to stick to the 75% rule:only do 75% of what you think you could do. In other words, stop well before you're too tired. Of course, sometimes you've reached your limit but you still have to get home, so rest as soon as you get home - don't do just one more task.

For food, make sure you have easy food at home for when you want a snack or don't want a takeaway. For me, that's nice sliced bread (and a toaster), butter, Marmite, peanut butter, nuts, cheeses, fruit, berries, cherry tomatoes and other mini veg, dips, yogurt, crackers and hard boiled eggs. Virtually no prep, not even chopping. Though obviously the eggs need to be boiled, but I can cook a batch in one go and keep them in the fridge.

It's a slow slog, but I notice an improvement week on week.

@mabinog and @Dilbertian - thanks for your tips. I know you're right, don't push too hard and drink more water.

Just frustrating that I'm not in the position were I can take time off. But gutted as I've had to turn some extra work down as I don't have any energy spare.

There's lots to unpack about being/feeling "lazy". I've family members telling me I'm faking and that I need to exercise. But I just want to sleep all the time. Or eating, I physically can't cook, eat and wash up never mind plan or shop! I'm dreading going to the doctors as it'll just be the usual lose weight, it's your age (40) dismissal

I have read suggestions that trying to work through covid can make long covid worse.

Yy to the 75% but whilst you are actually still I'll drop that to 25%. Do you have an oximeter? Are you keeping an eye on your oxygen levels?

I'd look into whether there are any local cafes that do a kind of meals of wheels service or a regular delivery from something like cook. Intersperse that with stuff like premade lasagne and pasta with sauce in a jar. Cous cous is also good as no cooking just pour in hot water.

Stop feeling guilty for being ill

I second what @mabinog said. The feeling of being embarrassingly slow when you're out walking is because your body isn't up for it. The only way to recover is to rest and never push yourself. It only makes you worse. Trust me, I've had severe M.E and I found a way to manage it. The only thing I'd add as well is that too much sleep make ME sufferers worse. I can't comment on it myself as I suffered extreme insomnia for many years, but I've heard others have this issue. So you could do a trial week of actually sleeping slightly less, and see if that makes any difference.

OP, push for the iron infusion ASAP. (Unfortunately DC1 needed one desperately and it still took 2 months, so start making a noise about it now.)
That's the key thing that will help, but it may take a couple of weeks to kick in.

You need to get onto the doctors and get your iron sorted ASAP. I was borderline in need of an infusion and the doctors gave me high dose tablets to take 3 times a day.

You need to eat. You can't raise your iron levels if you're not eating any iron. If you have iron tablets on a empty stomach you will spend all day with either your head down the toilet or your bus stuck to it.

I also think you should take some time off work. You need the time to recuperate. How did you get anemic in the first place? You need to work on fixing the cause. For me it was heavy periods and never getting my iron levels back up after DC

*but stuck to it, not bus!!!

If you want to eat healthily or quickly can't you just buy soups from the supermarket? I watched an episode of eat well for less that said there was barely any nutritional difference between tinned soups/fresh ones like covent garden etc or home made. I know they aren't the hardest thing in the world to make, but by the time you've peeled and cut all the veg, composted the scraps, boiled the stock, added flavours, perhaps blitzed in the blender, then cleaned everything up I can see why it's just an extra faff. Compared to shoving carton in microwave.

I agree with pp that I would also limit the walking, although getting outside for fresh air is a good idea, just make it a slow wander for 10-15 mins while you're recovering, rather than a half hour march.

Can you tell your GP how ill you're feeling and ask if they can speed up the iron injection or recommend something else that might help?

Agree house can just be left for now but would it be worth when you are feeling better to get a cleaner for a one off? I know it's a MN cliche but ones by me charge say £40 for a 2-3 hour blitz, so at least you're back on an even keel going forward.

I'm sure there are groups on FB etc with others suffering from long covid who would probably give good advice.

Hope you feel better soon!

@Sideswiped I can't speed up the iron infusion. I get regular infusions so don't have to refer through GP but do have to have a consultant authorise it. This happened in October (as in my bloods hit the number and the gastrology team said yes) but they can't specify when. At my hospital, infusions are given in the same place as chemotherapy so I can see why I'm not at the top of the list.

Ps. No one knows why I'm anaemic! I suspect it's something genetic or thyroid as I have very low folate/b12 (not treated) It's been low since I was a toddler, doesn't improve if I stop my periods and my grandma often faints somewhere and is rushed in to hospital with low haemoglobin.

Sigh, I don't expect anyone will take me medically seriously until the menopause - but I'm happy to chug along getting infusions semi-regularity

Don't think anaemia and covid are a happy mix! Im probably one of those disposable underlying health condition types!

Oh, and im gluten free so that's why I cook most of my own food and adds a layer of difficulty to ready meals. Im just used to it (and food snob ) and gluten does make me feel tired too

Could you eat things like nectarines, bananas, nuts and raisins maybe? No prep and can snack through the day? I think the food might make the difference.

Hope you feel better soon!

I had HG and still had two tickets to feed so became master of pick n mix picnics. So, get lots of different proteins (cooked chicken/meat/fish), fats (cheeses/nut butters/avocado), carbs (new potatoes you can steam/oatcakes/crumpets/pittas), veg/fruit (again microwaveable packs, cherry tomatoes, apples, grapes/satsumas) plus anything else you fancy. Part baked baguettes are really useful too.

Then just make bento strike measles, can even get a pack of trays with kids from Amazon and make a few up at once and then just keep in fridge and grab when needed.

Often psychologically easier to pick at bits and get quite a decent amount of nourishment rather than try and force down takeaways or ready meals. And worst comes to the worst can always just have pitta and hummus.

I do agree with others about your iron though, daily nosebleeds needs assessing/treating urgently

^toddlers to feed

You'd be better doing gentle stretching and movement for a few minutes a few times a day in your house, and then a much shorter walk. Then you could built it up when you feel ready.

Even when overweight, we still need healthy nourishment. If a non-fatigued healthy person ate crap they'd feel crap, and your body needs fuel to rebuild. It's worth it to preplan smaller snacks and meals to give yourself the nutrition you need. Prioritise diet and gentle movement and keep resting as much as you need.

There's lots to unpack about being/feeling "lazy".

Oh, yes. Especially on days (like today) when I go for a rest despite not actually feeling shattered, and not actually falling asleep.

I try to think of this self-care as being like antibiotics: you must keep taking them even after you feel completely well, until you complete the course, or you will relapse. Or even like Vit D or iron supplements: you must keep taking them even if you don't have any symptoms of deficiency, because if you don't take them you will be deficient.

Don't rush yourself. Recovery is a long process...

OP - get checked for medical causes: thyroid, diabetes, b12/folate (pernicious anaemia or diet?), coeliac.

Once these medical causes are tested for, then maybe try and prioritise your most important tasks and plan your day. Could you do small chunks with rests in between? Good quality sleep

These are great to have in the freezer.

Ready meals but made like you would at home with no weird additives...

www.cookfood.net

Vitamin B12 injections

Resting is also lying down or putting your feet up. Pace yourself.

What I tend to do is keep building blocks of meals in the freezer - chopped onions, celery, carrots can go in the soup maker with pumpkin or I might make a curry with various frozen veg. I will keep chopped veg that I can easily roast, so it can go alongside a protein etc. That way even if I'm exhausted, I can have a healthy and quick meal.

On the weekends, I do some meal prep so I have things for the week. I tend to make larger portions of bolognaise sauce or whatever which can then go in the freezer for another time or prep veggies or soup.

I have never really got on with vitamin supplements so I'm about to try organ meat supplements to bring my Iron and Vit B levels up. Can't bear to eat the stuff but can pop a pill - maybe that will help?

Outsource what you can - food delivery like Gousto or hello fresh! The Cook ready meals mentioned above are great and I think they deliver. If a big meal is too much, make sure that you snack regularly and keep the range of colours of food that you eat varied too. Fluids are so, so important too. Make sure that your urine is a healthy colour.

For the house - can you get a cleaner?

Is there a long covid clinic that you can be referred to?

Definitely aim to do less than you think you ought to. Post viral fatigue is no laughing matter.

Hope things start to improve gradually for you op.

I'm one of those people the more I rest the lazier I feel!

I make sure I get out and exercise every day . Usually power walking with the dog, and eat well LOW CARB might be you answer here... when I do it I feel like a racehorse, sleep better at night too. So more energy in the day.

Don't get me wrong I'm lazy by nature, love lying around all day snoozing and watching tv. But, if im up out walking with the dog , running around etc I actually feel better