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?

This is lovely and GF

Why are you gluten-free? Have you been tested for coeliac? Untreated coeliac can cause all sorts of deficiencies.

Cook has (quite an extensive) gluten free menu not cheap but cheaper than takeaways www.cookfood.net/menu/main-meals/gluten-free

The tiredness, aches & pains and breathlessness are all symptoms of your anaemia. The top priority is to improve that. Once you're less exhausted the rest will follow more easily.

Can you increase your iron intake, either through more supplements or by diet? Get microwave ready meals and those individual sachets of veg you can put in the microwave - it's ok to be lazy, be kind to yourself. Red meat, green veg, and don't forget some vitamin C (wash it down with a glass of orange juice), that helps your body absorb the iron.

Stop pushing on with exercise. Your body needs to rest. Instead of 30 mins exercise take a blanket and sit outside for fresh air and vitamin D instead.

Have you done obvious things let get a shower stool to save energy when washing. A stool in the kitchen for meal prep and organised your day so you can have a rest at various points.

More water. Get someone to push for the iron infusion. You clearly need it.

I feel for you OP and hope you start to feel better.

On the food front I think there's a huge middle ground between takeaway and home cooked from scratch. Buying in a batch of reasonably nutritious ready meals and some bagged or frozen veg would be a good compromise, plus most supermarkets do a stir-fry deal with a bag of stir fry veg, chopped meat or chicken a sauce and some noodles so that could work a few evenings.

I could have written this post OP, my heart goes out to you. I've had covid several times over the pandemic and I think I'm suffering from fatigue related to it. I'm also 12 weeks pregnant and just getting over terrible HG. I'm still a bit nauseous and food smells make me heave. I don't know what to do, I feel like I could sleep for weeks.

Have some set easy yet healthy meals. For example make a big salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber whatever) that’ll last a few days and always have that with your meal to fill you up. When you can batch cook lasagne, veg bake things like that. Then you’ve got loads in the freezer to pull out and babe with the salad. Also jacket potato and beans? Jacket potato and cottage cheese, tuna, mushed chickpeas and mayo if you’re veggie, chilli. Loads of things can work on a potato.

If the salad is too much just have loads of different types of frozen veg. Mix it up which ones you use each day and just throw them in the microwave. Meals plans really help though.

I agree you have been ill and long covid is real. Look after yourself and understand that you need the rest.

Also agree get bags of stir fry veg and chicken/tofu (if tofu cut into chunks and put in the oven for 25 mins to get crispy). You can also get frozen garlic and ginger to put in the pan and just add some soy sauce and the veg. Noodles are so quick.

Urgh OP, I’m the same, caught covid on NYE and still feel so out of it. I’ve also been guilty of having meetings with myself on teams so that I can have an hours nap .

Everyone keeps telling me to get out for fresh air on a lunchtime but all I want to do is lie down and sleep, I physically don’t have the energy to go for a walk, if I did I’d have to log off work early to sleep.

I always try to get to sleep by 9.30pm. Could you bring your sleep forward a bit?

How old are you?

I am no way saying you have ME, but you could have a post viral syndrome which if not managed well initially can develop into ME and so as another poster with ME (I have had it for 23 years, severe now) I too would say be careful with the exercise at this stage.

Studies in ME have demonstrated a lowered anaerobic threshold in patients with ME/CFS, suggesting impaired aerobic energy metabolism. Increased activity can thus be harmful if it leads to post exertional malaise, a cardinal feature of ME where all your symptoms get worse and you become utterly drained of energy. For some patients, even activities of daily living can trigger PEM. It’s important to not exceed your individual energy limit so if your 30 minutes walk is making you feel worse it is too much at this stage.

This is a good video interviewing doctors and scientists on PEM.
www.dialogues-mecfs.co.uk/films/post-exertional-malaise/

Ps sorry my comment posted before I had finished.

So to end, finding a balance of rest, mental as well as physical, and gentle activity and not continuing to push to do more will hopefully give you the best chance of making a full recovery. The hardest thing is not overdoing it but vital to give you best chance of avoiding developing ME.

Ps sorry I missed you are waiting for an iron infusion. Obviously that could be a big source of your need for lots of sleep and fatigue. Ironically many people with ME suffer very bad insomnia and have huge sleep problems so you needing to sleep lots could indicate something else than a post viral syndrome or beginning stages of ME.

You need to rest as much as you possibly can!!! If the 30min walks are exhausting you , reduce or cut them out altogether.

Also do push your GP- frankly, they may be able to push for your infusion to be fast tracked?

Anaemia plus post covid sounds horrible. I am borderline anemic and has covid at Christmas and I’m still not 100% at all.

Food: Yorkshire provender do some good soups, many of which gluten free. i am practically living off the quinoa lentil vegetable one at the moment as I also don’t have the energy to cook.

Hand in there and take care of yourself !!! Don’t push yourself at all.

B12 injection. You can get it at alot of beauty salons.

If you are very deficient you may need a few to get help you back on your feet.

Honestly, they have been life changing for me.

[quote nodogz]@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.[/quote]
I realise you're joking but there's a fundamental misunderstanding in what you're saying. A person can be overweight and undernourished.

The easy food you're living on adds to your body fat but doesn't give you what you need to have the energy for the life you want.

The choice is yours; live on carby stuff and keep gaining weight/being knackered, or change your diet to be heavier on protein and fat/lighter on carby stuff, and drop weight/gain energy.

There's nothing complicated here. If you've got enough to live off around your middle, why don't you live off it?

Keeping an eye on this because I feel the same OP!

Whenever someone says I’ve been ill and am left with serious fatigue there’s always someone coming in to say carbs are the problem 🙄 NO! Post viral fatigue is the problem and when you feel that shit you need small pleasures in life not restrictive, unrealistic and miserable diets. When all the other crap is easing off then you can consider whether you want to restrict your diet further.

OP you’re not lazy, it can take a very long time for post covid fatigue to go away. Add to that your additional health issues and that’s a lot for one body to cope with.

Unfortunately the reality for chronically ill people is that we have to work out what we can give up. Exercise is the most glaringly obvious to start with but you may need to cut back on work too, even temporarily. I know it’s hard and financially fucks everything up but you need to consider yourself as an investment and what you put in now in terms of care you can benefit from as you recover. Nobody chooses to cut back on or give up work lightly. Nobody asks to become disabled by Illness. Nobody chooses that life but sometimes
It’s what we’ve got to live with.

You need to make changes to how you live until you notice recovery. Nobody with post viral fatigue can keep going as they did before. It’s your body sending you a message

Get b12 blood test from Gp. Do not take b12 citamins beforehand as they will screwer results badly

Apologies just seen you’re low on b12. What was your blood result? B12 injections will improve things, you may need to pay for additional regular private b12 top up injections on top of nhs injections.

@Boopeedoop

B12 injection. You can get it at alot of beauty salons.

If you are very deficient you may need a few to get help you back on your feet.

Honestly, they have been life changing for me.

Me too!

Food. Perhaps prepackaged salads. When I am really fatigued meals come in parts with little prep. Eg rinse fruit/salad and eat.
Cereal followed by fruit.

Frozen veg/ ready chopped veg.

Couscous sachets add dried fruit and chickpeas or cooked chicken.

Stop the exercise. (Do less anyway.)

Look at your life and cut out everything unecessary.

You have a limited amount of energy you need to spend it on essentials only. Think of it like a tight financial budget.

Food wise. Sachets of ready cooked rice that take 2 mins. Tinned curry and tinned veg makes a tasty meal.

You could do. Sachets rice. Ready cooked chickenor tinned fish and tinned/frozen veg. If you are well enough put a meal in the freezer complete with rice.