is this burnout? How to get well again?

[User08305972]

I have recently gone through a break up and before that my partner was quite ill, and lots of stressful things happening. I am now on my own with a three yr old, who I adore but is hard work. Rest is not really a thing. I work four days a week and don't really exercise, don't have the time really.

I have recently been feeling totally fatigued, I have joint and muscle pain, I'm more anxious than usual, I find myself withdrawing from friends. Last night, I lay down in bed and it felt as though my body was buzzing which freaked me out and I think ended up almost having a full blown panic attack. The sensation went away after about an hour.

This is all on top of the grief that I feel like I am going through that I am now on my own raising my son.

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through a lot. Unfortunately I have no advice, other than to look after yourself xx

Thank you. It's so hard with a three yr old on my own, but I do need to prioritise self-care more. x

Eat a healthy diet.
Be kind to yourself and rest where you can.
Mindfulness eg deep breathing.
Low stress activities.
Lots of sleep.

If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed or anxious, do see your GP asap.

I'm sorry that you've had such a difficult time recently. I think often when we're going through very stressful experiences we manage at the time, but then the effects of the stress on your body reveal themselves once you're not running on adrenaline. I'm not sure it's necessary to know whether it's "burnout" to recognise that you need some time to recover from the stress.

It might be worth a trip to your GP about the fatigue and muscle pains to check there's nothing else going on. Do you have people who can support you and that you can talk to? If finances allow then perhaps it would be worth seeing a therapist to offload what's been happening and how you're feeling now. Otherwise I'd suggest that you try and prioritise sleep and healthy eating. Let your friends know that you're struggling and need time to yourself. ❤️

Get your bloods tested. I can't recall which one but a low vitamin/iron level can cause those symptoms. With your joint pains I'm leaning more towards low Vit D.

Edit - stress can make you deplete your stores a lot faster than normal so even though you are eating the same vitamin packed foods you are using them at 2x, 3x the rate.