Crippling fatigue

[Firstbornunicorn]

So, I'm 6+2 today and have been feeling increasingly knackered.

For a bit of background: I've been struggling with mystery fatigue since about May. I finally made a GP appointment (there's always at least a 3 week wait) as it wasn't getting better, and found out that I was pregnant in the meantime.

The appointment was last Monday, and the doc basically said that it would be difficult to reliably investigate the cause when pregnant, and the midwife will take blood from me at my 10 week appointment anyway.

But these past 2 days, it feels like I've been hit by a train. I work 9-5, but by about 12, I'm usually so tired I could cry. I've just woken up this morning and I was supposed to be in work over an hour ago.

I'm also nauseous and sore, but I realise that's par for the course.

But what should I do about the fatigue? I really feel like I can't cope

Sorry but horrendous fatigue is usually part and parcel of the first trimester.

Sorry you're feeling like this @Firstbornunicorn I don't really have any advice, just to say that I was so tired from around 5 weeks that I was going to bed pretty much as soon as I got home from work and spending pretty much the whole weekend asleep/on the sofa. For me, it started to ease at about 9/10 weeks. I'm now 11+4 and almost feel normal (though still need quite a lot of sleep).

Hopefully it starts to ease off for you soon

As others have said, I also found fatigue to horrendous in the first trimester. I just slept whenever I could and tried not to stress over non urgent housework. Mine eased around 11 weeks and hasn't been anywhere near as bad since. Hopefully yours will ease soon!

Thanks, everyone.

I ended up taking today off work... I've only been in the job 6 months and have had so much time off so far 😭
Hoping it really does ease as I get further along!!
I was thinking of making another GP appointment but don't know if they'd realistically be able to do anything... If it continues as it has been, I'll probably need longer off work as it's to the point where sometimes I can't stand up, and there are certainly days I can't have a shower or wash.

No advice I'm sorry just wanted to let you know you're not alone! I've just put a post up which is similar to yours. I feel so terrible I've started to wonder if something is actually "wrong" with me. I'm 7 weeks 1 day

I'm holding onto the general consensus that after the first trimester things will get better. I hope they do for you

I'm pregnant with baby number 4 and this is a symptom for me. I get so tired. It does ease off in the 2nd trimester but I'm 29 weeks now and so tired. In my first pregnancy i took holiday from 28 weeks and went on mat leave once it was finished as I could cope with the tiredness. I hope you start feeling better soon. X

Fatigue is a major symptom of the first trimester

If you had fatigue before being pregnant werr your iron levels, vitamin D levels, vitamin B12 and thyroid hormone levels checked out? Did you get a copy of the test results?

I'd go back and ask for blood tests now, as you've been feeling run down for longer than you've been pregnant. But yes first trimester can include extreme fatigue so that's probably not helping! Could well be anaemia but that's easily treated.

Fatigue is also terrible for me in the first trimester. I am 6+5. Today I put a movie on for the kids and lay on the floor beside them to sleep, I was so desperate. I am in Canada, but I think our systems are similar in many ways, and our GPs generally won't look for underlying causes during pregnancy either.

@bluebug45 I had blood tests back in April which showed my folate levels were slightly low and everything else was normal. I got a print out of the results for my records.

Thanks, everyone else, I do feel reassured. I'm off work again today and going to attempt to have a shower. May phone the doc as well, although I have no idea what I'm going to say or ask for!

Normal isn't good enough you actually wanted them to be optimal before you got pregnant.

As the ranges change for haemoglobin while pregnant and you can't trial supplements while pregnant to find your optimal dose, you just need to ensure you don't fall below the bottom of the range e.g. take those pregnancy vitamins.

If you still feel awful at around 16 weeks then you will need to harass to your GP as you shouldn't feel so tired once you have a placenta.

Sooooooo the doc just phoned me. I'd called yesterday about maybe getting bloods and the nice guy at the reception desk said he'd ask her to give me a call to chat about it.

She laughed as soon as I explained the issue and was like "well that's completely normal, you just have to push through".

I tried to explain that I didn't feel it was normal and I literally don't have the strength in my body to sit up at the moment, but she laughed again and I didn't say anything else as I was crying and didn't want her to hear :(

I know lots of people who are tired during pregnancy, especially the early stages, but I've never known anyone else to literally not be able to spend more than an hour a day out of bed.

Maybe I'm being silly, but it would have been nice to be taken seriously.

That's horrible @Firstbornunicorn even if the doctor didn't think there was anything they could do/that it was pregnancy related they still should have taken you seriously. Have you been referred to a midwife yet? Might be worth trying to speak to one as they may be better placed to help.

I was exceptionally tired in the first trimester of this pregnancy, my whole body ached and I just felt exhausted from waking up to going to sleep (just thought it was running around after a 3 year old!) but when I went for my 12 week scan it turned out to be twins! Obviously not saying that you will definitely be having them, but it could be a possibility.. it would explain the extreme exhaustion x

I also suffered badly with fatigue on the first 12 weeks. However, i was already diagnosed with a fatigue condition. Im not saying its the same for you but if you feel you had symptoms prepregnancy then i would suggest making another docs app and explaining this. It might take a few app for someone to listen but its not always just the pregnancy.
In the mean time, have a look at your contract/pregnancy policy at work. I looked at mine and was able to work different hours to suit when i got tired. So i went from working 8-4 to 7-3 because i was ok in the morning but very tired by the afternoon and nearly falling asleep driving home. They may also be able to allow reduced hours if thats more suitable for you (for me, i couldnt afford to). Of course this does mean telling work about pregnancy maybe before you wanted to but its something you have to weigh up (my boss found me being sick at work at 6 weeks so she knew early on).

Just call and see if you can bring the blood tests forward, a lot of pregnancy symptoms get shrugged off by doctors and midwives in my experience without some test that actually shows an issue. At the same time don't underestimate just how tiring the first trimester can be. I thought it was roughly equivalent to having flu for two months straight, it really is exhausting.

Sorry, you did call once. Try again and be more forceful, they're going to do bloods anyway what difference does a couple weeks make to them. Emphasize how stressed this is making you.

@evagracemummy2015 Oh, I love twins! I'd be surprised if I was having them, but think it might be better for my first to be twins than have twins once I already have 4 kids!

@mumtoboy123 I have suspected for a while that I may have CFS/ME - no obvious physical cause for my tiredness has been found so I guess the pregnancy tiredness on top of that might be responsible. I've actually been off work this week - intended to go today but fell asleep while getting ready - so I'll talk to my manager on Monday. Think I might cope better with having a Wednesday off to "crash" mid week. Not sure I want to go back full-time anyway, so I guess there's no harm in getting that sorted now.

@havetothink I see what you mean. It's hard to be assertive when you already feel vulnerable (plus I'm afraid of doctors but that's another matter altogether), but I think I just need to get my big girl pants on and demand for something to be done!