Fatigue is making me upset - rant

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I am getting so sick of fatigue at the moment.
Yesterday I had an appointment with a counsellor and she was telling me not to let my diagnosis define me, that maybe I don’t work because I lack confidence and that I should try and push myself to do more things if I want to.

Then I slept from about 8PM to 3PM, and I only got up because the door bell went. Im still tired now and have been tempted to go back to sleep.

So I find the idea of “not defining yourself by your illness” hard because it clearly causes me issues that aren’t normal, and I have to change my behaviour lifestyle to fit in my needs. And to do this I have to acknowledge that I am different in some capacity.
Thats one issue.

Second issue - professionals on the whole and family often just tell me that if I’ve slept most of a night I’ve clearly had enough sleep for one day and to get up and do stuff. Some even suggest that I should only sleep for 10 hours and set alarms etc. But when my body feels uncomfortable doing stuff and is telling me to go to bed - why aren’t I listening to it? It feels like they are trying to solve fatigue and exhaustion with maths - and it is very othering. I know what my body is telling me, and if it tells me to lie down and relax, why am I pushing myself to do the opposite?? Who is winning from that scenario? It certainly isn’t me. It is much harder to enjoy activities when I am still tired. And in the long run it takes me even longer to recover and get back to feeling normal.

Last time I got serious about using alarms I fell asleep on a bus because I felt so tired and I haven’t wanted to go back to it since because it was both embarrassing and scary.

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Describe your complete and utter exhaustion to them. Tell them about dangerous issues like the bus story. They may still disagree but it’s worth explaining to them just in case it helps them understand your situation better

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I had someone say this, they said you should force yourself like normal people and I said normal people aren’t on major tranquilizers

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The first weeks of my injection is the ssme, its horrible because i work 40 hours a week. Night shifts too. I feel for you because its not nice at all

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Get a new doctor! I have been through the same and if they won’t take you seriously the sedation side effect will never be addressed. They usually assume you are fine if you are not psychotic and don’t really see the sedation as a major issue unfortunately.

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TBH I don’t even feel sedated. I just feel fatigue a lot of the time - especially if I have been doing stuff in the day and need recovery time.

Yeah you’re right I will do that next time.

Wow - I have no idea how you work 40 hours a week ! That is impressive.

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Talk to a doctor about chronic fatigue syndrome.

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I was extremely tired when i first started anti psychotics. Are you on anything for depression? Maybe youre a little depressed and its causing you to want to sleep.

But id listen to your body. If you are tired, sleep. If you are hungry, eat. And if you feel like gettin frisky, get frisky! Lol.

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Do you think it is not usual for SZA to be fatigued and sleeping alot?

Lol thank you! That makes perfect sense to me :innocent:

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I think people with sza sleep more than most. But from ipm to 3pm is a lot of sleep. Especially if you arent just starting your meds. Im inactive but i cant sleep that long. 10 12 hours at most and im good.

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I think is is unusual to sleep that much. Unless it is your meds.

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Its definitely not my meds (IMO). Ive been like this on other drugs that were pretty similar, and if anything latuda makes me less sedated in sleep. I can actually hear alarms and wake up for stuff when I need to which was impossible on seroquel. I slept through fire alarms and stuff on seroquel.

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Well,the hard truth is the more you sleep,the more you want. Being non-active makes you tired.

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This may not be an answer you want but, if your fatigued and dont have answers you can chooses to just sleep it off all the time or develop a habit of doing stuff even if your tired and fatigued.

Go for a walk even if your tired and dont feel like it.

I deal with fatigue most of the time so i just try and force habits

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Ive only just started, ive done it in the past on olanzipine.

I think the trick is to not think, as hard as that maybe. Sometimes it does work

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I agree with levelj1 it can help build endurance, the tiredness may not go, but you get some sort of willpowrr that makes yoh keep going. But you do have to learn to fight burn out, which sometimes means simple things like drinking lots of water and resting with fun hobbies

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This is the last 25 years of my life. I’m going to be tired no matter what so I be all DAMN THE TORPEDOES and lug my arse out the door to do stuff anyhow. You get used to it.

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I asked my buddy who is a fireman and bikes all the time how he has the energy to do everything he does and his answer was “I dont. I just refuse to quit”

Thats when i started on the refusal to quit mindset.

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Yeah ikwym. When i cant get something done, i ruminate and if i ruminate i end up down in the dumps for ever and i hate it when im like that. So even if it takes me two years to achieve a three month task. I still keep perserveing

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I like this personal anecdote. Its a good one because it makes a lot of sense

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