Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So, I've been dealing with a myriad of low-grade health annoyances this year, mostly depression and anxiety but also some physical stuff like increased heart rate, increased sensitivity to caffeine and sugar, stomachaches, weight gain, and fatigue. The fatigue is by far the worst of these - I am so damn tired all the time for no apparent reason. I don't have a physically demanding job, and I've tried sleeping more, sleeping less, exercising more, exercising less, eating more or less protein/sugar/fats/whatever, taking vitamins, voodoo curses, etc. Nothing seems to help, so I'm finally dragging my butt to the doctor tomorrow to demand he tests me for whatever could be causing this. So far I'm thinking some kind of deficiency, or possibly thyroid problems. So, hivemind of the PPK, my questions to you - am I missing anything really obvious here? Anyone else had unexplained fatigue that they were able to figure out?

Part of the reason I've waited so long to deal with this was the depression - I thought the depression was causing the fatigue so I focused on fixing the that with the assumption that once I did, I wouldn't be so tired. But now I've started to improve on that front and still am not feeling much better, so I'm wondering if maybe I had it ass-backwards and whatever's making me tired was also making me depressed? (And then of course the two would just feed off each other in some hyper-dysfunctional symbiotic relationship).

It's so frustrating because I used to have tons of energy, had no problem getting up early to go to yoga or go running, always wanted to be doing things. Now it feels like just getting out of bed and showering is a chore. I miss the old me.

sleep apnea?

do you have a partner or roommates or someone who can tell you how you are breathing when you sleep?

also possible vit D deficiency?

It's really good that you're going to the doctor! Hopefully, your doctor will know what tests to run for vegans, but some of the main ones are vitamin D, calcium, B12, and iron. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, vitamin D is the most likely suspect this time of year. Ginny Messina and Jack Norris are two of the most reliable resources for vegan nutrition. You don't have time to read their book Vegan for Life by tomorrow, but poking around their blogs can give you lots of great information and resources.

Um, well....

Vitamin deficiencies (obviously), low magnesium levels, heavy metal levels too high, thyroid problems, chronic low grade dehydration, mold exposure, hormone problems, blood sugar problems.... Oh, decreased liver function, AND food sensitivities (not allergies).

This is just a handful of things I was tested for, I didn't include a few that were more to do with pain. And I know I forgot some. These were done between my family doc, rheumatologist and "integrative" doctor. The food testing was interesting, the only thing I showed any problems with was bananas, and that was mild. At the time I was eating at least one banana a day. I stopped and my cognitive function and severe grogginess did improve. Now if I have one I sometimes have weird reactions, and other times I don't seem to notice a difference. But I do avoid them unless I am desperate.

My first thought is vitamin D deficiency. It can cause both fatigue and depression, and is pretty common, depending on where you live. And standard, over-the-counter supplements are rarely strong enough to combat deficiency once it dips below a certain level.

But yeah, definitely have your doctor check a variety of possible culprits. I hope you get to the bottom of this!

Thanks for the input everyone. Vitamin D wasn't really near the top of my list of possible culprits for some reason, so I'm glad to have that pointed out. The sleep apnea thing is an interesting thought - I don't have it that I know of, but my husband always falls asleep before I do so I don't really have any way of knowing, I guess.

I appreciate the replies! Hopefully my doc can help me figure this out.

ask your husband to stay up a little longer one night and see how you are breathing.

i always knew i sored like a mofo throughout my entire life but my husband had to video tape me breathing while i slept for me to believe him.

if you stop breathing while you are sleeping and then sort of gasp/choke but dont wake up it can definitely be sleep apnea.

definitely also have your vit D levels checked. if you live in the north or dont go outside a lot and dont supplement you are most likely pretty deficient.

I'm interested in seeing how what you find, and am sorry for what you're experiencing.

I'm pretty much experiencing the exact same symptoms, which to be honest, are kinda generalised and hard to track down. The only thing I'd add is dry eyes and a general sense of frustration, but I've had this for a long time now. Good luck.

Have you been tested for celiac or gluten intolerance? It can cause vitamin deficiencies because it inhibits the absorption of vitamins in your digestive system. Tiredness and brain fog are two common symptoms as well.

If you have anxiety it can cause your increased heart rate and fatigue. Medication can possibly help with that, just be warned that medicine can also cause fatigue for the first few weeks.

chronic fatigue syndrome?

I've been feeling somewhat similar for about a month. In an attempt to combat it I've cut out gluten and sugar, increased my protein intake and am taking a daily multivitamin with iron and a B vitamin complex. I have muscle aches, migraines, palpitations, IBS, brain fog and ridiculous fatigue. I used to get up at 5.30am to work out but now on most days I struggle to get out of bed before 7am. Sometimes, like today, I come home from work and go straight to bed.

8ball, those symptoms sound very celiac-like. You might want to go get tested before you cut gluten completely, if an official diagnosis would be important to you or if you think you might ever want or need it...also check for sneaky gluten. Certain soaps/hand sanitizers, herbal teas with barley malt, certain coffee flavoring syrups, spice blends with wheat as an anti-caking agent, shared pans/utensils/colanders were all things that took some work for me to eliminate because I either didn't realize they contained gluten (in the case of the food products) or thought they could be cleaned (in the case of the utensils). Some can be cleaned, but I had to replace my pasta pot and colander, my bamboo spoons, and my muffin and loaf pans. I use foil on my cookie sheets now in the meantime because I haven't replaced them yet.

A lot of people don't see results immediately after cutting gluten because it takes time for your gut to heal and there is often sneaky gluten as well.

8ball, you should see a doctor. That's quite a list of symptoms.

That said, it also sounds like overtraining. Those are pretty much all classic symptoms.

I am going to see a doctor, it feels like it's a little bit more than something I can fix with a few days off work.

Can over training symptoms crop up even if you've cut your training right down? I've only trained once in the last two weeks.

8ball, with symptoms like that, I'd ask to get tested for Crohn's disease as well as celiac, as people suggested above. The symptoms for both are pretty similar, and before I got diagnosed with Crohn's last year I was getting stomach aches, other bad tummy stuff, really nasty joint and muscle pain, as well as severe fatigue (like, I had to nap for about 2 hours every afternoon, and I had never been one to nap ever). Not saying that you're definitely that sick, but worth checking out for sure.

From my understanding, it's more of a long-term accumulation that causes the symptoms of overtraining, and it can require a couple weeks of rest to recover. How long have you been feeling like this? If you just started feeling this way in the last week or so, then my feeling is it's probably not overtraining, but if it started while you were still training a lot and is continuing, then that could definitely be the culprit.

I hope you feel better soon, and that the doctor can figure out what's going on!