NO Energy.

Hi everyone! I am feeling desperate lately. Ever since my surgery (September 2013) my energy levels have been at about half of what they once were. I lost about 3 feet of small intestine, but all my blood work in is within normal ranges. Despite this, I still take a multivitamin daily along with Biotin, B-3, and Vitamin D. I get 8-9 hours of sleep and wake up feeling exhausted. I have a full time job and a 3 year old, and while I'm lucky my husband does more than his fair share of the parenting and housework (he has a full time job too), I find myself too exhausted to help out at times and with a very limited patience for typical 3-year old behaviors (and I work with preschoolers with disabilities, so I should be more used to this!). Sometimes I get so mad at myself when I raise my voice to my son or lock myself in the bathroom instead of dealing with his tantrums. I have been off all week and still brought him to daycare because I just feel too exhausted to have him all day and think of activities to occupy him. I sometimes feel like a failure.

What do you all do for energy? I will try almost anything at this point! Also, I have been off all pain medications since November, but am thinking about asking my GI for a prescription for Tramadol, which I was on for years leading up to my surgery. The pain is not nearly as bad as it was prior to surgery, but still present. I am supposed to go to Mexico for my 5 year anniversary in about 3 weeks and am worried I will feel crappy the whole time. Think I should just ask? He is a very conservative doctor but never seemed to have a problem prescribing it to me in the past and I did have a MRE showing returned inflammation that supports that type of pain I'm having.

Thanks for your input!

I've been struggling with this over the past year (longer than that, probably, but who knows that they're starting to feel fatigued when they have a chronic illness, right?) I have done a few things that may have helped - I did them all at the same time, so not sure if just one of them was the magic bullet or if they all helped a little to add up to a lot of help.

Check your iron "storage" levels (this is not the same as the finger prick test they do for anemia or the test that tells you how much iron is circulating in your blood.). They should be 60 minimum. Mine were down to 20 and after 4 IV iron infusions (they take 5 minutes, no big deal) it's up to 130.

I have been taking a Zinc supplement (Zinc deficiency can cause fatigue) because my level was a little below the normal range.

I got one of those fitness armbands (it's called "Up" by Jawbone) that you can set to vibrate as an alarm. I set it for a certain time then can tell it to wake me up anywhere from that time to 30 minutes prior, when I'm in a light sleep cycle. (It tracks your light vs. deep sleep by sensing how much you move.) I really noticed a difference since using this - I think I must have been often waking up with my old alarm out of deep sleep and it was much harder to get up. I also find that when I'm not in a flare-up, I function better on 7.5 - 8 hours of sleep rather than 8.5, 9 or more. Something about sleeping that long makes me feel tired for at least part of the next day. I also find that falling asleep before 11 and sleeping until 6:30 feels more restful to me than going to bed at midnight and sleeping until 7:30 or 8. You might experiment a little with your bedtime/wake-up time as well as sleeping a little less. (I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but it's worth a try!)

One other thing you might investigate is your thyroid levels. Having an under active thyroid can also cause fatigue.

But like the person before me said, working full-time and keeping up with a 3-year-old is enough to make anyone tired. Forgive yourself for not having as much energy as your child and come up with some "quiet" things you can do together when you don't have any energy. Painting, coloring, stickers, reading a book, playing a game (my kids always loved to crush me at "Memory" at that age), playing with matchbox cars, doing a game on a Leap pad, iPad, or computer together....those are all things you can have on hand and pull out whenever he's demanding attention and you just can't get up and play. If your child has a little friend, make a habit of inviting one of them over to play. It probably sounds like more work to have another kid in the house, but it's magical! They learn to play together and it's actually way less demanding for you. Plus, maybe the parents of the friends will return the favor and give you some down time.

Good luck!

I'd look into trying some type of diet void of grains and dairy. Ever since I started avoiding those two things my energy level is so much better.