Severe fatigue/weakness

The fatigue could be caused by the depression, but have you had any blood work or anything to check for something else. I have fibromyalgia which causes severe fatigue. Plus there is chronic fatigue syndrome. If I were you I would explore this to see if something specific is causing the fatigue/weakness.

Faith, I hope you figure out exactly what is going on. I take Adderall to help me with the fatigue. Something like that might help you too.

Have a great day...

Hugs, Karen...

PS I am giving your thread a title so you will get more responses.

Thanks so much for both of your replies. I have visited a doctor, and my blood work is fine. When it happens it feels very physical. The problem with adderal for me is that I also have panic attacks. I don’t have any body aches or anything, but feel lost in regard with how to handle these drops in energy.

Can you link the drops in energy to anything you're doing/thinking/feeling at the time? Fatigue is such a common complaint in both physical and mental health conditions. I know when I was really ill with the Crohn's, I'd have the sort of fatigue that could only be relieved by lying down.

Psychiatric meds can cause fatigue too. I've had some meds knock me out at really low doses, although in my experience med-induced grogginess is more of a chemical hangover which is at its worst upon waking and gradually lifts during the day. You mention adderal though - as it's a stimulant (unlike antidepressants), maybe it has different effects.

Also, the fatigue always always lifts at night. It’s the worst in the early and late afternoon. I had this exact pattern happen when I had depression after my first some years ago, but it always feels so physical.

Faith, Hello

Well you did receive great replies.

from what you said, I am pretty sure it is the PTSD.

Depression is the key to this syndrome, being exhausted is how your body adjust and processed things you consciously do not want to process.

As for the Adderall, the med made my legs so week I was falling all the time, no warning! Exhaustion to.
1 week off of it I was back to normal for me. my doc replaced it with Limictal.

Peace
Trina

If I may reply to your question, I am sure Karen will also.

Part of your fatigue of course is being Mommy to a 10 mo old.

However, on top of that, when we have anxiety, no anxious moments as some folks think, anxiety puts us on hyper vigilance, so bad sleep, lack of or over eating etc...

Flash backs, goodness, like an electric shock to our brains and entire emotional system!

What was that? Was it real, did it happen, did I hear that, am I really feeling something there. What did I just see

Then you experience the flash backs that come at you in pieces, until the vignette is together. Sucks I know.

You are already tired from going all day with a little one. And now you have to fight your monsters.
Your body knows when it needs rest, and will just down in fatigue to be sure it gets it.

The thing about FB's, they come when your mind is ready, not you.

Mindfulness is a great tool to use in your situation, to get control of flashbacks and anxiety. True it can be done, I did it and I was abused as a child for 15 yrs. Fact.

I using breathing, you can even use a form of breathing to calm down while changing a diaper. breathe in slow, hold breathe out slower.... the longer exhale natural calms the entire body.

https://www.mindful.org

Lots of good stuff on this site for you and parenting. I urge you with all my heart to check it. The site is free.

Peace and strength
Trina

Hi, Faith.

I'm sorry that you're dealing with depression and that awful fatigue. I have successfully treated my depression but the fatigue always hung on. I used to think of myself as a high energy person, but now I feel like I'm walking through honey sometimes, that it takes so much effort to do even the smallest things that I don't even try.

I would imagine there is good reason for fatigue with a 10 month old.

I remember after having been administered an MMPI, which is an older test that I'm not sure is even used anymore, that my therapist commented that she was surprised I even found the energy to get out of bed and come to the appointment. That was 30 years ago and it has persisted and persisted. I've had thyroid tests and other attempts to diagnose the cause of my fatigue. The ony time I have not been plagued with overwhelming fatigue is when I was on a high dose of Effexor and my psychiatrist added in Welbutrin. Unfortunately, it has stopped working for me, and my psychiatrist just tried me on a course of Adderall, and I believe it just affirmed that my fatigue is a part of my depression and not ADD.

It's just such a war, isn't it? You can win a battle now and then, maybe even make some strategic advancements, only to lose many battles in a row and be pushed back. Sometimes, it feels that I'm too tired to fight anymore and the best response is giving up. But then you remember a time when you felt better, and you hang on and hope once again. Until the next spiral into the abyss. No wonder we get exhausted.