GERD and fatigue

Hi, I was wondering if GERD has caused others to feel fatigued and generally low on energy.

I have been dx'ed with GERD and after an endoscopy yesterday, gastritis. For the past 2 weeks prior to the endoscopy, I lost my appetite and starting eating much than normal and lost close to 10lbs.  My sleep has been heavily disturbed both due to the reflux and anxiety.

My energy level this morning was good even though I woke up much earlier than usual due to the reflux, but as I started to walk more throughout the day, I felt like I just hit a wall around 3PM.  My legs feel wobbly and feel like I could just fall down and go to sleep.

Can anyone relate or has similar experiences with GERD or gastritis?

  

Hi Denise, no I don't think I do.

But I do know that I have not slept well at all for the past 2 weeks (and who knows how much longer before that since my GERD symptoms flared up in November of 2012).

The past 2 weeks were especially tough due to the just completed endoscopy.  I had so much anxiety over it that I was getting hot flashes and sweating like crazy during my sleep for the past 2 weeks.  Last night was the first night that I didn't get hot flashes for the first time.  Of course, that was because the endoscopy was done and they didn't find any sign of cancer, which I now admit that I have a phobia of.

I just hope that the abuse that my body has taken simply needs time.  I read somewhere else that anxiety depletes huge amounts of energy so hopefully, that can explain part of the fatigue and weight loss.

I have had severe sleep problems, I don't know whether they were due to GERD, anxiety, or depression though as they all came at the same time almost. I explain my story below but dont get scared by it, this was under extreme circumstances, but by me explaining it to you you should hopefully be able to avoid ever letting it get this bad for you like I did.

I went through a very stressful time last year, and was pretty much unable to sleep at all for a solid week at one point. It started off I would wake up much earlier than usual and just couldnt get back to sleep. Then I would feel tired throughout the day and that brought with it anxiety. I was like this for a few months and just seemed to stagnate like this with me never really knowing what was wrong, always questioning why I was feeling tired all the time.

As the anxiety worsened, it made sleep even worse. Anxiety usually makes falling asleep harder, and depression means you tend to sleep less and wake up frequently. I had both which meant I basically couldn't sleep at all, if I was lucky Id get 2-3 hours. It was the most awful experience of my life and drove me to suicidal thoughts, my anxiety controlled me life. I blamed it all on sleep, but the important revelation I had was that sleep was just the symptom, it wasn't the cause. The cause was anxiety and depression.

But I got through it. There are a few things that helped me and that I believe can help anyone with problems of fatigue and sleep problems. Initially, because it was so bad my doctor put me on sleeping pills. This helped me sleep for longer at night but I was still fatigued all day. I was also put on anti-depressents and got therapy for my anxiety and am glad to say that now Im finally past it. I have some residual issues but I have the tools to handle them now.

I was on the sleeping pills for around 2 months with a little break in between, but I managed to get off them even while tackling my anxiety which Im quite proud off because they are very addictive and a lot of people cant sleep without them once they start. I wouldn't suggest using them unless as a last resort.

The thing that helped me the most was something called autogenics, which is a form of relaxation. I do this a few times a day when I can, although now do it far less as my anxiety is much lower than it was. Firstly it gives your body a chance to rest and feel refreshed. Secondly it really helps with the anxiety which helps with sleep. Thirdly, it actually physiologically helps sleep too, as it puts the body into a healing state instead of an 'alert' state. The more you do this throughout the day, the easier it is for your body to stay in this state when you sleep.

Its not a quick fix, but I practised this very routinely over a few months and the results were quite dramatic in terms of my tiredness and anxiety. I now rarely get tired during the day, and when I do it doesn't bother me. My sleep has also pretty much returned to normal, besides GERD problems affecting it.

So in short, yes GERD and fatigue can be related, but I think its actually due to the anxiety and depression that GERD brings with it. Dont worry that you're going to get like me, Im only telling you my story to show you how powerful a tool autogenics is, that it helped me with such severe problems and Im sure it can help you too. My advice is read into and learn the theory behind it too, makes you buy into it more. Prolonged periods of anxiety can have huge effects, I've been through it all, had the jelly legs throughout the day, suddenly being overcome by exhaustion, my whole body sweating, shaking and tingling for apparently no reason!

Saying this, it's always better safe than sorry, your fatigue could be caused by something like a hormonal imbalance or lots of things, so go to your doctor and get them to do some blood tests if they haven't already. But if it all comes back ok then just know you're not alone with the fatigue!