9 ms·
On being tired
- lysergia 4y agoNot gonna lie, I get nights where I don’t sleep at all and my mind ‘glows’ with thoughts and the thoughts are intrusive, almost an imposter on my mind. This is a good time to write and take notes. Missing a night’s sleep is detrimental to the next day where all the things that would normally excite me are boring as hell. All I can do is exist during the day and I feel slightly drunk and can’t do anything that requires good dexterity. It’s horrible. Then I make up the sleep debt by falling asleep on that day, and the feeling of rejuvenation is tremendous and I can function. I’ve talked to my doctor about those nights where my mind ‘glows’ with activity and I was diagnosed with mild psychosis. Luckily it’s treatable with meds, so there is that.
- s5300 4y agoIf you’re comfortable saying, could I ask which meds you were prescribed?
- Daunk 4y agoI also get this "glow" sometimes and can't sleep for an entire night. I feel like I just want to jump out of bed and do everything at once. But I keep telling myself that "I'll make sure to do it tomorrow" but that seems to almost never happen. I don't mind these sleepless nights, but I wish the "glow" came during the day instead.
- plonk 4y agoThat's funny, I have the same nights sometimes and never thought of asking a doctor. Seems it's just what happens when we stay too inactive for a few days or mess up our sleep schedule. Was that the only symptom for the psychosis diagnosis?
- webosdude 4y agoSometime back one of mentors mentioned about https://theenergyproject.com/ https://theenergyproject.com/. I haven't gone through the program myself but the way he summarized is, important aspect of managing your work is also managing your energy levels through the day/week/year. Identify the work which requires more energy(mental/physical) and get that done first. Later on identify the things which give you more motivation or joy which in turn provide more energy. These could include going out for a walk or having 1:1 or having conversation with someone. Again this will vary depending on if you are introvert or extrovert.
- jorgesborges 4y agoWhen I’m falling asleep too late, exhausted, I say to myself: I’ll be alright tomorrow, just tired. I’ve been tired many days and I got through just fine. It doesn’t solve the dead battery problem but it removes the anxiety around not getting enough sleep or dreading the next day.
- angarg12 4y agoI've spent the last couple of years at the two bottom levels of that scale. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize one of the root causes: my wife and I have fundamentally different personalities that are at odds with each other. My wife is an extrovert. She is energized by going out, visiting places, doing things, meeting people. I'm an introvert. I get energized by staying in, reading a book, watching a movie, spending time by myself. This creates tension every weekend when we need to negotiated what to do. This friction is weary by itself, but then the outcome almost always makes someone unhappy. Most weekends rather than recharging for the rest of the week, I end up more tired than I started. Not sure how well this will generalize but if you find yourself in those bottom steps it's worth it to do some introspection and audit how you spend your time.
- atentaten 4y agoWhat was your solution to the problem of negotiating with your wife about what to do on the weekends?
- beebeepka 4y agoI am a fairly energetic person. Yes, things have been slowing down as I age but my spirit is young. I switched careers several times. About 2 years into my dev role I realized that I do have a relatively fixed amount of cognitive stamina. Took me a while to actually get it. 1. Partying all night has an extremely bad effect due to several factors I better not mention directly 2. Competitive gaming is sucking the life out of me. I have taught myself to avoid playing seriously anything Quake or StarCraft as these high skill 1vs1 games naturally attract other wannabes just like my younger self. It's all very demanding and I always end up either taking a beating or 10, or sacrificing the next few work days. I have learned to take the ego hits and suffer horrible humiliations in the games that I love. In any case, what never fails to charge and heal me is going to nature. Does wonders to body and mind
- glitchc 4y agoPeople still play Quake?
- skrebbel 4y agoOf course. It's like honey, it never goes bad.
- boredemployee 4y agoI do (qw)
- hawski 4y agoI am pretty sure people still play Pong, Arkanoid and Doom for that matter. Here, go play Spacewar! - https://archive.org/details/pdp1_spacewar https://archive.org/details/pdp1_spacewar (read instructions below, it is not obvious though, like press LCtrl+Enter to load)
- the_only_law 4y ago> Partying all night has an extremely bad effect due to several factors I better not mention directly Unfortunately there’s no time to party during the day.
- albingroen 4y agoI also think a very large majority of people on this planet are tired because of an unknown deficit of vitamines and minerals like Omega 3, Zink and Vitamin D
- williamtrask 4y agoAlso high CO2 in working and sleeping areas. Basically any older building without HVAC and with upgraded (double pane) windows.
- surfmike 4y agoMost home HVAC systems don’t bring in fresh air, right? Just recirculate air in the house.
- kubanczyk 4y agoV in HVAC is for "ventilation" and although home AC unit might not provide it itself, I'd be surprised if there really wasn't any. Unlike AC, V is mandated by law in many jurisdictions.
- kqr 4y agoThe ones I know suck air out of the building (well, really, create a mild low pressure), and rely on fresh air getting in elsewhere (for example through dedicated intakes around windows in apartments.)
- gruez 4y agoNewer homes are supposed to have heat recovery ventilators, which do bring in fresh air even if all windows are closed.
- bberrry 4y agoIs there any research to back that claim up?
- Test0129 4y ago
- powersnail 4y agoAs I age, I've learned to distinguish "not being excited" (languor) and "being tired" (exhaustion), which to my younger self felt like the same thing. The former is not always caused by a lack of energy, but also excessive idleness, especially if I'm doing things that requires attention but also isn't intellectually stimulating. When the author refers to "normal tired" and "dead tired", I think that echoes with my two states. I don't quite think of them as existing on a scale, but the experiences sound similar. Doing stimulating things (exercise, reading aloud, singing) can usually bring me out of the state of languor. Just getting that adrenaline rush is enough to jolt me back to life (and thus I don't think of it as recharging; more like a jump start). If I'm exhausted, I can feel gravity in my joints, and I'll have to rest. Regular sleep, exercises, and generally keeping a good health is the only way I can combat exhaustion.
- comboy 4y agoThese being tired and fighting exhaustion with exercise threads must be a dread to read for anybody who works hard physically. But I'm in the same privileged or at least not working physically position and I found most correlation with number of tasks I'm focusing on. If there are too many things at once or none of them stands out, I'm more likely to feel tired. If I'm focusing on a specific thing associated with specific action with no other things on my mind, it seems to be getting done effortlessly with high energy state.
- klysm 4y agoI feel like for me that’s because progress in one direction implies lack of progress in other directions of concern. That’s scales with the number of things you’re trying to get done. That’s why I think long running work streams with focus are so important. Context switching has cost beyond just the startup and tear down.
- dancek 4y agoWould we mental workers dread reading how physical workers fight exhaustion by doing crosswords?
- moonshinefe 4y ago
- Silverback_VII 4y agoI believe that there is a general tiredness affecting large parts of the population. Maybe some side effects of covid-19 / the vaccines or maybe it’s completely unrelated and more psychological in nature like lack of deeper meaning in most people's lives. All I know is that you have to fight it. this tiredness doesn't go away with more rest. On the contrary, your self-esteem will take a hit and you will internalise your lack of power.
- RhodesianHunter 4y agoI think it has something to do with an accumulation of microplastics and/or PFAS/PFOS in our bodies. One of these things is going to be our generation's version of leaded gasoline.
- rolisz 4y agoHow do you fight it? I had COVID in March 2020 and I feel like ever since then I'm more tired all the time, even if I sleep enough.
- the_only_law 4y agoI didn’t get COVID till this year. I was vaccinated, and while it was the most sick I’ve felt in years, it was relatively short, the worst symptoms only lasting about a day. A few day’s afterwards, I went out to the mailbox to grab my mail. This is maybe a 5min walk. I was panting heavily by the time I got back. I used to walk 12+ miles a day in shit heat and I’ve never been particularly in shape, so that was worrying. I haven’t noticed any increase in my tiredness, but my sleep schedule had been fucked long before COVID existed.
- garganzol 4y agoTake a look at [1]. It may have some actionable explanations on what's going on with you. It all starts with lingering fatigue. [1] https://www.hormonesmatter.com/recovering-from-post-covid-mitochondrial-dysfunction/ https://www.hormonesmatter.com/recovering-from-post-covid-mi...
- skrebbel 4y ago
- kiririn 4y agoConcussion is a trial by fire of discovering what is truly not taking up mental energy. In the acute phase you go from having 16+ hours of it per day to 10 minutes. The answer is pretty much just staring at a blank wall. Anything else is costly to a degree
- kradeelav 4y agoAgreed - surgeries too. Between waiting for the anesthesia to work itself out and the body recovering from the shock of it, it can be a wallop to the energy reserves. Recently slept like 20 hours a day for a day or two after a comparatively mild one.
- plonk 4y agoI had a mild one that put me out of work for a week. I wonder if it's really a lack of energy, or just the body deterring you from any activity by pretending to be tired, so the brain can heal faster.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ranprieur 4y agoI find it strange that he takes for granted that activities should "give back energy", and that you have to be dead tired for that not to happen. Personally, even when I have good energy, almost everything I do drains it and doesn't give it back, until I sleep to recharge. Maybe this is the difference between highly motivated people and the rest of us, that they find it normal for activities to give back energy.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Silverback_VII 4y agoCardiovascular exercise takes more energy than it gives at the beginning but your body will get less easily tired further down the road. So yes, activities can give energy.
- jdthedisciple 4y agoNot sure why you're being downvoted because it seems true to me: For example, starting out with running feels very exhaustive and draining but once you're in the habit of it you overall feel more energetic I believe.
- garganzol 4y agoThis is true and was proven by numerous scientific observations. Mild physical and intellectual activities indeed improve cellular energy levels to some degree. Nobody really knows how it works exactly, but it's a fact.
- majormajor 4y agoRegarding mental energy - when I'm in an "everything is draining" state I consider that a depressive episode. When not in one of those, there are hobbies I find rewarding and stimulating (some even physical-energy-producing, like eating or drinking coffee). Or it can even be as simple/"idle" as "that was a fun run through Returnal, I feel pumped up."
- samsquire 4y agoIn the UK it is really hot and we are in drought. I am tired. I hope to get my energy levels back up as all I want to do is sleep. I take iron liquid supplement but I don't know what's causing it. Some days I have energy and can be on the computer until late. Other days I don't want to know.
- williamtrask 4y agoAs someone also in the U.K., check your CO2 levels where you sleep and work.
- jjtheblunt 4y agotaking iron supplements for a male is dangerous, my doctor told me years ago, for whatever that is worth
- MrVandemar 4y agoThis is very true. Some men have to have regular iron level checks and if their iron is too high, they have to have some blood taken out to lower the levels ( venesection). Definitely get medical advice if you're a male before taking iron supplements.
- garganzol 4y agoIt can also be vitamin B1 or B12 deficiency.
- garganzol 4y agoFatigue is not only a mental thing as many assume. What really happens is our cells are gradually accumulating Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) while we are awake, and when a certain threshold of ROS is reached, we feel tiredness. This is a defensive mechanism of a living organism to keep ROS levels at bay. But what happens if one ignores the fatigue? ROS cellular levels will continue to climb up to the point of a pathological cell destruction. The thing is ROS are chemically active and when there are too much of them, you are asking for problems. Such as: broken enzymes in mitochondria, overoxidized lipids, damages of DNA and mtDNA - it all starts to accumulate. This is when a fatigue may gradually transform into one of the physical diseases. Cardio-vascular problems, T2DM, cognitive impairment, ME/CFS. The list go on and on [1]. So, if you often feel tired then you should be very aware of the underlying biochemical processes. It's all mental until it's physical and hardly reversible. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation [2] https://hms.harvard.edu/news/sleep-death-gut https://hms.harvard.edu/news/sleep-death-gut
- copperx 4y agoI've never heard of this before. Is this well known? Do ROS go away after sleeping?
- garganzol 4y agoThis is relatively well known [1]. ROS normally go away after sleeping, and this one of the reasons we need sleep. But. If you are past a certain threshold, ROS can do so much damage that it starts to affect cellular ATP production, leading to a tissue hypoxia. When this happens, it leads to onset of an acquired mitochondrial dysfunction. This is a pathological state that is characterized by a lingering fatigue as its main hallmark sign. Such fatigue does not go away after sleeping. But usually it is not like 0 or 1. A person may have something in between and live without even knowing it, thinking that it's all just mental or age-related. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27285492/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27285492/
- copperx 4y ago
- timdp 4y agoPhoto credit: me. Small world! https://unsplash.com/photos/SBYsc1gsA-M https://unsplash.com/photos/SBYsc1gsA-M
- Daunk 4y agoThat's amazing, heh.
- ceezee 4y agofriendly reminder that feeling chronically fatigued or tired is not normal. People experiencing this should consider getting tested for sleep apnea.
- xiekomb 4y agoGluten can be responsible for such conditions. As many other external factors I guess. I have been reducing gluten consumption recently and kinda feel tiredness as reduced. Maybe unrelated but it cannot hurt. Also practicing sport regularly helps reducing tiredness. Human body is such a complex machine.
- alostpuppy 4y agoThis should be the top comment. Easy thing to deal with if identified.
- zackmorris 4y agoI just saw a thing on social media that if you require 9-10 hours of sleep to function, you probably have sleep apnea. That's been my case since childhood but I only found out a couple of years ago that I have mild sleep apnea. I was fitted for an ALF appliance and did myofunctional therapy and mostly corrected it. Now I sleep with tape over my mouth, which lets me wake up feeling mostly normal instead of hungover: http://sleepapneatherapist.com/mouth-tape-sleep/ http://sleepapneatherapist.com/mouth-tape-sleep/ The only difference is that I use 2 pieces of 1/4" wide ordinary surgical tape in a X shape so that the outer lips are held closed instead of the center. This is for aesthetics, to keep the upper lip from stretching over time, which can lead to unpredictable levels of homeliness :-/ Hopefully this helps someone get enough energy to get themselves checked out. Edit: also, the tape is short enough that it's easy to open your mouth and rip the tape off in the middle of the night to breathe. The tape is more of a hint to the body to get used to sleeping with the mouth closed.
- sixothree 4y agoInteresting this would be posted on a Saturday. Yet another Saturday I'm working hard to meet a deadline.
- SnowHill9902 4y agoThe last Lubavitcher rab used to say “so what?” when asked if he was not tired working late into the night.
- raindear 4y agoFatigue can be a symptom of a disease. Cancer, kidney disease, multiple sclerosis. Watch for other symptoms.