Fatigue - It's a thing!

​Fatigue

We all have it. We have a day we have not slept well, we are tired, we are dragging and we hope for a better day tomorrow. Or during the day you just get tired and can’t seem to fight it off. Maybe suffering from a sugar crash from the foods eaten earlier in the day?

For people with MS, fatigue is part of your life. For me it has been an on and off kind of thing. But when I get to the point where I simply MUST lay my head down (l liken to the way I felt when I was pregnant) it is something I pay attention too. Lately I have napped nearly daily and am bothered by that need. When I wake up and feel better, I am certainly happier about that, but I am still bothered that I am seemingly needing to nap more consistently lately. I count myself lucky that I can nap, and that I can alter work and home stuff to squeak in some shut eye.

When fatigue starts to get out of control, and I feel it is, I know I need to start assessing a number of things that lead up to this past week.
What happened that might have contributed to my fatigue? Bedtime, food, movement, schedule changes….

Bedtime
I have to ask myself, Am I getting to bed early enough? Not stupid late and stuff like that? And the answer is, Yes - Mostly! Good!. Oh but one night last week I did stay up with my daughter as she fought through some homework issues.  Contributing factor - Yes!

Going into the weekend prior we had an early morning regatta get up, and because I never went back to sleep that morning, by the end of the day I was headlong into the beginnings of a migraine. Migraines for me usually last 2-3 days, with one day usually being unbearable.  And it was not just the early get up for the regatta that set off the migraine, it was a night of poor sleep leading into the weekend. I was upset by something just as I was heading to bed and just could not shake it all night.  Contributing factor - Yes!

Monday was a challenging day and I slept as much as I could because of the migraine.  I had a commitment to assist with a school project all day on Tuesday - Halloween’s Thriller at my daughter’s High School. Napping helped and then on Tuesday I was functional, migraine gone and ready to go. I napped in the car after doing a lot of latex make-up all morning. Once awake, I was off and running into the rest of the day and into the evening for the fun Halloween event. It was a my husband’s idea to make sure I brought a pillow with me for the car. I was sure glad I did.  I slept well the rest of the week at night and was still napping each day.

Food
Any food factors maybe causing some issues with fatigue? Yep - I think maybe coffee. And I really hate to say that out loud because now I really have to do something about it.  Recently I returned to my yummy delicious almond milk lattes made with organic, fair-trade coffee. How can this be wrong? I have two places that serve this coffee, one cafe place near me and a cute little place on the way home from dropping my daughter off at school in the morning.  And along with that daily yummy latte, I've often picked up a cup to-dgo as well. I was back to doing full caffeine again, and I suspect it was leaving me with a crash later in the day feeling like I needed to refuel. Near the end of the week, I switched to half caffeinated. I was feeling guilty and tired. In the week ahead I am moving away from coffee once again. I decided to kick the lattes to the curb and focus on kombucha or green tea. Masha tea still has caffeine but it is about a 1/3 the amount of coffee. Kombucha is a fermented tea and from a quick Google search on the internet I find that kombucha generally has 1/2 the amount of caffeine as the tea it is made with. Another site noted that GTs Kombucha is naturally decaffeinated and contains only 8-14 mg caffeine per 8 oz. Where coffee packs a much bigger punch at 100 mg. OUCH! No wonder I think that coffee latte is smooth and yummy going down and a real pick me up. It’s a cup of pep-me-up happy!

I am not against coffee and quite possibly I never will be. I have danced with coffee for years on again and off again. It’s the caffeine I am working to assess and how I respond to it. I am working to assess if I have more energy this week by leaving coffee behind. The truth is, if having coffee and over doing it as I have done the last few weeks, makes me need a nap every day - it truly is NOT worth it. Energy is what I need back in my life.

Stay tuned - I am going to report in each day. And give you an accounting of how the week is going being caffeine free. I started my caffeine free today. Sunday, November 5th. And I am doing it on my HOOG to keep me honest.

The other foods I am making sure to eliminate are anything with  a sugar punch. I tend to lean towards the lower glycemic index foods, but have also been enjoying the ease of grabbing a LARA BAR on the way out of the door in the afternoons to pick up my daughter. While I love them for their limited ingredients and whole foods, they are sweeter and I am going to focus on grabbing a smoothie or a water instead.

Water
Adding water to my day. Sounds easy right? It is not the easiest thing for me, because I just have never liked plain water that much. That said I know that coffee and teas can dehydrate and thus, zap energy too. Hello water!

Movement
We all know movement helps bring up our energy. If I am tired, I am going to try getting some TRX in or Jump Roping. Or get a walk in with my husband. :)

Schedule
My schedule has been packed with a lot of driving lately and while it is necessary to get my daughter where she needs to go, we are working on finding some ride options here and there to make my life easier.

SO the week ahead is the following

• No coffee. It is only a week I know I can do it and the big question will be, Am I less tired? If so - it will be a win. This is mentally tough for me however, I love meeting people for coffee! It’s a thing! But again a win if I am less tired.
• Sugar. Watch what I snack on in the afternoon. Am I less tired?
• Movement. Get some movement in everyday! Am I less tired? (I do hoop 3-5 days a week, some weeks are more challenging to get more exercise in.)
• Water. I can do this! It is only a week. Am I less tired?
• Schedule. See where we can find me a break!

So peeps that’s the scoop on fatigue. I will report back into you. And what is totally awesome, if it helps move me past my fatigue with my MS, then it could likely be something to look at even if you don’t have MS, but do have fatigue you cannot shake. And yes I know this is not totally scientific because I am focusing on a number of different items this week, but last week really was tough and I just don’t want that this week. So I am all in, seeing what I can do to make this week - AWESOME.
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Onward - Amy

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