• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Constant Tiredness

Do you feel constantly tired?


  • Total voters
    31
Yes. For about 10-15 years I felt constantly tired. The mental fog and inability to focus on much on most days was the worst. I was then diagnosed with sleep apnea, and then ADHD, and then autism. I have a dental appliance that helps with the sleep apnea and now am on ADHD medication which has helped tremendously. Knowing I have a very limited "social budget" has helped as well. But now I'm getting tired for another reason, which is more related to being burnt out and probably anxiety. Definitely talk to a doctor but you need to be assertive. I made the mistake for years of only casually mentioning major issues in my life during an annual physical, for example by saying "yeah I feel low energy a lot" or that I "sometimes have trouble focusing on work". Then the doctor wouldn't really say much about this. I wish I had used terms like "I feel chronically fatigued" and said "I am looking to be tested for likely causes". Or I should have made an appointment to specifically talk about those specific concerns. A psychiatrist might also be a good person to talk to in addition to a medical doctor. Seriously once I got over my hesitance to be assertive about talking about this stuff with medical professionals, things have changed positively quite a bit.
 
i find that if im having a real quiet day without any real psychical activity that i end up feeling artificially tired
probably due to the lack of mental stimulation that comes from idleness.
 
Consider requesting for a sleep study if you are insured (or have a lot of money.) If neither of these is true, get insurance first asap. There's a good chance you would need a sleep machine.
 
At my 8-hour work shifts (4-5 times a week), I alternate between: associating with people and working near them. The latter doesn't feel like true solitude, and doesn't count, for me. The job's routine, hands-on work further enervates me. It conflicts with my abstract-minded, imaginative nature. During the 8 hours, I rush, to ensure that I meet our company's goals. I also walk to work (and back), totaling 30-40 minutes. Although my work prowess delights the management personnel, I won't stay forever. Working here stultifies me.

Once I get home, I don't want to be around anyone, even for a short time. In craving and devouring solitude, my family misses me and begs me to consort with them occasionally. Although I comply, this vexes me, as I don't connect with them; I simply manifest my existence, by sitting nearby, while eating a meal.

Small talk exasperates me, and every time someone expects me to reciprocate it (or respond to it), complying effectively costs me 30 minutes of my available social energy.

Before taking this job (which I use to pay for school), I had far more energy.

Someday, I'll live alone, and hopefully have a lazy job. That would be nice.
 
I got up at 2PM today so tired I usually then take a walk to boost my energy but since I am going out tonight which I have to take a good walk to get there I did not bother with my afternoon walk. Tomorrow and Saturday since I am not going out I will take my normal walks and then Sunday morning I take my walk to Church.
 
I am constantly fatigued beyond the most far reaching superlative adjective available to describe it. This fatigue phenomenon with people on the spectrum seems to just recently be recognized. For me, I don't sleep well and often wake up 3-4 hours after falling asleep and never fully go back to sleep. Some nights, I'll sleep a full 8hrs but that's rare. No matter how much sleep, or how little, I feel the same. The best way I can describe it is; I'm too tired to sleep and too tired to stay awake. My logic and ability to figure things out is still good but my memory is really bad and my awake time is filled with brain fog lacking fluid thoughts.
 
I’ve been feeling reaaally tired pretty much every day for the past couple years. I’ve thought a lot about it. Though I seem to be getting better, deeper sleep, I still get easily tired.

People already mentioned a few thoughts I had reading your post.

Diet: Things that made a huge difference for me was to make sure I ate enough protein, especially in the morning. I know that dairy products and gluten can also cause fatigue for some people. I have definitely noticed a difference when I stopped eating gluten (on my energy and overall anxiety level) but don’t feel like dairy products change much when it comes to fatigue. Every body is different so I’d suggest to test things and notice how you react to what you eat.

**Autistic Burnout**: The conclusion I came to about my low energy levels is that I am still recovering from autistic burnouts. I have really pushed myself a lot in the past to try to fit in and maintain relationships that were not accessible to me and the result is that I’ve burnt out a couple of times. And that takes a looong time to recover from, especially when still trying to juggle life in an ableist world. For that, I’d suggest to be patient and give your body the rest it needs.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: I don’t know much about it but I think it can also be a result of pushing your body a lot, trauma or living with anxiety over a long period of time.

Take care!
 
Autistic burning now in 6 church groups plus a big even August 5th from TGC I am starting to fell that one but I am pushing it through.
 

New Threads

Top Bottom