I find on Sunday nights or some nights when I'm home from work, that I get anxiety about the coming work day. I am fearful of the exhaustion, fatigue and pain that might accompany me the next day. I constantly wonder, how tired am I going to be tomorrow? How is my workload going to look? Will I be able to handle the days events? Some mornings, I lay in bed and cry because I am so exhausted and cannot get up. When this happens, I text my hubby, who is already at work and he helps me get up.
A lot of days, I can only put the minimal amount of makeup on that I hold myself to a standard and just throw my hair into a ponytail. That is all I can do some days and I beat myself up for it. I look TIRED. I don't want to look tired. I want to have the energy to fix my makeup nicely, style my hair and have a positive approach to the day. I feel like a walking zombie some days.
I know how you feel Sara:( you never know how you are going to feel each morning. I just bust through it the best I know how. There are days I wear no makeup and I pin my hair up. I am a home health nurse and I put my “smile” face on even though I feel like crap! Just know you have support here. Hugs!
It is so hard to put a smile on my face everyday. People ask, "How are you?" and you reply, "I'm Okay" but inside you want to scream or cry. Thanks for the support! : ) Feeling like crap has become the norm and I wish it wasn't. We have more bad days than good and I feel like I've been in a bad slump for way too long. I've tried everything I can during the work day like coffee, different medications that have horrible side effects, energy drinks (which I know are not healthy at all) but I had to try something...something to pull me out of it! Here's to wishing us better days to come and hope for better days ahead!
Hi Sara, I can empathize, I have felt that way before. Finally I just realized that for me, feeling negative about "what might happen" was causing me more stress / pain. So slowly, I began replacing the negative thoughts with more positive ones. Such as, "I can't until I get to see my patients tomorrow (I work in long term care)." It isn't easy and sometimes I still slip in the negative "what type of pain is the next day going to bring" thoughts but overall the positive thoughts have helped me. Regarding energy, I actually cut my caffeine intake in half in August, I think I have more energy now. I also take several vitamins, such as B12 and CoQ10, that I think are beneficial regarding helping the fatigue. Of course, you should always make sure you doctor is aware of any vitamin regimen before starting. And there are a lot of days I don't wear makeup and just put my hair up. I used to feel badly about it but I stopped and decided the energy I conserve on those days by taking that "shortcut" is worth it. Hugs!!!
Hi, Sara, and Welcome. I haven’t had the pleasure of making your acquaintance just yet. I work full-time plus and I can relate. I find that if I prepare myself for the week’s work, I feel less overwhelmed and anxious. I make sure to prepare my outfits and lunches the night before. I also give myself a break about makeup. If I am not up to the task, I wear the minimum, but make sure to wear jewelry to help me feel feminine and put-together. A bright pair of earrings or pretty colorful necklace do the trick! Once I am at work, I try and approach my work with more mindfulness of myself. I pace myself and try to take mental checkout breaks away from the work when I am able. I’ll watch silly cat videos or lay on the couch in my office or go down to gossip by the watercooler. Lol.
If you’re not able to take breaks, you may still try and pace yourself so as not to exacerbate your fatigue or keep from becoming overwhelmed. There are alot of other members who work and I am sure you’ll have more suggestions and support, hon.
Take care and have a Happy Monday.
I’ll be sure to raise my cup of Joe to you in the morning!
Laurie
Hi Sara, my name is Kelli aka Kaseygirl. I know exactly how you feel I am a home healthcare provider working full time. I work full time with 2 clients outside my home and I am a provider for my boyfriend at home. I was diagnosed in April this year. I suffer from the chronic fatigue as well and know all to well about waking up exhausted in the the morning and finding it very difficult to get up. I told my PCP about the constant fatigue and he prescribed Trazadone for me it helps me get to sleep and stay asleep. Since I have been taking it I wake up well rested almost every morning. It really does help when you get a good nights sleep. You might ask your PCP about the possibility of trying Trazadone to see if it might help you. There's a lot about Fibro that requires acceptance for example: fatigue that keeps you from being able to put on your make up or fix your hair nice,Constant random pain, forgetting things but I have found in the few months since my diagnosis some ways to help with a lot of these things. This site and the people on it are so willing to help or give suggestions that might help or just to listen and give words of encouragement. Let me know if I can help and i hope you are able to find something that will help with the fatigue. I am doing much better since I found my solution. I still deal with the intense random pain on a daily basis but I'm dealing with it.
Omg…I always feel the same way, I also feel like im failing my family when i stay home. This has been so hard to work andhave family. Im 35, 2 kids and a fiance and try to work 40hrs a week but when i do i cant do much the weekend. I often wonder how long I can do this? Im looking for a job I can work from home. Stay strong and message me anytime.
Thanks for the feedback : ) I have tried Cyclobenzaprine for helping me sleep at night, but it makes me more groggy in the morning. It's already very hard to pull myself (with the jaws of life) out of bed in the morning. I didn't find that it helped much either. I can sleep like there's no tomorrow, but I think the problem is that it isn't restorative sleep. Yesterday, I was off from work, and I took 2 naps throughout the day and was ready to go to bed by 9pm. It is difficult. I have had a sleep study done and they didn't find anything abnormal, like sleep apnea, or anything that would cause me not to get restorative sleep from their perspective. I have also tried Ambien and Lunesta for sleep aids; it helped me sleep but didn't do much for my energy level. I'm hoping to find something that works for me and I'm seeing an MD counselor on 10/28/14 that has experience in treating individuals with FMS, CFS and arthritis. I'm hoping he can offer something I haven't tried! : )
I can totally relate to the feelings of anxiety prior to going to work. I am fortunate in that I can make the choice not to work everyday, finances permitting! I worry and stress, can I manage a full day... will the children listen to me...will I be able to remember what to do.... I am a supply teacher. But I do find that if I am well organised, made lunch, put out clothes, I can get up and actually enjoy it. I do suffer the pains and fatigue the next to-day, so I try to make sure I don't have to do much. I realise that is not possible for everyone. Probably not much help to you, unless you can reduce your hours.
I work full-time plus and I can relate. I find that if I prepare myself for the week’s work, I feel less overwhelmed and anxious. I make sure to prepare my outfits and lunches the night before. I also give myself a break about makeup. If I am not up to the task, I wear the minimum, but make sure to wear jewelry to help me feel feminine and put-together. A bright pair of earrings or pretty colorful necklace do the trick! Once I am at work, I try and approach my work with more mindfulness of myself. I pace myself and try to take mental checkout breaks away from the work when I am able. I’ll watch silly cat videos or lay on the couch in my office or go down to gossip by the watercooler. 
Lol.