Feeling Tired Upon Waking Was Getting Old

I couldn't take it anymore, feeling tired upon waking had simply gotten to the point where I could no longer stand it. I had been taking notice of my energy level versus friends I knew who were my age and I knew I wasn't keeping up. I wanted more from life and doing what I has been doing just wasn't going to cut it. I needed a change, because doing the same thing over and over again while wishing for a different result was driving me insane.

Feeling Tired Upon Waking Made Me Not Want to Wake Up At All
I couldn't figure out what why I was feeling tired upon waking, I only knew that I hated getting out of bed on bright sunny days, and on rainy days I wouldn't get out of bed at all if I didn't have to work. It eventually got to the point where I just didn't even enjoy seeing friends and family anymore because I felt like if I showed up today but not next time I would be letting them down. It's crazy how terrible the mind can be when you are always feeling tired and depressed, and for a very long time I was sick and depressed. And it was getting worse.

My Eureka Moment - A Breath of Fresh, Extremely Cold Air
One day on an extremely cold winter day (we're talking -20*F here) it was so cold that the swelling in particular areas relative to breathing contracted and all of a sudden there was this HUUUGE WHOOOSH! of air into my lungs. It felt as though I was breathing for the first time it was so much air. My inability to breath HAD to be a major cause of my fatigue problems. If super cold air could give me a burst of air and energy and vitality... then I needed to figure out how to get more air ALL the time.

Enter My Primary Care Physician
My PCP had seen me numerous times over the previous five years, and always sent me away with either anti-biotics or a simple, "Sorry you feel bad, you have a common virus." He may have been right about the virus, but I ALWAYS had "Just a virus"? Everyday? Weeks, months, and years at a time? Come on. That can't be right.

It wasn't. The next time I saw him I went to visit him while I was "perfectly" fine. I laid out the facts:

• I was feeling as good as I ever felt
• I still felt like cr*p
• I had no intention of feeling this way any longer
• I wanted his help or I was going to find someone else

We Needed a New Treatment Plan for My Chronic Fatigue Symptoms
That pretty much laid down the law. We talked more in depth about my health history and decided I needed to investigate a chronic breathing problem, and that it would be a good idea to review my other symptoms of fatigue to determine whether I was suffering from one of the chronic fatigue related illnesses, such as chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia or perhaps something else. In my case I was suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, in addition to continuously infected tonsils. I'm about mid way through my treatment plan to stabilized my health situation, but I can tell you this... I no longer am feeling tired upon waking.

I Didn't Want to Wake Up Tired Anymore

Every day I would wake up tired. I couldn't avoid it. It didn't matter if I went to bed early or late, it was a given I would open my eyes in the morning feeling like I had a mild hangover. As you can imagine, that was no way to start the day - and yet that is exactly how every day started for me.

I Wasn't A Morning Person... But Suddenly Not An Evening Person Either?
Waking up tired day after day made me convinced I just wasn't a morning person, which some people aren't. When I started coming home after regular work days feeling like I suddenly wasn't feeling much like an evening person either... I started to wonder what the heck was going wrong.

Fatigue Is A Grinding, Insidious Disease
Before long I was dropping out... of life. On the rare occasion when I did see friends they'd always joke that I'd dropped off the face of the Earth. It wasn't all that far from the truth. I'd stopped going out, I didn't participate in any team sports any more, and I'd even stopped running, which I'd been doing from the time I was five years old. How does someone go from being a star athlete with unbounded energy to a person who'd wake up tired everyday and not want to ever get out of bed?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Was The Cause Of My Problems
I finally got fed up. I just didn't want to wake up tired anymore and I was sick of one doctor after another telling me I had a minor viral infection. My reponse finally became, "NO KIDDING! I am ALWAYS feeling like I have a virus infection! Seriously, I can't be THIS unlucky - if my immune system was that week I'd be dead already!" I guess throwing a nutty woke up my doctor. He said that persons who wake up tired may be suffering other symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Lack of Energy Was Defining My Life

I couldn't help it - the complete lack of energy I had kept me away from friends, family, and at times... work too. I wanted to enjoy the great relationships I had developed over the years but I just didn't have the get up and go I needed to motivate myself to go see people or do things. Commitment to do anything was something I couldn't make myself do. My life, my friends, my job all suffered because I couldn't muster the energy to keep going.

I Tried Just About Everything
I had tried allergy medications, but they turned me into even more of a walking zombie. I tried diets. I tried exercising myself to exhaustion. I tried anti-biotics. Nothing worked and I was in a deep depression. Eventually I had resigned myself to the truth that this was all my life was going to be.

I Didn't Know It Didn't Have to Be This Way
Hindsight is 20/20 the saying goes... My doctors kept telling me that I was suffering from a virus infection which would clear up in a few days... and they'd send me away. But because I always felt crummy... it never occurred to me that my doctor might be wrong. My symptoms were not short term. My fatigue was chronic. Day in, day out, my lack of energy was just enough to keep me from enjoying my life.

It Doesn't Have to Be the Same for You
If you aren't feeling your best day after day, fill out the brief symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome survey.

Always So Tired - My Battle with Chronic Fatigue

I was always so tired. I would go to sleep at night just dreading the coming of morning. I knew that when the sun came up I simply wouldn't want to join it. If it was raining outside... forgeddaboudit!

I Had Become a Zombie
My inability to participate in the human race was causing me to just barely live. I could make myself get up to go to work and trade some of my time for some money, but outside that I could barely function at all. I would wake up tired and spend my day just trying to make it through without (getting caught) falling asleep on the job. Thank heavens I had an office to myself - I'm sure that had I been in a cubicle somewhere I would have been toast long ago... but that's another story.

My Doctors Couldn't See the Forest Through The Trees
I had seen various doctors (general practicitioners) over the years but I never really had a history long enough with any one of them for them to be able to say, "Hey Jane, you really seem to be sick and tired a lot. What's really going on?" I would constantly get throat infections, felt like I had fever all the time, and just generally felt lousy.

I Had All But Given Up On Life
I had resigned myself to the belief that this might be all there is. If I had not had some amazing friends I might have simply dwindled away the balance of my days because I simply had given up the fight myself. It was only once prodded by a friend to try acting that I realized how much of life I was missing... and that my energy level was far below that of most everyone I knew. Something was dreadfully wrong, and I needed to do something... ANYTHING... to try to get better.


Research Was Critical
The expansion of medical related information on the web was critical to helping me figure out what was wrong with me. I was able to compare my symptoms of chronic fatigue with the testimonials of other fatigue sufferers and finally start to get some answers. I owe a lot to the efforts of researchers and others in the medical community who have worked tirelessly to document the vast number of illnesses the cause people to turn into walking zombies and be always so tired. I didn't want my life to continue this way. I got facts, I got treatment, and now I'm feeling the results. I'm not always so tired anymore.

Always Tired? Welcome to My (Former) World

Always Tired - Lack of Energy
I can't begin to tell you what being always tired felt like. It would start in the morning when I would wake up tired and continue throughout the day. Honestly I'd wake up feeling like someone had punched me in the face every morning. Not the best way to start the day.

Aching Joints
Then the minute I got dressed after showering, I'd have a generally tired, lack of energy kind feeling. I'd get out to the car and head off to work but with the modestly long car ride my joints would ache before I'd get to work. It was just simply a miserable way to live. Being constantly tired is no way to live.

I'm Not the Only One Suffering
I finally caught a break when someone mentioned they had seen something about people who were always tired with achy joints so after poking around on the web I found some information about chronic fatigue sufferers. Apparently lots of people get tired all the time like me.

Symptoms Quiz Helped My Doctor Diagnose Me
I took a short quiz on the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome to determine whether I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I benefitted by reviewing the information because next time I met with my doctor I was much more forceful about telling him something was wrong. A visit with an ENT specialist determined my tonsils were constantly infected, and needed to come out (it was painful.. let me tell you but soooo worth it).

Afterward
After the pain from the surgery disappeared I am feeling so much better and I'm much more active now than I have been in years.

Take the Quiz
You may or may not have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but take the fatigue quiz anyway... the information you learn may help you next time you see your doctor.