Medical-Type Question: Do You Think 6-7 Hours Of Sleep Is Causing My Bad Feelings?

[Christine]

Okay, so I know I'm 40 and "gettin up there." But, I will tell you that during my work week, I feel horrid--to the point that I almost cannot function well. It has me a little worried at times but then I almost always feel 100% better on the weekend.

I have to wake up at 4:40 a.m. each morning in order to shower and get the kids ready and to their sitter by 6:00 a.m. Then I have at least a one hour commute because of the weather. My job itself is not stressful and I'm definitely not overworked. In fact, quite the opposite. But I get into the office and I feel like I'm "stunned" and all I want to do is sleep. Then I have the commute home. I just feel so burnt out.

I then come home, make dinner, do a little clean up of clutter, and then try to exercise for 30-40 minutes (which I manage to somehow do). I usually get to bed by 9:00, maybe asleep my 9:30. If I count that out that is about 7 hours (if I'm having a good night!!).

On the weekends, I usually sleep 9-10 hours to kind of make up for it I guess and I generally feel pretty good. Even my exercise performance improves. Still, it kind of nags at me because others I know get this same amount of sleep (or lack of) and seem to be feeling much better than I do.

I do have thyroid issues (I don't have a thyroid) and my thyroid levels are closely monitored every 3 months. If anything, I have too much thyroid hormone (but really it is fine).

So do you think it could be my lack of sleep or do you think I should investigate something else. I know everyone has different requirements, but how DO you feel on that amount and how much sleep do you routinely get.

 

[DoeWDW]

Fatigue is one of the many signs of peri-menopause, so that could be contributing.

I know I was exhausted to the point of not being able to get out of bed 2 years ago. After doing lots of testing, the doctor and I ended up with depression and an anti-depressant, along with counseling, did me a world of good.

Have you had a physical lately? It wouldn't hurt to have some blood tests done. Low iron can cause tiredness.

I hope you can find the cause and get some relief. You're too young to be so exhausted and your kids need a mom with energy.

Best wishes!

 

[Rajah]

You sound exactly like I do (though no kids here, just other responsibilities). Dead exhausted during the work week, better energy during the weekend.

I haven't found the problem yet, though. :/

Good luck.

 

[Christine]

Well, I have had the depression issue thoroughly checked out as I have anxiety problems. I've tried several antidepressants and they don't seem to help me at all (with the anxiety that is) nor do I feel any more energetic. After spending about 18 months with a psychiatrist and talking a lot, he doesn't feel I am depressed.

Peri-menopause is *probably* a factor in that I notice I feel worse in the 2 weeks prior to my period. Each year that goes by, the PMS symptoms get more exaggerated.

I guess what gets me is that exercise is supposed to make you feel better (and it does on the weekends) but is is kicking my butt during the week. I am walking 2-3 miles. On the weekend when I am well rested I feel so strong and I can even run for portions of it. During the week, it is like walking through molasses!

I just keep thinking--If I could just get an extra hour or two of sleep!! Anyway, I'm betting that there might not be one simple answer to this. The fact that I don't have a thyroid means that my metabolic rate does not function like it used to. The fact that I commute and am frustrated doesn't help. Shorting myself one hour of needed sleep for 5 nights in a row doesn't help, and on and on and on....

 

[DMickey28]

I am going through the exact same thing. I don't have kids though, I am 25 going to be 26 in a few weeks and engaged to be married in October.

I get up at 6:30am and leave the house at 7:15am. I get home at 5:00pm and get to bed by 9pm and that's only because I can't go to bed when it's light out still. I am exhausted.

My wedding planning is not stressful. We have eight people coming on a cruise with us and we are getting married on the beach in St. Thomas. I have a wedding coordinator down there handling everything for me.

I can't even get the energy to exercise though if I do, I know I will feel somewhat better.

I feel fine on the weekends too.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am very unhappy with my career. Right now I am working in a health insurance company doing Senior Home Health Care claims. Busy work, to me. It's not a position that is going anywhere and I feel I can do so much more with myself than staring at a computer screen and watching the clock on my 10 min breaks that I am allowed.

MY plan? I am going back to school in the fall or winter, depending on when my fiance's job moves us. I am getting my Master's in Ed. and I want to be a teacher. I can't handle sitting here in my cubicle alone, doing the same thing day in and day out!

I hope that you feel better. Take a look at everything around you and see what's making you unhappy. Maybe you need to look at the possiblities of a different job closer to home.

I know that I feel 100% better on the weekends so it doesn't have to do with my "personal" life but my "career" life.

 

[Christine]

DMickey,

This tiredness could, quite possibly, be my job. It sounds like we have the same job!

I've been in the same profession since 1988. For most of this time, I have really enjoyed my job. I have had a lot of autonomy and respect from the clients I support. I have always been given a lot of responsibility and have really good projects to work on. In the past 3 years, things have drastically changed. Our office moved from a very nice location in Virginia to a "ghetto projects" area in Washington, DC. There is nowhere to have lunch, and you cannot go outside to walk or eat during your break. Walking to my clients' office, I am frequently "panhandled" for money and some of the workers on this site have actually been shot at (although that is very infrequent). To top it off, during the move we went from having 2-person offices to cubicle farms. Some of us (my group) were put on a first floor level suite that is pretty much the basement and we have very little natural lighting. On top of it, the clients' office has reorganized several times and there have been so many changes that it has affected my work flow and fractured up the job so bad that I don't feel as if I have a real job anymore (hence my almost-1000 posts to the DIS!!). Then when I do get asked to do something, it is like Mickey Mouse BS. Of course, I do whatever I am asked to do, but some of it should be given to a temp! It is just so ungratifying.

I have investigated other work, but my field is fairly specialized and the skills and knowledge do not transfer to anything else. The best I could come up with is an office administrator making less than half of what I make now. The only thing I can do is to stay in my field until I do not need the salary that I make.

So, I can relate. Maybe it is the job...but what do you do when you're trapped?

 

[DMickey28]

If your field is so specialized, is there anything else that you could take a few classes in to gain knowledge in a different field to get out. Perhaps at night?

I wish I had some magical words of wisdom for you. I was in the restaurant business before and I was a miserable stress ball. The money was excellent however, but I realized it wasn't my life dream and I needed to get out before the money got so good that my life couldn't have handled the pay cut.

Is there any place in your budget that you can see or work at to cut corners so you can take a pay cut? The most important thing is for you to be happy and healthy. It's amazing what something that we see as a "boring and empty" job can have such a drastic effect on our life. I am ready to fall asleep here right now and I am doing such a "Mickey Mouse" project right now I have to laugh.

Do you mind if I ask if you are a single mom or married? If you don't want to answer I won't be offended and I hope I don't offend you by asking.

Monday through Friday I go to bed at 9pm and asleep by 10pm at the latest, up at 6:30pm... so I get atleast 8 hours of sleep on the weeknights and the same on the weekends 12-8 or so but I am so happy on the weekends...it's work.

 

[Christine]

Originally posted by DMickey28
If your field is so specialized, is there anything else that you could take a few classes in to gain knowledge in a different field to get out. Perhaps at night?


Do you mind if I ask if you are a single mom or married? If you don't want to answer I won't be offended and I hope I don't offend you by asking.

Monday through Friday I go to bed at 9pm and asleep by 10pm at the latest, up at 6:30pm... so I get atleast 8 hours of sleep on the weeknights and the same on the weekends 12-8 or so but I am so happy on the weekends...it's work.

Actually, for many years I was taking extra classes trying to get my degree finished, just to open some doors. I had two small children at the time and it was rough, but I managed. Then I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and I finally had to stop school because between the kids and the medical problem, I could not handle it all with my job too. Now I am 40 (almost 41) and am at a point where I cannot attend a local community college for the credits. The only college I can go to is either 30 minutes north of me or on-line learning. As tired as I am, the thought of spending two nights a week and not getting home until 10:00 p.m. sound daunting. And what would I do? What field will I be able to break into at approximately age 45?

No, I'm not offended by you asking me if I'm married. Yes, I am! My husband works a very early shift and he is out of the house at 4:30 a.m. which is the reason for some of my problems. I get no help with the kids in the morning and cannot take advantage of some of the carpoolers in my neighborhood because I can't get my kids to the sitter until 6:00 a.m. The carpools are leaving earlier than this.

As far as cutting back, we are pretty much "cut back." Both my DH and I make an equal salary so for one of us to quit or take a lower salary is pretty devastating. I went through this years ago when I wanted to be a SAHM and found I couldn't. We live in the DC area (suburb) and the cost of living is so high!!!

I hate writing this because it sounds so negative, but I have really looked at most of the options to me. I just feel so deadended (and tired)!!

 

[ahutton]

I went through something similar a few years ago, my job stress had turned me into a person I'm not. I felt like there was nothing else I was qualified to do, and certainly not in the same pay scale. I did a lot of discussing with a counselor (we had also just lost a baby - had a lot going on) and with my DH who is very supportive. I found there was another way to attack my job search, and that many of my skills were in much higher demand than I imagined. I had been a claim adjuster for over 10 years, and it doesn't seem to matter which company you work for, the job is the same. The work load is overwhelming and you never talk to someone who is happy to be speaking with you because they've just had a loss (accident, theft, etc) and you take the fall regardless of who actually was at fault.

I found that many of the skills I learned doing that were of great value to any larger company, in their risk management department. Then you are training to prevent a loss.

I actually took a job at an insurance agency, helping people select which insurance is right for them or their company. Funny, but all the years of explaining to someone what coverage they needed to cover the claim I was handling was now being used to sell coverage to them so my clients have it if or when the loss happens. And these folks are happy, because I think of things from my experience on the other side that others have not considered or mentioned to them.

That said, maybe if you look at what skills you have, who you work with, you could find another way to do something similar but in a different area. If you are working with seniors, what about working with others who need special care or attention? Maybe disabled or children? Those may be more rewarding. It also sounds like there has been a lot of change in your office environment and maybe if you looked for another business (governmental, public or private) that does the same thing you could find a better working environment that you might not find as stressful?

Best wishes on finding the solution, we're all behind you!

 

[Christine]

ahutton,
I appreciate your comments!

Yes, I do feel trapped and I don't meet a lot of other professionals anymore. There probably *is* something out there better for me.

I'll give you a small picture at what I do: I support an area of DoD and work in foreign military sales (and have for 16 years). I specifically work with two countries and I help them to procure weapons from the government to defend themselves. My job is a little bit technical (knowing the weapons systems, how they work, and what parts are needed and the people who provide them), a little bit financial (pricing, budgeting, paying), and LOTS of answering questions. For all that, I get paid closer to $100,000 than $40,000 (don't want to provide my specific salary here).

Probably a career counselor would be good? But, I do feel very embarrassed that I do not have a degree and yet I want my salary. It really holds me back mentally.

 

[Gillian]

I'm currently a stay at home mom and Avon rep. I get bored and sometimes feel depressed and/or tired. I don't always get enough sleep if the kids wake up during the night or if I am up late trying to do my own stuff. I also used to feel brain-dead at my old (dull) job).

I'm pretty healthy in general.

I have found 2 things that help me feel more energetic.

In the past, a low carb diet has always made me feel great! Although I did want to lose weight (& did), cutting out starches and adding proteins just gave me more energy. I used to feel tired after eating breakfast and lunch. Nothing helped except the diet change. This was when I was working and I was much more productive after cutting back on carbs.

Another thing that is helping these days, even though I'm curring eating very badly, is taking supplements called Juice Plus.They are raw fruits & veggies reduced down to capsules. The water and sugars have been removed. DH & I take them every day and we both feel better. I have fewer problems with my blood sugar and we both get sick less often. The kids just started and I think it helps them as well. I'll see in the Fall when preschool starts.

You do have to get it from an independent distributor.

Anyway, I hope you find something that works for you!

 

[Randi]

One thing not mentioned is the exercising in the evening. When do you exercise on the weekends? Is it earlier in the day? I had always heard that exercising too close to bedtime could disturb your sleep cycles. Perhaps you are sleeping, but not getting the quality of sleep that would help you make it through the day.
Just a thought. Hope you find out what helps.

 

[Christine]

Originally posted by Randi
One thing not mentioned is the exercising in the evening. When do you exercise on the weekends? Is it earlier in the day? I had always heard that exercising too close to bedtime could disturb your sleep cycles. Perhaps you are sleeping, but not getting the quality of sleep that would help you make it through the day.
Just a thought. Hope you find out what helps.

I've thought of that too, unfortanately, the only time I can exercise during the week is in the evening. Since I get up at 4:30 a.m. and am busy from that time on, I don't think I can squeeze it in during the morning. There is nowhere to exercise at my office either, especially with the surrounding neighborhood being an open air drug market!!!

Tonight I got home at 4:00 p.m. and went right out for my walk. The last two nights were so stressful I just sat on the couch (and felt quite a bit better the next day), so you may be onto something!!

On the weekends I try to exercise around 8:00 a.m.

 

[Talking Hands]

Have you been checked recently for diabetes? Tiredness is one of the signs of Type 2 diabetes.

 

[Christine]

Originally posted by Talking Hands
Have you been checked recently for diabetes? Tiredness is one of the signs of Type 2 diabetes.

Yes, I've had all the obvious medical tests done. In fact, I have been checked for diabetes three times and my thyroid levels are checked quarterly.