10 Days to Surgery

Fatigue

It seems that the cause of fatigue for endometriosis sufferers hasn't been figured out yet. Most likely it's because our bodies are constantly working in overload; dealing with chronic pain, constant inflammation, the bodies fight to rid itself of the trapped fluid as well as nights spent in pain that you just can't sleep through.

The only suggestions to combating fatigue have been the plainly obvious:

• Get enough sleep
• Eat well
• Don't overexert yourself.

Gee- thanks... helpful...

Some people have also said that a B12 shot helps, others recommend Vitamin D. At the moment I'm finding exercise (yoga in my case) and meditation the most helpful.

I work a lot- I always have. I'm constantly on the go and it's difficult for me to comprehend limiting myself. Especially when I'm trying to convince people that endometriosis is not and will not affect my performance at work. I eat well. I usually sleep through the night except a couple of times a month when I wake up in pain.

I generally wake up feeling great and start to get really tired in the afternoon, then I'll have a surge of energy for a wee while and get really tired again around 6pm (that energy surge is generally from coffee which is a bit of a no-no for endo, more on that later). Much to MrNZwithEndo's annoyance I can never make it to the end of a movie without falling asleep.

For me the hardest to cope with is the dreaminess of the fatigue, the lack of focus and concentration. I'll forget what I'm looking for, where I've put things, what I was about to do. I'll be reading a book and suddenly realise that I have been day dreaming for ten minutes. I'm a creative person and to be honest, I live in my head too much as it is without all of this adding to it!

This is where the meditation and yoga comes in. It's perfect for pulling me back to the present moment. Breathing meditation has been fantastic for pain too. When I slow my breathing down, my pain not only subsides but I also feel calmer, all my muscles begin to relax and my state of mind softens so I know that I'm going to make it through. It helps me to work with my body rather than being ruled by it. I only wish I had discovered this years ago!

I also found this interesting fact sheets today:

http://www.endometriosis.org.au/images/stories/Education/Documents/endometriosis.pdf

And this is the same but in mp3 format:

http://www.jeanhailes.org.au/images/stories/podcast/endometriosis.mp3

Sources:

http://www.endo-resolved.com/fatigue-article.html

http://www.micronutra.com/journal/endometriosis/why-does-endometriosis-cause-fatigue