Sick and Tired of feeling Sick and Tired

calbelfield

Hi everyone,

Starting to get really fed up of my training being hampered so much.

For the last year or two, I've had a near constant cold, which leaves me feeling fatigued and run down. Sometimes it might improve slightly, and then after a couple of rides it'll get bad again. I consider my diet to be reasonable, I eat enough so that I maintain my weight (74kg at 6ft1) and get enough sleep. Yet most mornings I wake up feeling like I've had half as much sleep as I need! I've been to the doctors several times, and had a multitude of tests done, all of which have shown there are no issues (e.g. thyroid function, blood sugar levels etc.) so I am at a bit of a loss to what is causing it.

I am reasonably active but by no means a mile monster, did 5k miles in 2014 and 3.7k last year. My rides are nearly always of quite a high intensity, but even riding easy for a while sees little improvement.

In the last couple of weeks, I've taken up a high protein (as well as high in carbs!) diet to see if that makes any difference (which it hasn't). I eat plenty of fruit and veg, and am taking some vitamin supplements.

Even when I rest for a week or two, it doesn't improve (not even 10 nights in Egypt last summer made any difference!).

Anyone else suffer from any of these symptoms? Would really appreciate some advice, as I'm wanting to get back into racing this year but can't even work above threshold because of my fatigue.

Tl;dr, fatigued all of the time- looking for a solution!

Thanks,
Callum

glasgowbhoy

I go through periods of what most on here would call 'over reaching' (fatigue, poor sleep, sweats, sore muscles) and that can be grim but it passes after about 3-5days and provided I haven't picked up a cold /virus whilst wiped out from a hard training block I seem to bounce back and kick on.
Having that feeling for just a few days is depressing, so, feel for you if it's a permanent state

trek_dan

I feel your pain. I spent most of last year feeling like that. It was horrible. Not sure how much of it was mental and how much of it was actual fatigue as I do suffer from work related stress. I've also got a stomach condition which no doctor has quite got the bottom of yet and this can make me feel really tired. Had blood tests etc done and shows up nothing. I did a lot of riding the year before that so not sure if it just caught up with me.
Having that awful feeling of having zero energy from first pedal stroke and just knowing your going to get dropped on a club ride or in a race is awful. Even getting out of bed for a 9am start on a Saturday was hard work, when I could quite easily have stayed in bed until dinnertime. Cycling felt like a total chore as I wasn't enjoying it.
I'm starting to come through it now. All I can say is listen to your body. Take some time off the bike, eat some pizza, drink some beer, spend some time with the Mrs. Ride when you feel like instead of forcing yourself to out of a misguided sense of 'duty' like I was. You'll get back on the bike when your good and ready, and when you are ready, you'll start enjoying it again.

snowley

Like others have said, evidently your body is trying to say something to you. It does seem strange that it has lasted this long even with holidays included.

Maybe see a nutritionist to see if that can improve in anyway.

keef66

Sounds like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Have a google. Getting a diagnosis can be a challenge though, and medical opinion still seems divided about whether it exists and what to do about it.

jrich

You need to seek the help of somebody who specialises in alternative medicine and knows what they're doing with this sort of thing. Going by my own experience, you're GP will not have a clue.

Do you have any digestive issues out of interest?

calbelfield

trek_dan wrote:

I feel your pain. I spent most of last year feeling like that. It was horrible. Not sure how much of it was mental and how much of it was actual fatigue as I do suffer from work related stress. I've also got a stomach condition which no doctor has quite got the bottom of yet and this can make me feel really tired. Had blood tests etc done and shows up nothing. I did a lot of riding the year before that so not sure if it just caught up with me.
Having that awful feeling of having zero energy from first pedal stroke and just knowing your going to get dropped on a club ride or in a race is awful. Even getting out of bed for a 9am start on a Saturday was hard work, when I could quite easily have stayed in bed until dinnertime. Cycling felt like a total chore as I wasn't enjoying it.
I'm starting to come through it now. All I can say is listen to your body. Take some time off the bike, eat some pizza, drink some beer, spend some time with the Mrs. Ride when you feel like instead of forcing yourself to out of a misguided sense of 'duty' like I was. You'll get back on the bike when your good and ready, and when you are ready, you'll start enjoying it again.

That's one thing I forgot to mention - I have a bit of a stomach problem! Most days I suffer with a certain degree of 'looseness', which gets worse if I have done a ride the day before. Not sure whether it's related to the exercise or the volume of food I'm eating, but it can't be helping if things are going through so quickly! Apologies if you've just finished your tea!

Think I'm definitely going to force myself off the bike for a bit, it's not that I'm not enjoying it, the power is good (at threshold and below) but it's obviously not doing me much good if I'm so tired. Will probably do me some good, had planned to do my first race in a couple of weeks but I'm nowhere near ready because I can't do any real high-intensity stuff.

Thanks for the input anyway, hope you keep ploughing on through it, there has to be an end to it!

calbelfield

jrich wrote:

You need to seek the help of somebody who specialises in alternative medicine and knows what they're doing with this sort of thing. Going by my own experience, you're GP will not have a clue.

Do you have any digestive issues out of interest?

See above comment, forgot to mention my bad stomach! :roll:

calbelfield

keef66 wrote:

Sounds like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Have a google. Getting a diagnosis can be a challenge though, and medical opinion still seems divided about whether it exists and what to do about it.

I had thought it might have been that, was hoping it might have been not enough protein - I'd read in Jo Friel's training bible that protein deficiencies could cause some of my symptoms, but I obviously eat enough!

herzog

You ever had a broken nose?

sloppyschleckonds

calbelfield wrote:

I've been to the doctors several times, and had a multitude of tests done, all of which have shown there are no issues (e.g. thyroid function, blood sugar levels etc.) so I am at a bit of a loss to what is causing it.

I'd go with the doctors advice

kajjal

This can be caused by various things unfortunately. Over training, diet, stress, under lying medical condition etc.

In my case i have a lower bowel condition which can flare up due to excessive stress, eating to much junk food, lack of sleep, alcohol and over exerting myself over a prolonged period. Now i understand what is going on it is very easy to manage and i get very, very few problems. This consists of avoiding processed foods and eating fresh meat, fish and vegetables etc and rarely drinking alcohol and getting a good nights sleep on a regular basis.

When it does flare up i go from being able to do five hours of xc mountain biking in the hills to nothing more than a gentle Road bike ride for an hour.

calbelfield

Kajjal wrote:

This can be caused by various things unfortunately. Over training, diet, stress, under lying medical condition etc.

In my case i have a lower bowel condition which can flare up due to excessive stress, eating to much junk food, lack of sleep, alcohol and over exerting myself over a prolonged period. Now i understand what is going on it is very easy to manage and i get very, very few problems. This consists of avoiding processed foods and eating fresh meat, fish and vegetables etc and rarely drinking alcohol and getting a good nights sleep on a regular basis.

When it does flare up i go from being able to do five hours of xc mountain biking in the hills to nothing more than a gentle Road bike ride for an hour.

This sounds pretty spot on. I don't overdo it with the junk food, eating a pretty clean diet for the most part (but I am partial to a few biscuits!) No takeaways or fast food, everything made fresh, at the very worst using a sauce jar to make up a meal. No booze for me, and my sleep is pretty good, but it's good to know that I'm not the only one who has to put up with something like this!

bristolpete

I bottomed out in 2012 just got chore like and routine rather than fun, but I put it down to a huge lack of structure in my riding and training the British cliched way with winter after winter of long ploddy miles ready for spring. Effectively riding the same routes as in the summer, just frozen solid on a 'winter bike'.

In the end what changed it and had a profound effect on my riding was doing a 13 mile each way commute thus giving me 130 miles a week base training without really thinking about base miles. I made more headway as a rider in three months of doing this than 10 years of the other way. Now due to a change in my life I ride massively less, but came to realise that as much as I love and adore cycling it can have a huge effect on ones mental health, worrying about miles, weight and so on. I ride now, but so much less its scary, but I enjoy a quick blast now.

I am also a huge huge advocate of the right nutrion and diet and sounds like you have this covered.

Have you talked about sinusitis with the doctor ?

AK_jnr

Sort of sounds like some of the symptoms of colitis like my girlfriend has which is literally one of the worst diseases I have ever come across the poor girl.
I hope you get it sorted.

manxshred

Get your allergies checked. I had similar symptoms, always getting ill, if I got a slight cold, it would turn into a chest infection and take more than 2 weeks to clear up, only for me to get ill again in a few weeks.

Although I wasn't showing any other signs, I had inflamed sinuses from hayfever and this was making them a perfect breeding ground for germs. I now use daily antihistamines and have had a massive improvement in my overall health.

trek_dan

Has anyone from the responses above had the permanent upset stomach problem diagnosed properly? Currently going through the process with my doctor who thinks it may be IBS.

calbelfield

trek_dan wrote:

Has anyone from the responses above had the permanent upset stomach problem diagnosed properly? Currently going through the process with my doctor who thinks it may be IBS.

IBS sounds like it could be pretty spot on for me. Will mention it when I next go to the doctors.

AK_jnr wrote:

Sort of sounds like some of the symptoms of colitis like my girlfriend has which is literally one of the worst diseases I have ever come across the poor girl.
I hope you get it sorted.

That doesn't look good! Another thing to add to the list for the doctors!

bristolpete wrote:

I bottomed out in 2012 just got chore like and routine rather than fun, but I put it down to a huge lack of structure in my riding and training the British cliched way with winter after winter of long ploddy miles ready for spring. Effectively riding the same routes as in the summer, just frozen solid on a 'winter bike'.

In the end what changed it and had a profound effect on my riding was doing a 13 mile each way commute thus giving me 130 miles a week base training without really thinking about base miles. I made more headway as a rider in three months of doing this than 10 years of the other way. Now due to a change in my life I ride massively less, but came to realise that as much as I love and adore cycling it can have a huge effect on ones mental health, worrying about miles, weight and so on. I ride now, but so much less its scary, but I enjoy a quick blast now.

I am also a huge huge advocate of the right nutrion and diet and sounds like you have this covered.

Have you talked about sinusitis with the doctor ?

Sorry to hear of your story. I've not mentioned sinusitis, but I know that both my mum and dad suffer with bad sinuses, so that could be an issue for sure. I always have a blocked nose, but never really feel particularly stuffed-up around my sinuses, but it could be a problem.



Another issue that I have is something that seems to be tied in with the fatigue. Since the 'tiredness' started probably 3 years ago, I've been suffering with getting down mentally whenever I got physically run down. Got diagnosed with depression last November after it got particularly bad, and have since felt much better since taking some medication. Don't want to be on the medication forever, and if it is the physical tiredness that causes me to be mentally run down then I'd like to try and get it sorted so that I can stay happy!

herzog

calbelfield wrote:

Sorry to hear of your story. I've not mentioned sinusitis, but I know that both my mum and dad suffer with bad sinuses, so that could be an issue for sure. I always have a blocked nose, but never really feel particularly stuffed-up around my sinuses, but it could be a problem.

That's why I asked if you had ever broken your nose.

I did (in 1999) and being a student at uni, straightened it myself and got on with my studies. Cue 10 years of feeling sluggish, tired all the time, feeling like I had a cold (whilst not actually having a cold) etc. - basically every symptom you describe.

I went through the usual NHS tests for allergies, viral/bacterial infections and all that guff with no success. It was only when I moved to Switzerland my GP noticed that one of my nasal passages was a different shape to the other and enquired about nose functioning. After a trip to specialists and MRI scans I had two operations to correct the septum/airflow to the frontal sinus and now my general health has improved dramatically.

trek_dan

calbelfield wrote:

Another issue that I have is something that seems to be tied in with the fatigue. Since the 'tiredness' started probably 3 years ago, I've been suffering with getting down mentally whenever I got physically run down. Got diagnosed with depression last November after it got particularly bad, and have since felt much better since taking some medication. Don't want to be on the medication forever, and if it is the physical tiredness that causes me to be mentally run down then I'd like to try and get it sorted so that I can stay happy!

Its a little chicken and egg depression. A horrible thing to deal with. Never sure if the mental tiredness causes physical tiredness or vice versa. I suspect the mental tiredness causes physical tiredness for me

webboo

One of the symptoms of clinical depression is Psychomotor retardation.

supermurph09

I developed anxiety at the beginning of last year and that left me feeling tired and sometimes sick pretty much all of the time. I also have an underactive thyroid so naturally if I get those symptoms I always think something is amiss there but as mentioned it was actually anxiety coupled with high irritability. It just left me feeling drained. Eventually tried prozac which made me worse, so I stopped taking that and from about July I began to feel much better. (There was no reason for my anxiety).

There then came a point where I actually thought to myself "wow, I haven't actually thought what's wrong with me today" which was a great feeling. My diet is pretty good, no booze, none smoker but my sleep is not the greatest which never helps but I certainly feel much better now.

My advice would be to get as much as you can checked out, if all the tests are clear and you still feel unwell then keep pushing. For me the not knowing is the worst thing, ironically this then leads to more anxiety!

supermurph09

One extra thing I would add, if you spend a lot of time frequenting forums such as this, or browsing in general then try to take a break. The constant bombardment of information and never giving your brain some time off really will contribute to your fatigue.

Note to self. Log off.

craigus89

IBS is an easy diagnosis for a doctor to make. I'm not downplaying it as some people have it very bad (which I suspect is another underlying issue) but it seems to be a general catch-all diagnosis for unexplained stomach problems. My Doc said I had it quite a few years ago, but it just turns out my diet sucked and I am now fine as long as I stay off very yeasty booze.

Are you sure your sleep is okay? It is amazing what a difference it makes to general health. Do you snore? Chance of sleep apnea?

calbelfield

Herzog wrote:

calbelfield wrote:

Sorry to hear of your story. I've not mentioned sinusitis, but I know that both my mum and dad suffer with bad sinuses, so that could be an issue for sure. I always have a blocked nose, but never really feel particularly stuffed-up around my sinuses, but it could be a problem.

That's why I asked if you had ever broken your nose.

I did (in 1999) and being a student at uni, straightened it myself and got on with my studies. Cue 10 years of feeling sluggish, tired all the time, feeling like I had a cold (whilst not actually having a cold) etc. - basically every symptom you describe.

I went through the usual NHS tests for allergies, viral/bacterial infections and all that guff with no success. It was only when I moved to Switzerland my GP noticed that one of my nasal passages was a different shape to the other and enquired about nose functioning. After a trip to specialists and MRI scans I had two operations to correct the septum/airflow to the frontal sinus and now my general health has improved dramatically.

Sorry I missed that post! Not broken my nose, but guess there could be something up with it. Should book a trip to Switzerland then Cheers though, i'll bear it in mind.

Supermurph09 wrote:

I developed anxiety at the beginning of last year and that left me feeling tired and sometimes sick pretty much all of the time. I also have an underactive thyroid so naturally if I get those symptoms I always think something is amiss there but as mentioned it was actually anxiety coupled with high irritability. It just left me feeling drained. Eventually tried prozac which made me worse, so I stopped taking that and from about July I began to feel much better. (There was no reason for my anxiety).

There then came a point where I actually thought to myself "wow, I haven't actually thought what's wrong with me today" which was a great feeling. My diet is pretty good, no booze, none smoker but my sleep is not the greatest which never helps but I certainly feel much better now.

My advice would be to get as much as you can checked out, if all the tests are clear and you still feel unwell then keep pushing. For me the not knowing is the worst thing, ironically this then leads to more anxiety!

Hmm I'm on prozac now and it has definitely made me feel much better mentally, but not made a difference physically. I do get fed up of not knowing what's wrong and knowing that I could be pretty decent if I wasn't so ill all of the time gets draining. Motivates me to try and find out what's wrong though!

I'm reasonably active with the whole forum reading and strava browsing but wouldn't say I'm overdoing it massively.Back before I started cycling I was obsessed with video games, sometimes spending 8-10 hours a day on there and I had more energy back then!

Craigus89 wrote:

IBS is an easy diagnosis for a doctor to make. I'm not downplaying it as some people have it very bad (which I suspect is another underlying issue) but it seems to be a general catch-all diagnosis for unexplained stomach problems. My Doc said I had it quite a few years ago, but it just turns out my diet sucked and I am now fine as long as I stay off very yeasty booze.

Are you sure your sleep is okay? It is amazing what a difference it makes to general health. Do you snore? Chance of sleep apnea?

I tend to get between 8 and 9 hours of sleep a night, maybe up once for the loo but soon back to sleep again. Even if I get a 10 hour sleep I wake up feeling tired, and sometimes wake up feeling less tired after a 7 hour sleep! So I'm not sure what to make of that

webboo

Maybe you are sleeping too much. Sleeping more than 8 hours is not healthy according to some studies. You mention being obsessed about video games are you over analysing things too much getting a bit obsessed.
I would suggest like others go back to the GP get a longer appointment and really discuss things.

calbelfield

Webboo wrote:

Maybe you are sleeping too much. Sleeping more than 8 hours is not healthy according to some studies. You mention being obsessed about video games are you over analysing things too much getting a bit obsessed.
I would suggest like others go back to the GP get a longer appointment and really discuss things.

In all fairness I probably did used to sleep a bit less, had A-levels for the last couple of years and got a bit lazy with lie-ins! I have struggled with over-thinking for the last couple of years, letting myself get a bit bogged down with things that don't really matter. I've tried to free my life up and made some drastic decisions, left uni and have taken a few months off to refresh and re-assess what I want to do with my life. Mentally I am feeling much better, but just haven't improved physically.

ravenvrider

Sounds similar to the way I felt a couple of years ago luckily only for 4 months..after seeing my doctor loads of tests etc and none the wiser the generic ibs was diagnosed with no cure mentioned.

After much net trawling I found 2 things that kept coming up, go gluten free and having those probiotic yoghurt daily...I decided I had nothing to lose so got rid of everything in my cupboards and went totally gluten free and started the pro biotic yoghurt on the same day....my ibs stopped within 48 hours and has not returned in 2 years...

I'm not strict but I still keep my diet as grain free as possible etc

Good luck

herzog

Chronic sinusitis was a punt - having suffered like you, I can empathize and really hope you find out what's causing your symptoms. Good luck!!

supermurph09

Also, get your ears checked. Once I had mine syringed that also helped my general well being!

webboo

Callum
You mention you are on Prozac, have you seen a mental health worker or counsellor. If not why not get a referral to see one, in a lot of places you can refer yourself through the IAPT service. Even if things are ok mentally these sessions could help sort the wood from the trees.