Thank you! My doctor keep saying if I exercise I'll have more energy and sleep better, but since I got covid none of that is true. I have 10% the energy I used to have since Covid, and I only lose energy by exercising, and my sleep gets disrupted as well. Still exercise 5 days a week, but I hate how doctors totally dismiss chronic fatigue, especially in correlation to post-covid =(
Be really careful and, if you haven’t already, try to find a new provider who actually understands/ treats CFS/ME as too much exercise/ exertion can cause crashes which people don’t always recover from. 🫶
What you’re describing sounds a lot like what my friend who has CFS/ ME describes (she also got it after having COVID, then it got worse after the second time she had COVID) including the poor quality sleep. Try and find a doctor that is knowledgeable about CFS/ME.
Yeah, I was on the front lines of COVID working at a homeless shelter. I've gotten it a total of 7 times over the last 6 years. I was ok until the 4th time. Now,.in combination with a brutal menopause, my quality of life SUCKS.
I would definitely get a sleep study done as well. You absolutely don't have to be overweight to have sleep apnea. The daytime sleepiness plus consistently unrefreshing/fragmented sleep and waking during the night are worth getting checked out. It could absolutely coexist with Long COVID too, so I wouldn't assume it has to be one or the other.
The worst part of this is wanting to push harder and being unable to and feeling ashamed. I've had days where I'm like, "I'm gonna take a walk!" and before I even make it to the sidewalk I'm like, "This ain't working."
I used to be energetic with bursts of depression, now I'm depressed with bouts of energy. (With proper mental health treatment)
Whoa, props for exercising 5 days a week, but yeah please look into ME/CFS as you could actually be worsening your condition. I’ve had long covid since 2022 and I’m back to ~90% of my pre-infection energy levels. The #1 thing that has helped me is LDN (low-dose naltrexone), which interrupts the inflammation feedback loop and is the new standard many providers use to treat long covid. #2 is nattokinase, which has been shown in clinical studies to break down the lingering spike proteins left behind after a Covid infection that cause all the issues. The LDN got me out of my downward spiral and able to build back my strength & nervous system capacity, and the nattokinase is raising my baseline wellbeing so if I miss a day of LDN I don’t instantly feel like I have a fever and need to spend the next day lying down in a dark silent room
After I got covid I had PEM (Post Exertional Malaise) for two years. Every time I pushed myself even a tiny bit, I would feel like I had the flu for 24-48 hours. It sucked. I had to take an anti inflammatory and H1 and H2 antihistamine either right before or within an hour of working out. That plus an anti-inflammatory the second day and I can exercise if I'm careful.
Unfortunately, this level is probably out of reach for me for a good long while if not forever. I'm happy with what I've got, though.
These people saying “you just need to exercise more” seriously need to experience chronic pain and crushing fatigue every damned day. Feels like a vice grip around my heart and body most days.
This may not be a solution for you. But I also get fatigued from working out - also insomnia. Particularly high intensity cardio. I take creatine on those days and it helps big time. Slow COMT genes can be responsible for that feeling after working out. Creatine helps process those neurotransmitters. Worth a try.
Actually, no. This is a common misconception and very harmful. For people with CFS/ME exercise can cause significant worsening of symptoms. I have a close friend with that condition and she has to very carefully budget which activities she devotes her limited energy to because too much exertion can cause a crash— and crashes don’t always resolve, sometimes the “crash” state becomes their new normal. She found that out the very hard way when she was given (and followed) advice similar to what you said from her doctor. Turns out her doc and many others know very little about treating patients with CFS/ME.
Clarification ~ is CFS/ME Chronic fatigue syndrome? What does ME stand for ? I believe you’re right about people’s misconceptions of what activities can cause worse problems:)
Thank you so much :) I’m not too educated about either of these, but something tells me those who do suffer, must have to go years before being properly diagnosed because in my head it’s more of a silent illness, which people looking at you would have no clue how bad you’re suffering.. 😔 Am I even close to thinking this way? Appreciate your time and patience 🫶🏼🙏🏻
So real😭 when I am consistently lifting, I require a solid 10 hours of sleep to not always be dragging. If I’m just generally active with no major exercise/not going to the gym, I only need 8.
Yeah, with thyroid issues, iron deficiency and asthma, I've been tired my whole life. At least I'm old enough now I don't hear "you're too young to be tired" anymore
I'm the same minus the asthma, but plus PCOS. The annoying thing is that exercise does help my energy levels and I feel like shit if I don't do some, but occasionally universe would align and it fucks me up for the next week or two. So I'm just playing a russian roulette every time because chronic illnesses fucking sucks like that.
Not necessarily. There are dozens of conditions which too much exercise can worse. Honestly, unless people are clinicians, they probably shouldn't comment on medical issues.
Everyone is different and needs to work with their providers on the best plan for them. Plus listening to their own bodies to avoid burn out.
In case this offers hope or actual help, I have had some success managing my chronic fatigue. It’s a boring answer but I extremely incrementally increased my exercise. I’m talking about 5 minutes on the elliptical, 3 minutes on the rowing machine starting out!!! I stopped when I needed to, took breaks. Any pain, I stopped those exercises and either researched or talked to providers about whether I could safely modify them.
The big caveat is I still require a lot more rest than most people. But I’m not over fatiguing myself with the increased exercise and my fitness and eating has significantly improved organically with some ups and downs but not giving up. This has been over 18 months as well. I did not want (and frankly would have struggled with probably) to lose too much too fast to prevent loose skin or accidental muscle loss. My main goal is feeling better and remaining hopeful being horizontal will become less of my life sooner than later 😂
I had this issue for like 4 months after COVID. It was horrible. The closest thing I have felt similar to long COVID was pregnancy, and I had a very rough one.
It then took like a year to fully go away, but those 4 months were a nightmare.
I am very lucky I recovered. My mother-in-law got sick in 2021 and has had long COVID since then. She is on disability because of it and hasn't been able to go back to the well-paid job that she loved... it fucked up her pension, as they calculated it based on the last years of your work.
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u/SatisfactionBitter37 Aug 18 '26
I want whatever is fueling this lady!!! I need 1/4 of this energy.