Fatigue And Muscle Weakness

[DucksnPucks]

Morning y'all!

Battling fatigue and muscle weakness this morning. It's been coming and going over the past couple weeks. I've been gluten-free for over a month, and I know its still early, but it feels like I wax and wane a bit. Some days I can make it through to the end of the day before I get wore out, other days like today I'm exhausted right out of bed. The good news is that the headaches, brain fog and light headedness have all disappeared. I'm doing very well watching what I eat, just trying to learn how to cope with the fatigue which seams to be the worst symptom.

Anyone else feel like no matter how many hours of sleep you get enough, you never feel rested when you wake up? Or just feel off?

Also (tell me if I'm sharing too much) my bowel movements seem to be much more normal. No more pebbles, "C" or floaters. Is this a good sign?

Have a great day everyone!

[Celiac Mindwarp]

BMs welcome here!

Sounds great if they are more normal, seems to happen for quite a few of us.

Tiredness along with insomnia are the slowest to improve for me.

I am 3 months gluten-free now and definitely was up and down to start. A few weeks in I felt better than I had for maybe 7 years. Maybe 80%. I got glutened and dropped from that, but I would say I regularly am at 60% now with regular higher peaks. I used to be about 40 to 50%.

I don't get all over muscle problems, but I have had huge improvement to hand arm neck and back pain and plantar fasciitis (foot pain under heel).

I wasn't sure if it was real until I got glutened and the foot pain came back.

I don't know if it would be helpful for you, but I wrote out a list of symptoms I used to have, and then every few weeks I go back and revisit. I have found it useful to see the progress, especially if I am a bit down.

I have also added to my original list as I find symptoms I didn't even realize weren't normal and remembered things from the last 20 odd years and that people have mentioned here.

I gave these lists to my GI and he found it very helpful in giving me a diagnosis of NCGI cannot rule out celiac (I was unable to complete a gluten challenge).

Your enthusiasm comes through, it is great to see you have improvements

[Chiana]

You're getting there! It took me probably 4-5 months for the excessive sleeping to stop. I was sleeping excessively before (12-14 hours a night), so for me it felt like it would never end.

I can now set my watch to my BMs. I have found I am more regular than non-celiacs, and have fewer digestive issues than non-celiacs, as long as I avoid the gluten. Hopefully, you'll get there, too.

[DucksnPucks]

Great idea on the lists, I've often thought about doing that as well.

I find that as the day goes on the fatigue tends to go away a bit and I feel a little better, especially after I eat. But usually by the late afternoon I'm so tired that I can barely walk. Then i get a small second wind later at night.

Question for everyone, does getting more than 8 hours of sleep help any?

BMs welcome here!

Sounds great if they are more normal, seems to happen for quite a few of us.

Tiredness along with insomnia are the slowest to improve for me.

I am 3 months gluten-free now and definitely was up and down to start. A few weeks in I felt better than I had for maybe 7 years. Maybe 80%. I got glutened and dropped from that, but I would say I regularly am at 60% now with regular higher peaks. I used to be about 40 to 50%.

I don't get all over muscle problems, but I have had huge improvement to hand arm neck and back pain and plantar fasciitis (foot pain under heel).

I wasn't sure if it was real until I got glutened and the foot pain came back.

I don't know if it would be helpful for you, but I wrote out a list of symptoms I used to have, and then every few weeks I go back and revisit. I have found it useful to see the progress, especially if I am a bit down.

I have also added to my original list as I find symptoms I didn't even realize weren't normal and remembered things from the last 20 odd years and that people have mentioned here.

I gave these lists to my GI and he found it very helpful in giving me a diagnosis of NCGI cannot rule out celiac (I was unable to complete a gluten challenge).

Your enthusiasm comes through, it is great to see you have improvements

[1desperateladysaved]

Are you taking some B vitamins, or have you found you are deficient in anything? My fatigue improves by better nutrition. I haven't ever tried sleeping for as long as my body wanted ,, because I perceive I would still feel the fatigue if it was there. I also have responsibilities to perform as most of us do. The fatigue goes away and comes back spontaneously, so I don't think that more sleep would solve it.

I hope you will find a way to improve your energy level.

Diana

[RiceGuy]

I second the nutritional supplements. Besides the B vitamins, I'd suggest magnesium, and a separate methylcobalamin B12 sublingual tablet. These have made a world of difference for me. I've heard good things about CoQ10, and its importance in energy production, so I'm thinking of trying that too.