I feel exactly the same. No matter how much I sleep I stay tired. I just try to make sure I dont alter my sleep schedule and get as much rest as I can so i dont make it worse. So my guy usually ends up doing the housework awhile while I take hot showers to relax or lay in bed. Making sure you eat well helps too, cutting out junkfood or foods with alot of sugar. I read somewhere that an apple will give you more energy than a cup of coffee :-)

You are dealing with quite a lot. I hope you get a good sleep tonight and have a peaceful mind all day tomorrow. :)

Does your fatigue come and go? Mine is all the time. Chronic fatigue is one of the many symptoms of Endo. Pain also causes fatigue. I find with my chronic pain that I don't sleep as deeply either. I wake up often when my pain is bad too. Also, periods cause fatigue and heavy ones are worse.

Honestly, the only way I deal with it is to push myself all week till the Sabbath. Saturday is "me day". I rest and don't go anywhere. I'm often too tired to go to Sabbath services but I just pray at home.
If at all possible, try to make a day in the week for resting at home. I know that's not easy in this fast-paced world. I claim a religious reason, but we all here can also claim a Medical reason.

In regards to your period, be sure to get enough iron. Women naturally lose iron during periods and that can cause fatigue. Women with heavy periods lose even more iron.

If you're just recently off caffeine, fatigue is a part of the body's adjustment. I went through that when I was 13 and had to go off caffeine as I pretty much became addicted to it. Was not a pretty experience.

Also, a change in diet can cause a dip in energy level.
I hope this helped some.

Apples are high in fruit sugar. I currently can't have any apple or apple based items, like apple pectin in jams, due to all the sugar. You never miss a fruit till they say you can't eat it. :)

Thanks a lot for your responses :)

I feel like the big question I'm always asking myself is: Would I benefit more from pushing myself or would I benefit more from resting? It's a tough battle! I don't want to give up on things, because sometimes I think getting out and moving can be a good thing, but I also have a tendancy to push myself too far... It's like I'm incapable of realizing my actual limits :P

I have been trying to reduce my work schedule to allow me extra time to get school work done so I can sleep a little bit more on week nights, but it's still really rough, as there is never time for a complete day off :/ One of my professors spoke to me and actually offered me a day off from one of my 6 hour studio class because I "didn't look well," but there is no time for that! lol falling behind just stresses me out even more.

With the IC diet I can't eat a whole lot of junk, and by that I mean that all preservatives are OUT, so mostly everything is something more wholesome, and mostly organic, which I think is good. I just feel like there is no variety offered in this diet, and the safest foods are mostly bland starches, which kind of make me feel like sleeping lol. I'm pretty limited on fruit, which is definately irritating...

And to respond to Perserveres specifically: the fatigue is constant in flares. Sleeping is a pain because I can't through a night without waking up to pee -__- Also, that makes a lot of sense about the iron... Guess I will have to find myself a source of iron, because this period has been completely crazy.

iworry, I totally understand the fatigue! I am exhausted 24/7. Sometimes I fall asleep in the middle of a conversation with someone, and I can never sit and watch a show or read a book because I fall asleep in a second. I can't even drive anymore, it has become too much of a risk that I will fall asleep. I complained to my doctor about this problem and he actually prescribed a small dose of ritalin for me to keep me awake. It worked for like, two days, and then stopped working and now I'm back to being exhausted again. I don't get it. But I do get your frustration.
Rachel

I actually never made the connection until you just posted that. It seems like in between shots of lupron my fatigue gets worse then normal and my pain comes back a bit when the shot starts to wear off. It must be your bodies response to dealing with pain. I know it sucks to, you have so much to do to get thro the day and you can't because all you want to do is nap.