I can relate. Maybe it's the teaching thing, though, and not the PTSD. I think maybe the profession attracts our types. It's a rush to be in front of the class all week and then, WHAM! Crash from the lack of adrenaline.

I also get mopey Sunday afternoons, knowing that my rest is almost done and I have to muster up the strength to do it all over again for another week.

Sounds like sleeping Saturdays is a good survival strategy for you. Don't feel bad about it, you're not hurting anyone. PTSD wears me out too and I don't even work. Well done you.

It was explained to me that when we are under stress, our insides are basically working as if we are running a marathon. With PTSD, day in and day out we can literally be running a constant marathon. Thus the exhaustion.
I have chronic pain on top of that and it's a double whammy since constant pain has the same effect. That why I do my best to keep my mind honed and sharp or I could find myself literally swinging from a rope.
With you only having 40% kidney function, that too is a double whammy. The toxins that would normally be flushed out by normal functioning kidneys have to wait their turn. That in itself will further were you down. Even when your calm, at peace your kidneys are still running that marathon, day in and day out, they have to.
Soo sorry to hear you lost your love, I've known soo many that had this happen with PTSD and chronic pain.
I hear that "lazy" often myself. A lawyer I hired after a car accident in 2000 said around 95% of his chronic pain clients are divorced after 5 years. Well 14 years after that my wife and I are still together, but that holding on by some pretty thin threads, so it still could go either way for me, for us.
Us natives have a simple saying, sleep when your tired.I think that's good thing that you can get somewhat caught up on sleep on the weekend, many never do. Almost like a "gift" in disguise.
55, I'd love to see you around at least another 50!(provided you're not suffering). This world certainly needs many more like You!! So stay well rested, you have more years of "inspiring" to do!! :)

yes, i find it extremely exhausting when i get symptomatic. mind, body, and soul.

(((BIG hug))) you deal with a lot muj. i'm sorry things are so difficult.

Oh definitely. I have always had insomnia and run myself ragged all week, but there has always been one day that I burn out and need to recharge. Even now after I stopped working I need that day now even more.
I have noticed here on DS that most of us suffer from what you describe but never put 2 and 2 together.

Oh and the lazy BS comment. Us with ptsd push ourselves harder and without that one day would be dead burnt out. So stick with what you know not with what others think they know. Look at what God made in such a short time. He is all powerful and still he took a day.

I don't have an economic motive for working these days, but I found an empty life even more exhausting than running a business and raising a family. Theoretically, I have the freedom and resources to make every day perfect, but...

Fatigue seems to be a PTSD symptom, no matter what the daily stress load.

Thanks, everybody. Because of the breakup in 2011 over it, I didn't want to talk about it until now. Glad you either do the same or feel it's ok to sleep all day Saturdays. In my youthful days I played tennis and rode my bike all day Saturday, and then went dancing Saturday night.

Those were the days. Not any more. But this hibernating on Saturdays now works for me. It's not sociable, but I just need to rest hard one day at week. Like Deli says, we teachers are in front of people all week, so I know what she means about the anticipation Sunday nights, too. And like Walkingbuff pointed out, what's going on on the outside and what's physically going on on the inside are separate. Inside I'm running a marathon and need to rest up. That's how it feels.

About getting dumped for being "lazy," that was embarrassing to me, but it seems it's not unprecedented in relationships when a partner in a relationship has PTSD. Congrats on 14 years together for you, Walkingbuff!!!

Thanks, Mojo. I do deal with a lot, but not what I hear you and arfie and 51% and others do, so I really appreciate your time and helpful support about this. It's not like I'm in pain, it's just being tired, so I was shy about bringing it up and the "lazy" thing.

But I feel ok about it now, with your support about it the way it is. That's another little PTSD secret put to rest, and I thank you all!

LP- hmmm.... that's interesting about the good stress thing.

Maybe that's why I enjoyed my natural childbirth so much- since I dealt with so much stress, I could tolerate labor better???

Muji- it sounds to me like your ex GF was the "lazy" one for not learning how to better handle your situation. You seem like such a quality individual. Too bad for her she bailed instead of doing the work.

My psychiatrist says it is. I trust him. He says it's normal. I get that way, a lot. I neve rused to nap. Now? Every day. Not my meds, either. I just gotta crash physically or else.... So it ain't lazy, it's SELFCARE. Have a good sleep!

Muji, I admire you for working all week full time. to me, it's perfectly natural that you'd have one day in the week to rest up. I work part time- because of the fatigue thing. I seem to need lots of down time as well as sleep in my life. I don't think it's just the meds< I think it's because I went through too much stress for too long earlier in my life.
I'm sorry what happened with your girlfriend. She was wrong!

It's good to read that I'm not the only one who has this same problem... I get overstimulated so easy, it's like my nervous system is on high alert ALL the time! I liked the marathon analogy... very true for me too... the fatigue is always there but I just don't usually pay attention to it... I guess I'm afraid that if I give in to it I won't be able to get up.

Many years ago if didn't rest often enough (my hyper alert self would just keep going and going and going like the Eveready bunny without stopping... which I know now is from anxiety, fear and PTSD) I would crash and be almost catatonic. Now I know it because I was so fatigued and my body just needed the down time.

I still overdo it with staying too active (kind of like I'm always running away from who knows what?) but am more aware of the fatigue now and make more time to rest on a regular basis instead of waiting for my body to crash. I work full-time but have begun to take one day a week off for just ME... just to rest. I often cannot hardly even move for as much as half a day or even a whole day, I'm just SO tired.

I'm sorry your fianc didn't get it... we all need someone who is understanding and excepting of whatever we are going through.

Yes! as the week goes on it takes so much more muscle to hold the masks in place. I went to classes lugging what I needed and forgot my water and hat! Needless to say that has had an effect. I am still in recovery. Experiment over, three hats in the car at all times!

Yes, and I can relate very much so. My fatigue and R.E.M. sleep was so messed up from the trauma and depression associated with it that I was officially diagnosed with sleep narcolepsy, but my narcolepsy is not a typical narcolepsy. IT does get worse when I go to work though and it gets worse with stress.

Think about it like this maybe? PSTD is emotionally exhausting to deal with. Were spending allot of time shoving down memories that cause the PTSD to get triggered and many of us are still avoiding triggers which takes allot of planning and control also.

The depression that can come with PTSD also causes fatigue.

I would give yourself credit, and lots of it if you are working full time and just resting up on Saturdays. I'd say that is what it means to care for yourself. Even people without PTSD get exhausted from work.

Also, another thing I learned is that, when we have too much on our plate we can have a crisis (overwhelmed and having what we call a nervous breakdown). We might get through that, but sometimes our level of previous functioning can go down after words. This happened to me because I did not get enough support and counseling. Then it caused more fatigue.

Also, sometimes sleep was just my escape plain and simple.

I'm so sorry your Ex called you lazy and left after all your plans together. Maybe there is someone who has a little more empathy waiting for you in the future. MY ex had no understanding of PTSD either and actually used it against me when he was mad at me, like I was crazy or something.

Anyway, when I get triggered, fatigue is absolutely a symptom. When I am doing well and surrounding myself with good people, I don't get so much fatigue. I have to set my life up, so that I look forward to getting up in the morning and spending time with the people, or doing things that I am supposed to be doing.

I think that the "lazy" comment was probably the best thing to happen to you in a long time. For it revealed a side of your fiance that would have caused more undesirable stress than need. So much for supporting you right? My wife put up with me for 18 yrs. It was hellish for I didn't know that I had PTSD. Now that she knows, she has taken the time to learn about PTSD and how to avoid triggers and offer support. Not all spouses can be so understanding. I liken it to having a woman explain the degree of pain experienced during child birth. Since I am a man, I will never fully appreciate the levels of pain experienced. No matter how often I try to explain my pain to my wife she will never fully appreciate it.

I suggest that you set up a routine that you can follow on a daily basis leaving room for flexibility when you can. This will help some with your fatigue.