Having crashes again :(

[Jemima37]

Hi I’ve not posted on the board for awhile. My crashes got a lot better over the last 18 months. I have the odd crash day but nothing too serious. I still have my baseline fatigue every day which is not great but the crashes were quite rare.

Last month about 5 days before my period I started with a really severe crash that lasted 9 days. I have not had a crash that bad in about 2 to 3 years. I hoped it was just a one off and nothing to do with my cycle but again I’ve crashed around the same time of the month in the week leading up to my period. I came off the contraceptive pill in August but I didn’t have this the first couple of months of it so maybe it’s not related at all.

Again it’s another really nasty crash. I’m on day 5 now of my crash and I haven’t stopped crying. Usually when I crash these days it’s a day or 2 then I bounceback but these crashes are quite nasty. Can anyone reassure me that it just sounds like a crash. I’ve got really intense fight or flight in these crashes, which today is a little better but for a few days was really high and I just kept having bad anxiety and panic. Really bad nausea and bubbling tummy so I’ve not been eating much at all, so that doesn’t help. I’m also feeling like I’m weak all over, feeling woozy headed and struggling to just walk from my bed to the bathroom without feeling so yuk. When I’m stood up doing my teeth by the sink I just feel like so drained and I get anxious walking around. I just generally feel nauseous and incredibly weak. My eyes arent the best either I can’t seem to watch much TV or anything. Usually my crashes are weakness, woozy head and fatigue but I bounceback really quick, I think this is scaring me because it feels so intense and lasting so long.

I had a meltdown last night and cried my eyes out to my husband because I was terrified it was something more sinister and he had to remind me that I used to get crashes this bad and it doesn’t mean there’s anything sinister going on. I think when you’ve not had crashes this severe and for this length of time it’s really frightening. I’ve been frightening myself there is something else and it’s not a crash. My husband said my temperature is fine, my blood pressure is fine my heart rate is normal, it’s just a really bad crash. I just can’t pinpoint what could’ve caused it.

I have had a very stressful year with 3 teenagers and lockdowns in the United Kingdom. It’s been really stressful and scary, and I have had a lot of conflict between me and my eldest son who has been quite angry about lockdowns and I’ve taken the brunt of it. Usually I’m fine and I’ll feel terrible mentally from all the stress but I don’t usually crash this bad. I haven’t been over doing it physically as such just my normal little jobs each day that I wouldn’t normally crash doing but suddenly I can’t do anything. I just can’t pinpoint anything that could’ve triggered such really bad crashes in the space of 4 to 5 weeks. I was fine last week, able to pop downstairs, do little jobs again after recovering from the crash in November.

My friend suggested it could be my period possibly. Even though I’m not due on until the end of this week she said possibly the crashes are coming on the build up to the period but I don’t see why my cycle would trigger a crash.

I’ve also made contact with my friend again who I lost touch with for 3 years. We are incredibly close again and I’m really happy about it but maybe its a lot of emotion since we made contact at the end of October has flooded my body with a lot of adrenaline. We didn’t end on the best terms 3 years ago and I was heartbroken so maybe it’s just been a lot of strong emotion having her back in my life, which I’m really glad of but maybe it’s impacting my body a little. It has been a lot of emotion.

I just needed to get this out because I’ve been crying non-stop in this crash and scaring myself that it’s not going to lift. My husband keeps saying 5 days isn’t that long, but I just keep panicking that it’s something else and that it’s not going to lift. When it started on Friday it was about an 8 out of 10 in severity, on the Saturday I felt much better and it was a 6.5. I did then push myself doing a few jobs around the house, nothing too much. To then crash severely on Sunday and it was a 10 out of 10 Sunday and Monday. Today I say it’s about an 8.5/9. Just tiny improvements.

I’m just so worried because I never crash like this and I’m really worrying myself. it’s only 10 days to Christmas and as you all know I haven’t had the best Christmases the last couple of years because I’ve been on my bed resting and I’ve beat myself up so much that I’m going to let my children down. To then be struck by crashes like this again in the last 4 weeks it’s just not what I needed so close to Christmas and I’m even more anxious now and dreading Christmas because I’m having crashes that I haven’t had for like 2 to 3 years.

I hope you’re all doing better than I am and staying safe. Sorry this got so long.

Jem

 

[dave11]

Really bad nausea and bubbling tummy so I’ve not been eating much at all, so that doesn’t help.

I felt alright when I got up this morning. Alright by my low standards. Then an hour or so later I was feeling totally drained with zero energy in my muscles. I took magnesium carbonate with a couple grams of vitamin C, ate some protein, and my energy came back. (Magnesium carbonate should be mixed with vitamin C in a glass of water. They should not be swallowed together as pills because the fizzing, carbon dioxide release, and chemical reaction would happen in the stomach.)

What makes me better is sometimes a few sugar cubes, or sugar and salt together, or magnesium, or potassium, or vitamin C, or alpha lipoic acid, or as a last resort an H1 blocker for MCAS. Not able to tell in advance which one will work each time, but usually one of them will be of benefit.


It is very easy for a person with low food intake or illness to become unbalanced in electrolytes, or to have hypoglycemia, especially before eating, and feel totally miserable from it.

Some supplements reduce our blood sugar level, and are responsible for the deficiency. It might be as simple as meeting sugar and /or electrolyte requirements to get an improvement. Generally, I feel better in about 5 minutes when my problem is low electrolytes or sugar. This happens to me several times a week.

 

[Jemima37]

I felt alright when I got up this morning. Alright by my low standards. Then an hour or so later I was feeling totally drained with zero energy in my muscles. I took magnesium carbonate with a couple grams of vitamin C, ate some protein, and my energy came back. (Magnesium carbonate should be mixed with vitamin C in a glass of water. They should not be swallowed together as pills because the fizzing, carbon dioxide release, and chemical reaction would happen in the stomach.)

What makes me better is sometimes a few sugar cubes, or sugar and salt together, or magnesium, or potassium, or vitamin C, or alpha lipoic acid, or as a last resort an H1 blocker for MCAS. Not able to tell in advance which one will work each time, but usually one of them will be of benefit.


It is very easy for a person with low food intake or illness to become unbalanced in electrolytes, or to have hypoglycemia, especially before eating, and feel totally miserable from it.

Some supplements reduce our blood sugar level, and are responsible for the deficiency. It might be as simple as meeting sugar and /or electrolyte requirements to get an improvement. Generally, I feel better in about 5 minutes when my problem is low electrolytes or sugar. This happens to me several times a week.

Thank you. That is my worry I keep panicking in case my sodium or potassium are low. But I’ve been making sure I eat bananas twice a day, and even though I’m only grazing on plain foods like a jacket potato or some oven chips I put plenty plenty of salt on them. So hopefully that’s helping. I’m also having a bit of cheese in my potato for a bit of protein.

 

[dave11]

I keep panicking in case my sodium or potassium are low. But I’ve been making sure I eat bananas twice a day, and even though I’m only grazing on plain foods like a jacket potato or some oven chips I put plenty plenty of salt on them.

I often eat a small breakfast, a small lunch, and a full dinner. Sometimes a banana too. If I was still healthy, my current food intake would be ample.

While my body has plenty of salt, sugar, protein, and minerals from dinner, it does not always hold on to it over the night and into the morning.

It is only a possibility I am suggesting. We are all different in our metabolism, and most people are probably much better at maintaining a steady electrolyte and sugar balance than me.

I hope everything works out well for you, and soon.

 

[Rebeccare]

It's so good to see you @Jemima37 ! I'm sorry that you've been crashing so hard. I find that I also have really really bad crashes around my period. They don't go on for quite as long as yours, but they certainly feel endless! It might make sense to try to keep a diary of your energy level as well as your menstrual cycle--that could make any connection clearer to see (the You + ME app is actually really helpful for this).

But it sounds like, even with these crashes, you are in better shape physically than you were the last time I saw you! I'm glad that you've seen some improvements over the past year!

With all that's going on in the world on top of your medical issues and the normal anxiety, it's no wonder your anxiety feels so big right now. I hope that writing about your worries helped a little bit, and hopefully you'll get helpful information and reassurance from everyone here. I want to give you a big hug over the internet

 

[xebex]

Sorry to hear you’re having Such a rough time right now, it sounds awful!

I also crash with the fluctuation in hormones. Pretty much without fail I’ll crash 2 days before my period comes on. It’s hard to know if it’s the rise or the drop in hormones but when looking at a chart it seems I feel my worst around the 26day mark so when progesterone is dropping hard. And then I start to pick up when the estrogen rises. I haven’t really looked into which hormone is most likely responsible though. I’m seeing an internist on Friday so we’ll see what she says.

 

[Jemima37]

It's so good to see you @Jemima37 ! I'm sorry that you've been crashing so hard. I find that I also have really really bad crashes around my period. They don't go on for quite as long as yours, but they certainly feel endless! It might make sense to try to keep a diary of your energy level as well as your menstrual cycle--that could make any connection clearer to see (the You + ME app is actually really helpful for this).

But it sounds like, even with these crashes, you are in better shape physically than you were the last time I saw you! I'm glad that you've seen some improvements over the past year!

With all that's going on in the world on top of your medical issues and the normal anxiety, it's no wonder your anxiety feels so big right now. I hope that writing about your worries helped a little bit, and hopefully you'll get helpful information and reassurance from everyone here. I want to give you a big hug over the internet

Thank you so much Rebecca that hug is really appreciated.

I’m on day six of my crash and today I’ve had really sensitive eyes I’ve had to lie in a dark room and I’ve had multiple panic attacks because my eyes have just felt like they got a lot of adrenaline in them. I felt really dizzy and weak and worried I’m never gonna come out of this crash. My husband thinks anxiety is a big part of it because my period is due tomorrow. Like you say I wonder if the week befor my period when women get PMS is causing a crash. I hope that doesn’t mean anything bad is wrong with me to be doing that. It is very strange how the week before my period I keep crashing the last two months.

Thank you for your kind reply I’ve been so worried and anxious in this crash, I’ve felt so alone.

 

[Jemima37]

Sorry to hear you’re having Such a rough time right now, it sounds awful!

I also crash with the fluctuation in hormones. Pretty much without fail I’ll crash 2 days before my period comes on. It’s hard to know if it’s the rise or the drop in hormones but when looking at a chart it seems I feel my worst around the 26day mark so when progesterone is dropping hard. And then I start to pick up when the estrogen rises. I haven’t really looked into which hormone is most likely responsible though. I’m seeing an internist on Friday so we’ll see what she says.

That is interesting. My friend suggested it could be something to do with my cycle because last month it started on the Sunday and then my period came on Thursday. This time it started on the Friday slightly but then on the Saturday I picked up I felt a bit better, then since Sunday I’ve been crashed again really bad and I’m due on my period tomorrow so it is strange I’m crashing at a similar time before my period. Tomorrow is day 29 for me.

I really don’t want to have to face this every single month. The first two months of my pill I didn’t have this the last two periods I have crashed now. Also once I started my period last month my crash did start to lift slowly.

I’d be interested to hear how your appointment goes. Best of luck with it.

 

[xebex]

Sounds very similar to me, I’ll report back here if I get anything from the internist.

 

[Jemima37]

Day 12 and still crashed. So anxious and worried. Longest crash in a very very long time. Maybe 2 years or more. So close to Christmas and I’m just resting in a dark room. Feeling dizzy, weak and nauseous. Haven’t stopped crying with fear. It’s still about a 9 out of 10. I have the occasional day it drops to a 7/8 but soon as I shower or wash my hair it shoots straight back up and today I washed my hair and wham severe crash again. I’ve very naturally greasy hair so can’t leave it more than 2-3 days.

I’m terrified of how I’m going to get through Christmas like this. But most of all I’m scared something is going on, why have I crashed so bad again. I’m just so scared of how poorly I feel. When I walk around I feel drained. I feel nauseous and just generally yuck. I haven’t got the same baseline energy I normally have and haven’t now for over 12 days. I’m eating but small amounts because I just constantly feel nauseous. Hopefully this will pass soon and I know I crying, and adding panic and anxiety anxiety is just making it worse.

I just needed to let this fear out of my head. It’s triggered anxiety, panic and depression this crash which I’ve not had for a while. What an awful Christmas will be for me, I find Christmas hard enough since having CFS at my baseline but this is going to make Christmas much harder. I feel the worst mum and wife Why did this have to happen. Sorry I’m so negative.
Love to you all x

 

[xebex]

Unfortunately I didn’t even get round to discussing hormones with my internist however looking on the ME + spinal issues Facebook group and the CSF leak groups lots of people have worsening symptoms with hormonal fluctuation, I do believe I have some kind of collagen issue that’s worse just before my period. I really dont understand it more than that though.

 

[Jemima37]

Unfortunately I didn’t even get round to discussing hormones with my internist however looking on the ME + spinal issues Facebook group and the CSF leak groups lots of people have worsening symptoms with hormonal fluctuation, I do believe I have some kind of collagen issue that’s worse just before my period. I really dont understand it more than that though.

Thank you for updating