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Too active during the day - Insomnia???

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
When I have a good day, I like to do a little bit more so I can survive when I feel awful.
Example:
I will make a spaghetti sauce or soups and put some in the freezer.
I will do more laundry.
I will help my daughter clean her room or I will dust mine.

However, each time i'm active during the day, I can't fall asleep at night.
I'm very tired - exhausted but wired (my brain and body won't rest).

Are you having this problem?
 
Messages
12
Yes, I have exactly that problem.

If I do any extra exercise during the day, my heart won't stop racing when I try to go to sleep. Then when I do get to sleep, I'll wake up early in the morning with high anxiety.

I think this is a classic instance of "post-exertional malaise". I will sometimes continue to feel the effects for about 48 hours after the exercise.
 

Lynne B

Senior Member
Messages
126
Location
sydney, australia
Sleeplessness as PEM

Thank you, Piedours, it never occurred to me that those sorts of sleep problems, which I also share, could be considered as post exertional malaise, but reading your post, I thought, of course!

I've long known that too much effort or too many diverse or intense moments in a day will produce a hopelessly wakeful night, (or even two) but never understood that this diabolical situation could be categorised in this way.

To prevent it happening I try to live a more measured life, constantly monitoring my cumulative efforts during the day and avoiding things like phone calls or anxiety-making tv programs at night.

During the day, I also consciously pace and switch. I try to alternate activity like housework or study with rest with my feet up and something easy to read, along with a glass of water or a cup of tea by my side.

Thanks again, both of you, for those insights.

Lynne B
 

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
I have this problem too..especially on the days that I work. I will come home exhausted and rest before dinner. By the time I get into bed my heart is pounding and my entire body feels as though I am plugged in.
It happens mostly to me if I have been in a social situation such as out with friends or holidays..even if the activity has been lunch it will still affect me into the night. I agree that it is PEM. For me it is a very uncomfortable feeling because I lay there exhausted but wired inside..sometimes I think my heart is beating really fast but it really isn't.
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
You are right. I do wake up early in the morning when this happens. It does not matter if I haven't slept enough the night before.
Last night, I was up until 2:30 and this morning wide awake at 7:00. It is often like that. I don't think I get the anxiety, though.
It might be happening at a subconscious level.

I thought PEM was 'crashing' after too much effort. This seems to be the opposite.

I am also very careful at pacing and making sure I rest between activities. Actually, I realize now that I tend to do this more when I have bad days. I guess, I am so excited that I can accomplish more during good days that I'm not as careful. I will have to work on this.
 
Messages
12
For me this symptom has been the defining component of my illness for the last 15 years.

I believe it is a consequence of reduced energy stores. Exceeding your stored energy capacity requires you to mobilise extra energy through adrenaline. Constantly doing this during the day leads to the "tired but wired" syndrome. The adrenaline system isn't designed to deal with chronic energy shortages, rather it is designed to mobilise energy for acutely dangerous situations. Relying on it to deal with a constant energy deficit leads to hypersensitivity of that system and the inability to turn it off when it is no longer needed.

At least, that's my theory.

Over time, my energy "envelope" fluctuates up and down. If I try to push through it on a regular basis I crash - which can take months to recover from and generally leads to a persistent reduction in that envelope in the future. So energy management is *very* important to me.

I think that healthy people have the same constraint, it's just that the boundary is way out there instead of close in. I see a lot of similarities between this problem and overtraining syndrome in athletes.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of ways of dealing with this problem other than through careful energy management. I've found Mg Sulfate cream one of the few things that can help though.
 

borko2100

Senior Member
Messages
160
I have this exact same thing and its awful. But still i am not sure is this really pem or could it be a something else ?