Always Tired

Post Reply New Topic

I started my first full time job about 2 months ago, and in the time since I'm finding myself getting more and more tired. Now I'm finding myself going into complete mental shutdown by 4pm, getting earlier all the time. Any free time that I do have is basically useless as I'm too tired to actually do anything...

I was like that and saw a sleep specialist who prescribed a small (half of the smallest whole tablet) dose of Mirapex to help with my sleep disturbances. Helped a lot.

I am 8 months into my first full time job too, I still feel like that.

I believe it also has something to do with sleep routine as well as energy levels.
Sometimes I feel extremely groggy in the morning, then have some kind of food, (full english breakfast for example)
and then I seem to have much energy. Not sure what that really means though.

Proper nutrition?

This thread prompted me to write the following post on my blog (I copied the post here in case I cannot link):

A recent discussion on the Wrong Planet Work and finding a job discussion forum has focused on people making the adjustment from unemployed to full time employment and the effect it has on their sleep.

Most people on the Spectrum experience some form of sleep disorder. In my own case the sleep specialist I saw likened my leg movements to walking a few miles every night which not only made me physically tired but woke me up frequently with the movements. An RLS medication helped a lot.

While un/under-employed ASD folk are able to catch up on their sleep so it is no wonder that a full time job work impact that flexibility in rest. But the problem goes deeper. Full time employment means longs stretches of the day where the person has to remain vigilant against meltdowns, social faux pas and stimming that was not done before.

How to deal with this?

While unemployed it is a good idea to spend some time in public each day simply keeping up appearances. Think of it as working out in preparation for a game. Also, once you do start working schedule times to relax your guard in private. I used to book meetings in rooms alone simply for the purpose of going in and letting my social act slip. I would say the stim words, pace and even have silent meltdowns. After a while my energy levels built up and slowly the tiredness went away.

Certainly the breaks impacted my performance at work in the short run but they were certainly more acceptable than falling asleep at my desk or having an extreme moment in the workplace.

I'm a bit embarassed to say this, but I had the same problem with a job and dealt with the sudden-onset fatigue in two different ways. One was to go to my car on my break and lie down and rest in the back seat. I set a timer to wake me up in ten minutes. This was a little embarassing when someone caught me doing it, but then we both laughed when she said she'd done the same thing in the past!

The second way was to just go to a one-person bathroom and lie down on the floor in complete darkness for a couple of minutes. It removed the light, the sound, and the presence of other people completely. I would do a few breathing/meditation exercises, then got up, turned on the light, flushed the toilet (!) and left.

I did find that I built up a tolerance to all the stimulation over time, but I also learned to NEVER plan evening activities on the days that I worked. Working 5 days a week didn't allow enough down time for me, so I first arranged to work four ten-hour days with Wednesdays off, so I had a recovery day in the middle of the week. Then I cut my hours down to thirty hours a week when I'd gotten some debts paid off, as the money wasn't as vital. That schedule worked VERY well for me.

My advice is, be creative and look for any way possible to "disappear" from the stimulating environment even briefly, and then make the most of those precious few minutes. Good luck!