shutdowns/trusting ur body/how to cope?

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Just had a bad shutdown today where I was exhausting and sleeping for about 3 hours.

It's been a while since my last really bad shutdown and I had thought I was doing better.

Just feeling bummed about worried/anxious about the future. Every time I have a severe shutdown I almost feel like I'll get chronic fatigue and never be able to function well again.

How do you cope?

I know what you're describing: I go through times of being overwhelmed and then shutting down to where I'm just exhausted for hours or sometimes days. Having a fixed routine helps me get back on my feet. My job used to get me out of bed and into the work routine five days a week - there was just no thought about it - I had to get up and go and drive to work no matter how I felt. And I used to exercise regularly - I would not let myself talk myself out of doing it, even when I didn't feel up to the effort. The exercise routine helped. Now I'm unemployed, possibly retired or will get on disability, but I've done animal rescue with cats for about 40 years and each day I have to get up on time to feed them, give them their medicines, etc., and that forces me to get up and move. They will come and remind me it's time to eat if I take too long, lol. I seem to shut down when I'm overloaded physically or emotionally or when I'm stressed out. Getting moving and thinking about something like work or cats provides a breather from what's overwhelming me and after awhile I tend to start recharging.

All you can do is ride it out, in my opinion. It does pass. I just slept for 13 hours thanks to a similar situation. There doesn't seem to be anything to be done about stopping it, in my experience, so what else can you do but accommodate and be kind to yourself? Be mindful that this is something that happens for you, and make sure you get the downtime you need?