Soooooo tired! What can I do?

I am 24 days post op and just dragging all the time! I am so tired and am always on the verge of falling asleep. I have absolutely zero energy and have to stop to rest after any activity, even just taking a shower wipes me out. I have not started any vitamins or B12 yet - per my surgeon's plan, I should start those at the 1 month mark. I am meeting my water and protein goals daily and getting exercise by walking every day. I even drank some coffee this morning after being coffee free for the past 6 weeks or so. It did absolutely nothing! All I want to do is sit and nod off in the recliner. Any suggestions/thoughts/advice?

Good Morning, All start by saying I’ve never heard of waiting a month to start a multi vitamin, B12 and calcium. Those are very important. Sounds like you may be low on iron and possibly on other important vitamins. I recommend you see your primary care and have them check your CBC, chemistry panel, B12, copper, thyroid, seems like I’m forgetting another important vitamin. If your B12 is low I recommend having them give you a B12 shot. If any of those our low they can cause fatigue. Make sure you continue to get good protein source and good green veggies. Stay hydrated. Protein drinks are good to supplement between meals to get your recommended total. Your body has gone through major surgery and may take a little more time to get your energy up. However I think it’s a good possibility you have low vitamin levels working against you. If everything checks out don’t get discourage if your sleeping good at night and getting good exercise. Your energy will improve. I’d recommend increase your mileage and find some hills to walk up. Exercise and a good night sleep along with good diet and nutrition, proper vitamins and hydration will increase your energy level. Congratulations on your weightloss. Hope this helps. Hang in there:)

Wow Jess, I can't believe your Dr. hasn't gotten you on vitamins yet. My Dr. was super strict on everything, but I started my vitamins on week 2. I bet that's part of why you're feeling so weak. I think I've read where some Dr.'s do vitamin fusions in your IV post op. Are you on soft foods yet? That really opened up my options as far as types of foods/proteins I ate. Are you getting enough good carbs? I had the same extreme fatigue at about the same timeframe and I looked back and realized 1) I wasn't getting enough water and 2) I wasn't eating enough good carbs.

I was so focused on protein, I never felt like I had room for carbs, but you do need them for energy too. Hmmmm, I'm just bouncing thoughts around here. LOL

Regardless of what I did, do follow your doctor's advice, since he/she must know you better than I do :)

I was tired, but I'm also "old" as dirt. Then I had lots of energy after I found vitamins that worked for me, which took a while. And I was careful to not get crazy with caffeine least I have rebound.

However, at 20 months out, I'm tired and found out my parathyroid is off. There are a ton of reasons for tired, each as different as each of us. DON't diagnosis yourself. Be sure your doctor knows, and be sure you do you labs as required.

Taking any supplements without your doctor being aware is a risky decision for lots of reasons... I thought my tiredness was possible low B vitamins or possibly iron. I knew thyroid was a thing, because I take synthroid forever. Parathyroid causes a lot of havoc (non life threatening) and my calcium is low. But until the endocrinologist and cardiac docs weigh in as well, I'm not taking jack. Or supplements, lol.

Hi Jess,

The above are great suggestions based on our individual experiences. A lot of them are standard, though some of us have different needs.

PLEASE get checked by your primary and/or surgeon...They’re the experts on you and your medical needs.

Sending All Good Thoughts and Prayers ;-)

I did vitamin injections. For the first 6 months. It helped a lot

Sounds like I need to get my labs checked. My surgeon seemed to imply that my body had enough vitamins in reserve to hold me over for the first month. It sure doesn't feel that way! Also, I don't think I'm getting enough good carbs, I'm going to add in some greens as I really love spinach and broccoli (super-soft, fork mashable of course!). Thanks for all of the very helpful posts!

Take lots of naps!! If you're getting in your required liquid and protein, I would talk to your doctor. Maybe hold off on the exercise until you feel more like yourself? Or it could be lack of vitamins, but that would be a doctor question.

Your Welcome Jess

Just be careful with brocoli, those are hard to digest just after surgery (like all cruciferous veggies) it took me a while to be able to eat cauliflower or even bell pepper.

Regarding the vitamins, I had my first blood test at one month post op, but my surgeon made me take liquid vitamins as soon as I could keep liquids down (day four) since I'm prone to deficiencies for ever.

I know that iron and B12 deficiencies are really directly linked to fatigue, as soon as my level decrease I feel bad or get infections.
Iron absorption is higher if taken with vitamin C, and both taken on an empty stomach.
B12 sublingual works better than tablets.

I felt yaky for like six weeks post-op, mainly because I was not able to drink enough (strong nausea) and was at that time living in a tropical climate.

But I think feeling weird for one month is common with abdomen surgery, my surgery in March was done coelioscopicly and it took me four/five weeks to feel almost kind of back to normal.
If you need to sleep, just sleep...and don't worry!! eating enough protein is a big deal, took me 3 months to get there, so you might feel better really soon!

Take care!

Jess... I had the worst tiredness for at least 6 weeks... I was soooooo fatigued! Worth a check in with the doc but it may be reassuring for you to know that for me it passed. Now I'm 19 months out I find that my nutrition really has to be on point or I feel completely fatigued. Smoothies are my thang (but they may not be for everyone) Every day I make a smoothie with ... avocado, banana, frozen mango, blackberries, blueberries, flaxseed, super greens and vitamin d, pea protein and whatever else may be around. It really is the thing that keeps me going. I also take a heap of vitamins. I did start my vitamins right after the surgery but ask your doc about that.
It really is the best time to nap and rest and be gorgeous to yourself. You just had major surgery!!! :-)