Absolutely Exhausted

Another thing that I would recommend, which boosts energy levels, is L-theanine! It's a nootropic that boosts concentration and motivation. It works especially well with coffee.

Pikl I just want to add I can empathise with this and quite often feel the same. I can have a good night's sleep but rarely wake up refreshed.

For me I think it's daily interactions with people at work alongside my actual work tasks, the "shifting of the gears" in my working day but also every day life. There are days when I can just be exhausted.  Quite often it feels like by Monday I'm spent and the rest of week is running on reserves. It was really bad a few years ago and I got signed off work and now I just do 4 days a week. That was before I knew I had GAD and AS. 

How you feel is not normal. Check with your GP for any physical stuff but otherwise you need to look at what you can change in your daily life. Have had any big things going on in your life you maybe haven't fully processed? Make sure you get enough rest at the weekend.  Sometimes I have a nap after work. I usually feel worse after but it helps me sleep better at night. I think for autistic people, we use our brain differently and so it often has to work harder (I'm thinking social interaction and shifting of gears...) which can contribute to the tiredness.  

I was, then I kept forgetting to take them.

We will help each other

You're welcome I have some of the same problems too, talking to someone who has the same issues about solutions to those issues seems to help me find ways to help so hopefully it works for you too :)

Thank you O, you really are a superstar! I am starting to think it is work related, I go all out for my job, it's really important to me. I also should be healthier and plan better. Although the last therapist told me to stop planning as I get really really involved in it. Completely overplanning everything. Everyone has given such wonderful advice. I need to be healthier, speak to GP, listen to my emotions and plan things better. 

Thank you for taking the time to help.

Tina

I use an app called tiimo its just a daily planner app but its really good for customising how you plan you're days out and how long things take, I highly recommend it its great for me because I need to remind my self when to eat because I don't feel hunger unless I'm really really starving which I found out recently was an autistic thing I don't really know why I didn't know that already but that's besides the point.

It's really great and its like £20 a year so not expensive either especially for how great it is might be good for you but iff you have a good way of planning your days out already just have a look at how you do thing and maybe switch things around or space things out more to help with your energy like I said before, and seeing what you've said so far I think it could be something within your working days so look at what differs from your working days to your Sundays like someone said already 

Do you take supplements?

Thank you so much! I've learnt something new and that's always really exciting. I do need to listen to myself and emotions, it's not something I do and that does need to change. Thank you!

I do take vitamins, though just like the healthy eating and exercise, I'm good for a time and then just stop. Maybe because I dontcsee a difference in how I feel. Though that's not an excuse to not look after myself. Perhaps I really should create myself a sort of care plan. Work is noisy, bright, active, and a little crazy. I do my own planning and am left to do as I please. Which generally means I put in as much as I can. J know that weekends and holidays I do feel so much better.

Pikl,

As many people have said, it can be many things. My first piece of advice would be record what's different about your Sundays.

My next piece of advice is don't fight your feelings, the more you fight them the more powerful they become, instead, listen to your feelings.

Science now shows there's approximately 200million neurons in our nervous system that they're describing it like a second brain. Just like your physical senses are telling you things, your feelings and emotions are trying to tell you something. So on Sundays record with more detail how you feel and what's making you feel that way, then compare it to the rest of the week and see if you can see any patterns.

If you spot any patterns, they may pinpoint the cause or at least point you towards the cause. Once you find the cause you'll have a better chance at finding the solution.

I'm the same I'm not good at generally maintaining myself either but when I get myself to do things like exercise and eat well my energy levels increase so I think that could apply to other people, you could take multivitamins to supplement your self I've never taken them but I've only ever read pretty positive things about them when you take them regularly with a fairly balanced diet.

It might be worth just thinking about your work routine and tasks more and seeing if they might affect your burnout and if they do maybe try re-ordering them as best you can to help maintain your energy.

Thank you Loz, I gave had them done though not recently. I will speak to my GP again though. 

Hi violetdr3amer, I have no energy to food prep, it would be wonderful, although we all eat different things in my house. And my husband is really fussy, just to complicate things. My sister lives with us and she does so much to help out, including cooking. I really have no excuse to feel so exhausted, yet I permenently am. I did have bloods done awhile back, perhaps 2 years, all was good.

I agree with O. Best see the doctor for some blood tests to rule out anything physical. I can't absorb iron properly so when I went vegan, it absolutely tanked. You may also have low B12. Either of those are easy fixes. Once you get the physical sorted, it's so much easier to focus on the mental stuff.

Maybe it would be worth getting a blood test to check for deficiencies? I can understand that a good diet can be hard to maintain when you're busy, but do you meal prep? When I used to work, I'd meal prep twice a week and put the food in Tupperware boxes so I didn't have to cook every day.

Thanks O, I really do need to start eating healthy again, and I know I should exercise too. I go through periods of exercising everyday and then just stop, starting again a few months later. My day at work is quite active, thinking, reacting, planning. I hope it isn't work, yet thinking about it, it could be.

Might be worth speaking to your doctor if it's been going on for while, if its autistic burnout related maybe you need spread out you daily tasks/activities more. I don't know how busy you are as a person.

maybe improving your diet might be a step in the right direction to help get you thinking clearer so you think of solutions.

Exercise is good too helps with your circulation which in turn helps with energy level doesn't need to be a lot either, some press ups, sit-ups and squats 

Hi O, thank you for replying. I really love my job, it's pretty much all I think about. Everything else in my life is the same, except my diet which has gone from good to bad and then bad, though when it was good I was still so very tired. I've been like this a long time, I just feel it's either getting worse, or I'm becoming more frustrated with feeling this way.

It's hard to tell it could be many things, are you not enjoying your job?

Something personal happening in your life that's burning you out or causing higher than normal anxiety? 

maybe something physical like anaemia? or bad diet?