Lately, I feel like I've been running on energy that I don't have.
When I was growing up, I could run on four hours of sleep or less, and I prided myself on being able to pull all-nighters and actually looking alive the next day. I almost never took naps, even during my undergrad, and was always fine.
Of course, I'd be sleepy during boring classes, or even in interesting classes but with horrible interpreters. Sometimes I was sick and just couldn't stay awake. Memorably, during my first quarter of my first year at RIT, I came down with a nasty case of the flu. I'm still not sure if it was the normal flu or the swine flu, but I was out for a week or so. I still dragged myself to meetings and critiques (because I made the decision to major in photography without realizing just how much I hated it) and slept the rest of the time.
Since then, I would usually get sick during the fall months. Usually nothing more than a nasty cold or cough that would go away after a couple of weeks.
Compared to me, my boyfriend is actually the sickly one.
However, I feel like that's not true for this semester. I started feeling a little off before my trip to Washington, D.C. and it has continued until now. I flew off to DC on September 13th. That was exactly four months ago.
I shouldn't have to spend a third of a year feeling like crap. It's nothing major, but I have constant headaches and muscle aches. Sometimes I feel like I'm running a low-grade fever. Frequently, my throat hurts no matter how much water I drink. I constantly have a stuffy nose.
The biggest thing? Whenever I'm not in class, working, spending time with my horse, or in meetings? I'm asleep.
Let me reiterate. I do not take naps. I had the ability to run on very little sleep and be perfectly fine.
However, now? It's a struggle to get up in the mornings. Last night, I went to sleep around midnight, and got up at 9:30 to hold Ringo for the farrier. Afterwards, I came home (about 11:30) and slept until 5. I feel like a robot, and I know that my cognitive processes are not in tip-top shape. I don't remember conversations I have with people (apparently, I had a conversation with my boyfriend the other day, and he told me afterwards that we had had the exact same conversation not even three weeks earlier). I thought this break would help revitalize and reenergize me. However, in the two weeks that I've been home after visiting family in New York, I have spent approximately 90% of that time sleeping.
I know that I should probably go have blood tests done to check my iron levels and everything. But. I'm not awake enough to go. I don't want a needle in my arm. And what if there's nothing wrong with me? What if I'm permanently stuck like this, forced to sleep whenever I'm not needed and struggling to stay awake through everything else?
When I was growing up, I could run on four hours of sleep or less, and I prided myself on being able to pull all-nighters and actually looking alive the next day. I almost never took naps, even during my undergrad, and was always fine.
Of course, I'd be sleepy during boring classes, or even in interesting classes but with horrible interpreters. Sometimes I was sick and just couldn't stay awake. Memorably, during my first quarter of my first year at RIT, I came down with a nasty case of the flu. I'm still not sure if it was the normal flu or the swine flu, but I was out for a week or so. I still dragged myself to meetings and critiques (because I made the decision to major in photography without realizing just how much I hated it) and slept the rest of the time.
Since then, I would usually get sick during the fall months. Usually nothing more than a nasty cold or cough that would go away after a couple of weeks.
Compared to me, my boyfriend is actually the sickly one.
However, I feel like that's not true for this semester. I started feeling a little off before my trip to Washington, D.C. and it has continued until now. I flew off to DC on September 13th. That was exactly four months ago.
I shouldn't have to spend a third of a year feeling like crap. It's nothing major, but I have constant headaches and muscle aches. Sometimes I feel like I'm running a low-grade fever. Frequently, my throat hurts no matter how much water I drink. I constantly have a stuffy nose.
The biggest thing? Whenever I'm not in class, working, spending time with my horse, or in meetings? I'm asleep.
Let me reiterate. I do not take naps. I had the ability to run on very little sleep and be perfectly fine.
However, now? It's a struggle to get up in the mornings. Last night, I went to sleep around midnight, and got up at 9:30 to hold Ringo for the farrier. Afterwards, I came home (about 11:30) and slept until 5. I feel like a robot, and I know that my cognitive processes are not in tip-top shape. I don't remember conversations I have with people (apparently, I had a conversation with my boyfriend the other day, and he told me afterwards that we had had the exact same conversation not even three weeks earlier). I thought this break would help revitalize and reenergize me. However, in the two weeks that I've been home after visiting family in New York, I have spent approximately 90% of that time sleeping.
I know that I should probably go have blood tests done to check my iron levels and everything. But. I'm not awake enough to go. I don't want a needle in my arm. And what if there's nothing wrong with me? What if I'm permanently stuck like this, forced to sleep whenever I'm not needed and struggling to stay awake through everything else?
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