Too Many Naps

I’ve noticed that I have little motivation to do much of anything. I procrastinate working out. I don’t really want to take the dog(s) for a walk. I haven’t ridden my bicycle in ages. In addition, I feel like I want to nap practically every day in the afternoon. If I lie down anywhere in the afternoon, I will most assuredly fall asleep. It feels like a tired headache is looming most afternoons, and I’m so accustomed to having the headaches, it’s a challenge to identify whether it’s a migraine or if I’m simply tired. 

I also have this really painful stab of pain sometimes when I rest on my left elbow. I don’t have the same sensation in my right elbow, just my left. I believe there is a leftover injury from the attack like a chip in the bone, or a bruise on the bone. I often wonder if there is something broken, but I have full use of my left arm, so I think it’s okay. I can use my hand weights, not that I am doing that regularly enough, but I know I can do all of my arm exercises. I did them this morning with no trouble at all.

For these reasons, I was glad to visit to my personal physician this morning. We’ve been working for over a year now on managing my migraines. She is the one who made sure I was seen by a psychiatrist back in June. Over the years we’ve developed a collaborative relationship, and so, I decided to talk to her about the headaches, tiredness, and elbow pain to get her thoughts. 

She said she thought the elbow pain was tendinitis, but she ordered x-rays of my arm just in case. She prescribed another medication for the headaches called Imitrex. I was directed to take the Imitrex daily - when the headaches are present. She seemed most worried about the tiredness. We discussed how the daily medications I'm taking may be the reason, and she suggested changing the time of day for taking the meds to evening, before retire at night. She also asked me to self check my blood pressure when I am feeling tired and to email her the results, just in case the tiredness is a low blood pressure symptom. She was interested in my resting heart rate in particular. My resting heart rate is a little low – around 55.

I have a feeling that changing the time of day that I take the medicine may just do the trick. I hope so. I want the motivation to get out there and do things. I know the PTSD holds me back a little, especially when I’m in Dublin, but I think the tiredness is more of a culprit. It’s just that it crept up from behind so slowly that it was difficult to recognize until I realized I was taking a nap any day I took the time for one. Naps are fine, but I’d rather have a restful sleep during the night, and I’m not old enough to require a nap in the afternoon.