Does anyone, especially adults, have serious problems with fatigue? I'm always tired and fatigued, but if I have a bad sensory day, the exhaustion is overwhelming. I often have to sleep 15 hours each night on the weekends to feel somewhat rested during the work week. Anyone else? Any suggestions? I have a sleep study coming up soon to check for sleep disorders and all the blood tests are fine.
The work week definitely tires me a lot, and yes, if I have a lot of sensory input going on, that can add into it. If I've had really heightened vestibular input (working at heights), if I don't do brushing/mitigation before/during/after I crash after and want to fall asleep.
My regular thing to say to "what are you doing on the weekend?" is "sleep". Less than around 8-10 hours consistently leads to me being very tired.
I know people are always surprised that my daughter sleeps 11 1/2 hours every night. Most think it's abnormal for a 6 y.o. Yesterday she had a particularly challenging day and slept 12 hrs last night, so I think there's merit to your theory.
our 6yo son also needs a lot of sleep. we have to get him up at about 6am, but if he's not down for the night by 7pm(7:30 at the very latest!) it's a nightmare trying to get him up the next morning, he will also almost certainly overload if he hasn't had a good amount of sleep. So I also think there's something to this.
Overload makes me tired.
I don't have good advice though
For me its also really interconnected with my autism. If I try to speak less then its not so bad.
I've always felt I need more sleep than other people, and the more stimulation I get, the more I need.
It seems most people don't understand it and sometimes I feel like people have felt I was lazy or something when really I need more sleep and more quiet, alone time. And that was even before I became a mom of a sensory seeker!
"I've always felt I need more sleep than other people"
Yes, that's me to a T as well. I start to walk into things if I consistently get less than 7-7.5 hours sleep.
I don't deal well without enough sleep, either. While I am decently extroverted, I find large social gatherings to be especially draining.
Thank you, guys. That makes me feel better. My family gives me a lot of heart ache for needing so much sleep. It's nice to know others are the same.
By the way, Raven, I love your quote!!