What's your cure for being exhausted and grumpy?

bowl of icecream&and a good comedy.

I find that Vitamin B gives me a little boost of energy, and makes the workday go a bit smoother. You could give that a try.

Some sort of pick me up that isn’t detrimental to my health?
Yes, I use marijuana. A joint at the end of the day, especially one of my days on the farm, is a well deserved reward. No matter how grumpy and tired I am, a doobie makes me feel better. Best of all, it’s healthier than alcohol.

First, I shot my television. Second, I make it a point to brush and walk my dog every morning. It was a chore, such a chore at first. Missed a few, then picked up again. Now it’s a regular affair that I wouldn’t miss for the world. When I have missed it, I feel “grumpy and miserable”.

Now we do it twice a day, morning and evening. The outdoors clears my mind and the walk is brisk and sweaty. Feels great to get the toxins out. And as tired as you think you are, the exercise is actually invigorating. I eat a bowl of Total cereal after the morning walk, and a spinach salad with fat juicy mushrooms filled with vitamin D after the evening walk.

I nibble on fruit throughout the day. It’s done wonders for my disposition, and not keeping this routine sends me back to “such a yucky mood”.

Get outdoors!

I’m not grumpy, dammit, so leave me alone!!

Thanks for asking that – that is exactly what I’d like to know.

It seems so bizarre to me that people are asked to word 9–5 and commute an hour each way on top of that. All it does is leave people exhausted and unable to function at work. With a different schedule I could be way more productive, creative and happy at my job.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies : i so agree with you… being outside totally makes me feel better and salad & mushrooms sounds soooo good. delish. thanks!

Did you know… that setting your mushrooms in the sunlight for 10 seconds increases their vitamin D content by 10,000 times! It’s M-A-G-I-C !

Then get that sunny sun sunny all over yer face babay!

oooo—and I do so enjoy the full moon late night walks too. I pretend to be a ghosty vampire wolf… and a healthy one at that!

You should be taking a complete multivitamin formulated for a woman your age. You can add some additional vitamin B (great for helping with stress).

You need some kind of pleasing activity, preferably active, to do after work.
If you family has a Wii system, there is a great fitness and exercise program available for it, It comes with a step-up platform that communicates with the Wii.

Even 30 minutes of walking outdoors, riding a bicycle or gardening is good to relieve stress.
The benefits of such activities are to relieve some of the stress from work and this will enable you to sleep well and wake-up more refreshed.

Give it a try for 21 days in a row and then evaluate how you feel.

Take good care of yourself,

Dr. Lawrence

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies : REALLY??? the only issue i have with being outside is when it’s typical SF foggy/cloudiness… i find it depressing!! but the fresh air is still probably good on it’s own.

@Dr_Lawrence : thank you!

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies I looked it up, and it sounds interesting! But that only says it works for mushrooms with visible gills, and set out for 6 hours instead of the 10 seconds you claim, so I expect the most common button mushrooms don’t necessarily generate as much as the freshly-picked shiitake mushrooms used in the experiment. But very neat to learn anyways. Mushrooms are very interesting creatures!

yayas… they are v-e-r-y interesting indeed

Exercise! A good run or bike ride, a bit of Yoga or at the very least a nice long walk to leave all those grumpy thoughts behind!

becoming more exhausted and grumpier or asking @bob_ to make me a sandwich and bring a cerveza.

Short but serious nap and then some exercise, even if it’s only weeding, emptying the litter box outside or flicking the slugs off my roses.

1. Every air conditioner in my house turned on.

2. A long hot shower.

3. Go to bed early and sleep until noon.

A nap. Oh, and iron also, when I get my iron up the difference is significant. Next time you go to the doctor have them check your, iron, B12, and Vitamin D. If your blood is very bright red, the next time you cut yourself by accident, then you are probably low in iron. If it is very dark red your iron is probably good, but still better to get the blood test.

Try going 6 rounds with @dpworkin. That’ll get your blood circulating.

I walk every night with a friend. have been for 8 years, rain, shine, or snow. Sometimes she pushes me and some nights I have to push her to get going, but it is amazing what I can accomplish afterward. We also take turns venting, so the Grumpies are not turned toward the children. It serves as both mental and physical exercise.

@gailcalled or make you grumpier.

@gailcalled LMFAO!

@Samantha_Rae I forgot to ask, are you getting 8 or 9 hours of sleep a night?

11:00 here. I swore I’d log off.

@gailcalled or give you a serious cramp in the head!

@JLeslie : Interesting, I am anemic… always have been and assume I still am (bruise very easily despite the fact that I eat tons of iron rich foods) but when I took slow release Fe along with vitamins, I didn’t feel any different. Maybe I should give it another shot.

Yes, I have been getting at least 7–8 hours of sleep. This whole work thing was temporary (today was the last day, for now) and I assume it also takes some getting used to!

Exercise. I usually take the train to work but often bike home. My attitude and energy are reset after the ride.

Tough it out until you believe it yourself.

@jaytkay; Do you take the bike to work on the train? It is like the fox, the chicken and the grain being ferried across the river.

@Samantha_Rae Slowfe is very good. If you know you are anemic take two a day and see what happens. Or, a one a day vitamin plus iron, plus one slowfe is another good option. The iron makes a big difference for me. You say you did not see a difference but did you have blood work done to see if your levels were coming up? Maybe you needed more.

Also, do you drink caffiene? If you only drink it in the morning, you might be beginning your caffeine crash around the time work is ending.

Do you go in the sun much? It is almost impossible to get enough Vitamin D from food, and if you wear SPF protection in your makeup and you rarely go in the sun to get a tan, you might be very depleted in that vitamin. I once read that they think something like 30% of women are difficient.

Also, are you sure you don’t have a thyroid problem? Do you know where to look on your neck? Is your skin very dry? Or your hair brittle?

I hate waking up early, and working M-F straight, it is a flippin’ nightmare for me. By Friday I want to die.

:) Glad I’m not alone!

I haven’t had blood work done or my thyroid tested in a while… I should probably look into that. But I really think this is just a matter of getting used to the schedule. Iron and vitamins will probably help, and I will get back on a regular regiment.

My diet has been pretty good (I have started eating a healthy breakfast which is not normal for me!) and my skin, hair and everything else are fine. What’s this about a spot on the neck??

Bah, I think it’s mostly a combo of the new routine and the long commutes. It’s lame! Thanks for all your help!

@Samantha_Rae Not a spot, what I mean is when your thyroid is screwed up it grows, you can see it, like a bump. Kind of like a man’s adam’s apple. Yeah, if you have no other symptoms I doubt it is your thyroid.

Go to sleep.

@gailcalled Do you take the bike to work on the train? It is like the fox, the chicken and the grain being ferried across the river.

Yes, I “reverse commute” out of the city in the morning and back at night. So the train has room for bikes.

lol fox/chicken/grain ferry, that’s how it feels if I leave the bike at work for some reason

Oh, one last thing. Slowfe is better absorbed on an empty stomach. Some people say it makes them queezy if they don’t take it with food, I don’t have that problem. If you do, then better to take it with food, but it might mean you need more to acheive good iron levels. But, just in case you don’t know, there is a such thing as too much iron, can be very dangerous, so don’t take bunches of pills at once.

Take a nap. and vitamin B and D are my weaknesses.
@dynamicduo take a toke.
garden….I have a thing for long handled trimmers, whacking plants makes it better.

I take naps, a daily multivitamin, drink a ton of water and eat (relatively) healthy. I work two jobs (60 hrs/week) and these things are essential to keep me going.

If I’m really burnt, I try to take a day to sleep and read. Little mental health day every few months.

Get a phone app for yoga poses. Using it 5 minutes a day helps so much, if you do it right.

Vanilla scented candles help. If you sit down and relax
and listen to good music

Make a ritual of a few things you like when you come home. Maybe something like:

Remove bra and shoes.

Sit on the tub edge or sink edge and soak your feet, rub them with lotion after and slip into cotton sock booties.

Go have a bite (spoon) of sorbet or ice cream.

Let yourself lie down for 15 minutes straight before cooking or chores.

Just a little walk and fresh air. Even taking like twenty steps, two breaths, and seeing one bird helps me immensely.

SLEEEEEEEP.

Don’t deny yourself. I can get by with 5, although any less makes me decidedly evil.

Frankly, it sounds like you’re just about getting by. Consider going to bed an hour earlier. When I go to bed at ~9PM, I always wake naturally at ~5AM feeling better than good.

I am a big fan of the power nap, just a nice little 20 min nap always helps me, and then I usually eat something like fruit.

Old movies.

Humans evolved as hunter-gatherers, who spend about 14 hours a week working to support themselves, with the rest of the time spent playing, teaching, learning, creating art, and making love. Our modern 9–5 lifestyle exists not because there is work to be done (100 years ago, Piotr Kropotkin observed that fewer than 1 in 4 do actual productive labour, and that number has dropped far lower since – most do nothing but paper-shuffling and make-work) but because those who rule us want us so exhausted that we haven’t time to think, plan, or organize.

So in answer to your question, there is nothing you can do. So long as you hold a 9–5 job, you will be kept deliberately exhausted and soul-sick until you blink and discover it’s 40 years later, you’ve slept your life away, and you have nothing to show for it but a mortgage and kick out the door when you’re too old to be of any further use to the business which exploited you. If you want to feel any better, you’re going to have to get off the treadmill. You’re going to have to deal with a lower standard of physical well-being, since they will punish you by denying you good, healthy food. You will probably become fat (like most poor people) from a diet of cheap, starchy foods, and you will wear cheap, nasty clothes, and will become a subject of scorn and mockery by all around you. But you will be free. And when you have had time at last to sit and think, you will begin recognizing the cage we have built for ourselves, and you will probably begin fighting. And that’s when your real life will begin.

Turn on, drop out, and tune in.

What about a relaxing bubble bath with some added essential oils to help you relax? But switch the lights off and light some candles, it’ll help unwind you before you go to bed. Maybe also get a good novel to read while in the tub or in bed to take your mind off the day you’ve had. And some of your favourite snacks while reading may just help too. :)

da recliner and a good movie!

Vitamins are important. So is getting enough sleep. If you’re getting up at 6:15 you should in bed by 10:00 pm. Eat breakfast, even if it’s not breakfast food. Drink water in the afternoon at work, not soft drinks, and eat some fruit, veggies or yogurt around 3:00 ish.

@PandoraBoxx @Samantha_Rae I would argue even a little earlier than 10:00 to really get adequate sleep, I am a big believer that 9 hours is the real amount most young people need, and I have a feeling the OP is young (under 30?). I think it is really good you pointed out the actual time, because I know being in bed by 9:00 would sound horribly early and sucky to most people under the age of 30, I hate it still. And, you kind of have to account for when you actually fall asleep, not just when someone goes to bed. Proof to me is that we tend to cycle through stages of sleep every hour and half. When I am really short on sleep, my nap will be 1.5 hours or 3.0 hours almost every time if I am comfortable and in a good sleeping environment. Makes sense in nature, since babies tend to be fed every 1.5 as infants from what I can recall (I don’t have children) so if mommy sleeps when baby sleeps she should be able to better handle the lack of sleep so to speak.

The only way I handled having to get up early was napping, and making up for the sleeping loss on weekends.

Maybe get normal vitamins, like the ones kids eat.

you need to get a vitamin called, the wellness formula… it is really good. It boosts your immune system, it is very healthy for you, it gives you more enregy and makes you fell good, and not tired or anything like that. It is an every day pill and it also helps to cool down your imune system if you are getting sick.

Slowing down the thoughts in my head.

Come on Fluther….ummm..that is loaded!

Dunno. Sometimes I got to be grumpy. I let it run its course. Otherwise, I read something really silly and funny, like HHGG, or Scott Pilgrim. Failing that, I do enjoy blasting music into my ears with my headphones.

An interesting article on how the brain keeps track of sleep deprivation.

Vitamins are not the answer, arguably.

make someone who annoys me disappear.