How to fight fatigue

July 15, 2023 11:37 AM

The Guardian's Hattie Garlick offers tips on fighting fatigue. Our circadian rhythms are important, says Ramlakhan. “But built into those is a shorter rhythm – the ultradian rhythm – a cycle of about 90 minutes.” She is, therefore, a passionate proponent of regular, short rests, ideally every 90 minutes and for three to five minutes, with occasional longer breaks. “If we were to live in rhythm with our cycles, we’d allow ourselves the intermittent, intentional replenishment of energy. We’d oscillate, rather than drive on relentlessly and into the ground.” Resting does not, however, involve social media scrolling. “We get our energy from physical, mental, emotional and spiritual practices,” Ramlakham adds. Her prescription might involve: “eating something healthy, hugging someone, playing with the dog, or going outside to look at the sky.”
posted by Bella Donna (25 comments total)

9. Organize against the capitalist exploitation of workers and foment a revolution.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:48 PM on July 15, 2023 [46 favorites]

short rests, ideally every 90 minutes and for three to five minutes

Man, I'm so close on this. I've got the three to five minute length thing down pat. Now I just have to up the periodicity to 90 minutes from its current three to five minutes.
posted by Flunkie at 12:57 PM on July 15, 2023 [33 favorites]

Wheels within wheels.

So if you were thinking about a more 'natural' length for hours rather than the somewhat arbitrary seeming 60 minutes, this ultradian rhythm might lead you to chose 90 minutes.

Which in turn would give you 16 hour days, which does feel pretty plausibly comfortable to me.
posted by jamjam at 1:45 PM on July 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

Does RFK know about this?
posted by Galvanic at 2:11 PM on July 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

This is a bit of a tangent (and perhaps TMI as well), but I'm intrigued to hear about a 90-minute bodily cycle, because I've long observed and wondered about the fact that when I get a stomach bug, I'm apt to throw up every 90 minutes, with periods of relief in between. It's the same for my kid. Related?
posted by aws17576 at 2:25 PM on July 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

Do some vigorous exercise

I finally figured this out when I had to give up caffeine (along with alcohol) for medical reasons. The long, low energy lags were galling. Yet some friends pointed out that doing some basic exercise helped get energy back up. This has worked for me brilliantly.

Nowadays I do a mix of weightlifting with bicycling or walking, and I usually end up in a more positive, productive mood afterwards.
posted by doctornemo at 2:33 PM on July 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

Organize against the capitalist exploitation of workers and foment a revolution.
posted by leotrotsky

Well, yes. A bit on the nose there.
posted by doctornemo at 2:33 PM on July 15, 2023 [11 favorites]

But what if these are the things that make me tired?
posted by scruss at 2:41 PM on July 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

Yeah… antihistamine and/or decongestant seems to be what works for me, since my fatigue seems to be related to allergies and sinus congestion. But that we have waking 90-minute sub-cycles as well as 90-minute sleep sub-cycles is cool I suppose.


Welcome to 2023, which has been dubbed the year of “hyperfatigue”. Everyone is exhausted. Yet everyone is struggling to sleep.

Gee, maybe this might have some small amount to do with the major world event with ongoing low-grade health effects for estimates seem to center around 10% of people that we’ve had these past couple years? But if they’ve measured the impact of humming along to music and determined that it’s significant enough to include but that the pandemic doesn’t even warrant a mention, who am I to dispute that.
posted by eviemath at 4:16 PM on July 15, 2023 [17 favorites]

Organize against the capitalist exploitation of workers and foment a revolution.
posted by leotrotsky

Well, yes. A bit on the nose there.

And please resist that tempting offer of a big discount at the fancy Mexican resort hotel for your next vacation.
posted by jamjam at 4:26 PM on July 15, 2023 [7 favorites]

I find it odd that the article links to research for some but not all of these. Link for the feeding times of mice in point 2, so the journalist / editor obviously knows it's helpful. But It takes microseconds to embed a negative memory, but 30-40 seconds to embed a positive one, explains Ramlakhan has no link, and Googling doesn't lead to any obvious studies.
posted by paduasoy at 4:30 PM on July 15, 2023 [5 favorites]

I thought most people's sleep cycles are around 90 minutes, too. It certainly seems to hold for me in terms of when I wake from REM cycles.
posted by mollweide at 5:29 PM on July 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

9. Organize against the capitalist exploitation of workers and foment a revolution.

Frankly, this should be a bit higher. like 1.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:24 PM on July 15, 2023 [7 favorites]

Pfft. If you can have a revolution that doesn't degenerate into death squads after a few years, I don't see why we can't settle for "1. Catch that magic panda: Use her powers!"
posted by Grangousier at 2:34 AM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Yeah… antihistamine and/or decongestant seems to be what works for me, since my fatigue seems to be related to allergies and sinus congestion.

Prescription antihistamines can cause fatigue! It helps to take them at night but you can still experience some fatigue.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:58 AM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

paduasoy, hard agree! The stuff about time needed to retain positive memories was most interesting information to me in the entire article. Yet, as you point out, there were no links to any confirming research. That was super disappointing to me because I really would like to increase the number of memories I have of good stuff instead of being haunted by so many negative experiences.
posted by Bella Donna at 5:03 AM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

My level of fatigue has reached an epic level, but I attribute to the fact that I work with nature and am confronted with Climate Change, Invasives Species, and Excuses of Every Kind Imaginable, every day. Not sure if there are enough positive memories (I have plenty) to reverse this.
posted by tarantula at 6:35 AM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]

As the parent of a six-month old I know all about the 90-minute sleep cycles.
posted by subdee at 7:05 AM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]

Roger Federer and LeBron James have said they sleep an average of 12 hours per day, compared to about 7 hours for the average American. Usain Bolt, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Steve Nash sleep up to 10 hours per day. Most NBA players take naps every game day, sometimes for as long as 3 hours.

posted by gwint at 4:24 PM on July 16, 2023 [10 favorites]

all of Federer, James, Bolt, Williams, Sharapova and Nash get paid roughly 100x the average person, so maybe it's not the sleep hours ...
posted by scruss at 5:30 PM on July 16, 2023

all of Federer, James, Bolt, Williams, Sharapova and Nash get paid roughly 100x the average person, so maybe it's not the sleep hours ...

well, to be fair, it's probably the fact that they get paid that much that allows them to sleep.
posted by mollweide at 7:40 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

With fibromyalgia I need 9-10 hours sleep to feel the least fatigued, when I had untreated hypothyroidism earlier this year I was sleeping 12-13 hours a day!
posted by ellieBOA at 2:52 AM on July 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

But what if these are the things that make me tired?
posted by scruss

That was one of my objections, in fact. Beyond "how will I get motivated to do hard stuff when I'm tired?"

But it's worked for me. Not being an anatomy specialist or even a biologist, I can't give a technical explanation. Subjectively, I feel happy-tired, the pleasant vibe of having done something good, albeit small. And my body feels much more alive.

n of 1 and all that.
posted by doctornemo at 8:58 AM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not sure why my original comment was deleted, but the comment that quoted my personal experience and then explained how prescription antihistamines can cause drowsiness? That’s low-key insulting in a similar way as the fpp article. Unlike the tone-deaf article, I wasn’t claiming any universality to my personal experience, and the comment just comes off as assuming I don’t know how my own body reacts to things. Were you worried that the general person who does get drowsy when they take antihistamines that have a big warning about how they may cause drowsiness will suddenly ignore that and, what, somehow finagle their doctors to give them prescription antihistamines on the hope that they, too, will have a paradoxical reaction and feel less tired? And so felt you needed to add a cautionary PSA? About a class of drugs whose most well-known otc formulation is often misused as a sleep aid? Maybe the mods could delete that comment as well as this one, which I imagine will likely end up also deleted because my quite polite and non-accusatory original comment got deleted?
posted by eviemath at 7:05 PM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I remember that comment, I’m surprised it was deleted. Ouch.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:51 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]