Why Do You Feel Like Crap? 7 Things You Might (Or Might Not) Be Doing

image credit: Mariah Aro Sharp @mightymooseart

A bipolar, body-positive bread enthusiast with a fucked-up pretty much healed ankle and a history of disordered eating, continues to try to figure shit out.

I felt like total garbage almost all last week. I was tired all the time. I was nauseated and dizzy, and generally in a terrible mood because of it. I had a headache that wouldn’t go away without serious pharmaceutical intervention. For two days, I had an aural migraine that made it deceivingly look like I was in outer space.

And not in a good way.

I am a Professional Ignorer of Physical Symptoms, which means I will just walk around complaining about how shitty I feel while doing absolutely nothing about it.

I started to question why I might feel so much like I want to just go to bed and never get out of it. Not surprisingly, I came up with several likely culprits.

Also not surprisingly, they are pretty basic.

I asked around and discovered that I am not the only one who forgets that I am a person with needs. It happens a lot.

Maybe this happens to you? If so, this list will be very helpful.

Here are Things I Forgot I Needed To Do:

1. Drink water.

Here’s the thing about water. Even if you think you are drinking enough water, you are probably not drinking enough water. I figured I was drinking enough water because I had a glass when I got up. So it seemed like I was off to a good start.

But then noon rolled around, and I realized I hadn’t moved from my chair. Which means I didn’t pee. Which means I didn’t drink water.

So, yeah. How much water have you had today? It’s highly likely that the answer is not enough.

2. Eat food.

I forgot to eat. It’s not that I wasn’t hungry. It’s just that I kept thinking, “I’ll get some food in a minute.”

One minute became 15 became 30 became four hours.

I know folks are all about intermittent fasting right now and I know those people feel better, I am decidedly NOT one of those people.

When I finally did eat, I had toast. Toast made me feel better for about a half hour, then my body burned through all the carbs until all I had left was a teaspoon of butter and some crust.

Definitely, eat. Probably definitely have some protein so that you’re not hungry again in five minutes.

3. Eat food with less sugar.

Sugar makes me feel like someone beat me upside the head with a pillowcase full of soap.

It's not good.

But here's the real bitch of it, I love sugar. I love all the sugar. I'm legitimately addicted to sugar.

I know this because when I quit eating sugar, I felt like I was going to die for three days. Which is I think pretty close to how you feel when you are an addict.

It is astounding to me how differently I feel when I limit sugar. Sometimes I forget that sugar makes me feel like I've been poisoned and I eat a lot of it. Then I remember that I ate three muffins.

4. Take a break to stretch.

Because my job is like 90% typing, I sit at a laptop most of the time. When I’m not typing, I’m reading. My laptop is on my lap or my desk in front of me most of the day.

Human bodies are just not meant to be stationary. I don’t know if it’s muscle tension or atrophy or a combination of both, but I do know that after sitting at my laptop for four hours, every part of my body is sore.

5. Take my meds.

I take them. I’ve been really good about taking them.

Sometimes.

But this week, I forgot my morning meds for four days in a ROW. I forgot my night meds two days in a row. Even if not taking the meds doesn’t make you feel like shit, screwing with the dose times can make you feel like shit.

Most meds are prescribed based on their half-life which means they need to be taken at regular intervals. This is how levels of the drugs remain stable in your system.

This is also why if you take Zoloft, you feel like you want to die if you miss two days.

Also, if you take thyroid meds, that’s because your thyroid isn’t functioning properly. Your thyroid is important.

So is your brain. If you, like me, take meds for your brain, your brain needs those meds on the regular. Meds cannot work if you don’t take them regularly. #science

Related: I’m Not Flushing My Psych Meds, But I Want To

6. Go outside.

Taking the kids to school doesn’t count. Your body needs sun exposure. Ask anyone who’s ever lived through a winter in Alaska, and they can tell you that you need sunlight.

No, but you literally need sunlight to process Vitamin D. I mean you can also just EAT Vitamin D, but the sun is really good at handling all of that for you.