does anxiety make you tired?

I have anxiety, and used to have panic attacks. Ive been taking beta blockers and I haven't had a panic attack in the last week although I almost had one twice. Even though my hands no longer shake, I feel like my body is vibrating much of the time. Ive been sleeping much better since taking the beta blockers, but I feel so tired during the day, but my mum hates this and just keeps telling me i'm lazy. she, like a lot of women, doesn't understand the need for relaxation, and thinks the best way to cope with anything is to go out for boring walks and bike rides or tidy the house. I dont mind this, but some days I would like to just walk into town and not go on a ten mile hike along the same boring route every time.

is there any way to get my mum to understand that im catching up on all the sleep ive missed out on before the beta blockers and that altho im sleeping better my body vibrates with anxiety a lot and so the fight isn't over. ? I just don't know what else to say to her

YES! Anxiety is exhausting. I understand what your mum says - about being lazy - mine says the same. My T has been helping me see that it's not being lazy, it's relaxing, something I need to do to recharge myself.

Half my day is spent "on" ... The other half is spent recharging my batteries.

I don't waste my time or energy trying to explain it to others - family or not.

They aren't me and don't know what my mind, body and soul needs.

If they don't understand, that's their problem - not mine.

Yes. Anxiety can be exhausting. It took like ten years, but my husband finally understands that I just need more sleep than most people, and more down time. Do what you need to to cope.

I also need alot of sleep, I have sleep apnea too, so i sleep with the machine, it really helps keep me up in the daytime.

Anxiety is mental exhaustion. The knot in my throat and stomach kills my appetite too

Anxiety constantly fires the hormones that gives you the rush response, tiring your body out. Also Beta blockers' side effect is fatigue and weakness, in this case it's being used to block that constant adrenaline from anxiety and panic attacks- and for heart patients, it reduces the workload, less output, lower pulse, so you have to talk to the doc about exercise because it changes all of these, you can slowly start exercising at a comfortable level

yes!!!!!!! more tiring than some sports!
Woody Allen's quote: "I don't need special diet to lose weight, anxiety keeps me in shape"

I just read an interesting article on this. How Rhodiola shelters us from Stress and Cortisol | Lara Briden's Healthy Hormone Blog

And here is the link to the actual study: Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue--a do... [Phytomedicine. 2000] - PubMed - NCBI

when i tell people i sleep 8 to 10 hours and have a 2 to 4 hr nap most days, they say they wish they were me~! but what they don't understand is how hard it is to stay up the rest of the time~! before i was diagnosed with oxygen deprivation, sleep apnea, and diabetes, i was actually dying, and some people called me lazy, or said i was "depressed" (which i'm not), or blamed it on being "Fat" (which i am, but that's not what was killing me~!). so what i have to say to you is: don't suppose that all your problems are the result of any one thing~! check out your health, physical and emotional, check your stress loads, and check your DIET~! omg, i could have been spared so much if i had only understood what the real effects of morbid obesity are,,, (morbid = death~!).

keep sleeping as much as you need to. and tell people that you are taking care of your health, which is not only your right, but your Obligation~!

best wishes,,,
Gus

Yes, it is exhausting. But I never thought about recharging the batteries. That's good. I appreciate that. I also get the lazy, useless, etc. comments, and get down on myself because i can"t fight back. But i'm not lazy...just very tired.

Yes I have terrible anxiety plus insomnia, and when I sleep I take klonopin to keep my nightmare (same one) away. But since a triggering event the other day, I have had a new and different nightmare every time I have slept, which has really been like 2 hours every 24 hours or so.
Pdoc appt. today and this needs to be fixed before I crack into 2 pieces.

Anxiety and panic really takes it out of you, it's exhausting. When I have a panic attack, whether its during the day or night and even if I manage to sleep for a good few hours after, I always feel as if I've not slept at all.
Being constantly tensed up all the time isn't going to help, it's like doing a strenuous workout every day with no break.
I'm not sure how to explain it to your mum, you have to explain how it makes you feel as best you can and say that it's not you being lazy and that while her ways of dealing with things might work for her, it doesn't mean they'll work for you. Everyone deals with it differently. Some say going for a walk or a run or punching a punch bag helps with panic attacks but I can't do that during mine. I can't move when I have one. The only movements I make is uncontrollable shaking. It's not as easy as it sounds, physically doing something when you're that anxious or panicked.

Haven't had once since February, at work. Mine involved heart palpitations. And I am left exhausted, shortness of breath, yes. I know it's stress related, for myself. I've endured them since I was a teen. Had a good one, back in '07 or early '08. Couldn't calm myself down, landed rushed by ambulance to the hospital. Thought I was having a side effect to a new to me, MS med, that mentioned chest pain and fast heart rate as a serious side effect. Was given some Xanax and sent home, after the test were done, showing heart palpitations. I remember heart tests as a teenager.
If it's stressing the body, then it stands to reason that it will exhaust the heck out of a person. Taxing on the body, is how I see panic attacks/anxiety reactions.