Is it normal to feel haggard and unhealthy in medical school?

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cryhavoc

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I eat healthy. I exercise. I sleep pretty well.

I constantly feel like I could sleep anywhere and just haggard and achy all the time. For months. Low energy. Not well.

Is this normal? It doesn’t help I’m learning about so many illnesses. Constantly feel like I’m experiencing the early symptoms of everything I’m learning about.

Just want to wake up one day and feel healthy again, sick of this malaise and spending the day “pushing” myself to get around and get things done because my body doesn’t feel like working properly.
 
Short answer yes. Long answer go outside and say hello to mr. sun, work out 30 minutes a day doing at least 10 minutes of cardio, and try to eat less **** and you'll feel less haggard. No seriously, do it.
 
Perhaps you should evaluate your physical position and setting you are studying in. I know that I make an effort to studying at the kitchen counter for an hour or two and move around studying instead of just sitting in a hunched over cube for 8 hours every day. Maybe this is a sign of burnout for you and you need to take a mental day or two to get back on track.
 
Medical school will take a toll on you. During the end of my second year, right after we finished our gastro block, I was having bad stomach pains and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Fast forward 2 months. Fortunately, the person who diagnosed me, was me, and I was just a neurotic, know-nothing, M2. So, as you can imagine, there was a big sigh of relief when the CT I demanded showed nothing.

In any event, anxiety + lack of a normal routine + somatization can seriously leave you feeling down, worn out, and thinking you are on deaths doorstep. So yes, I'd say this is normal.
 
surfguy84 said:
Medical school will take a toll on you. During the end of my second year, right after we finished our gastro block, I was having bad stomach pains and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Fast forward 2 months. Fortunately, the person who diagnosed me, was me, and I was just a neurotic, know-nothing, M2. So, as you can imagine, there was a big sigh of relief when the CT I demanded showed nothing.

In any event, anxiety + lack of a normal routine + somatization can seriously leave you feeling down, worn out, and thinking you are on deaths doorstep. So yes, I'd say this is normal.
Click to expand...

.... was that the only diagnosis we walked away with that day?
 
Feeling similar to you for awhile.... Then I finally got some of that D.








Vitamin D, that is. Seriously, I think I was deficient. Irritable bowels, restless sleep... fatigue and some other things. Started a supplement and I noticed a big change. YMMV.
 
Lets_Run said:
Feeling similar to you for awhile.... Then I finally got some of that D.








Vitamin D, that is. Seriously, I think I was deficient. Irritable bowels, restless sleep... fatigue and some other things. Started a supplement and I noticed a big change. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Not a medical student yet but I agree with this poster. Some winters I feel as if I could sleep for days and have no motivation to do anything at all. I had blood work and it showed that my vitamin D was virtually non existent. Supplemented for a few months and felt like an entirely different person.
 
Yes.

But I will say this much. Occasionally med school spirals out of control and my eating habits regress. That said, I've noticed a direct correlation between my fast food intake and mood. Take it for what you will.

Also, yeah vitamin D has been a very real concern in the back of my mind. I am NOT getting enough sun since winter started. I kind of hoped I was getting enough ergocalciferol from my diet but I'm beginning to think that was just wishful thinking.
 
surfguy84 said:
my doctor was too fed up with me at that point to engage me any further...but i think we know the answer to that
Click to expand...

Some doctors really don't like dealing with psych issues for longer than 10 seconds tbh.
 
Lets_Run said:
Feeling similar to you for awhile.... Then I finally got some of that D.








Vitamin D, that is. Seriously, I think I was deficient. Irritable bowels, restless sleep... fatigue and some other things. Started a supplement and I noticed a big change. YMMV.
Click to expand...

I’m gonna to start taking vitamins before bed. I stopped taking them because they made me feel sick but if I take them right before I sleep maybe I can get through the nausea.

And even if I’m not deficient in anything, maybe can get some sort of placebo effect out of them. “Feel” healthier.

I swear I diagnose myself with a different disease every other day. And I’m only half-joking to myself. These statistics show young people are included too and several of my family members did have cancer in their twenties.

Trying to walk the line between being a hypochondriac and making a mountain out of every molehill and not ignoring my body.
 
Lets_Run said:
I too am a self-diagnosed hypochondriac
Click to expand...

They call it “Illness Anxiety” now. Although I think the DSM should add an exception for those in medical school. “Medical students’ disease” exception.
 
Lets_Run said:
Feeling similar to you for awhile.... Then I finally got some of that D.








Vitamin D, that is. Seriously, I think I was deficient. Irritable bowels, restless sleep... fatigue and some other things. Started a supplement and I noticed a big change. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Well, the vast majority of the US population is vitamin D deficient...
 
cryhavoc said:
I eat healthy. I exercise. I sleep pretty well.

I constantly feel like I could sleep anywhere and just haggard and achy all the time. For months. Low energy. Not well.

Is this normal? It doesn’t help I’m learning about so many illnesses. Constantly feel like I’m experiencing the early symptoms of everything I’m learning about.

Just want to wake up one day and feel healthy again, sick of this malaise and spending the day “pushing” myself to get around and get things done because my body doesn’t feel like working properly.
Click to expand...


Try Adding a large variety of daily veggies to your diet. Juice them all up in a blender if you have to. I notice an incredible difference in my energy and overal function when I do this daily. Gotta get those nutrients.
 
I can't recommend enough to practice mindfulness and meditation.

Also, can relate to so many aspects in this thread. M2 is awful.
 
Is it normal? Yes.
Is it healthy? No.

Did most of us get Medical Student Syndrome and diagnose ourselves with crazy disease? Yes.
Are you likely to actually have any of them? No.

You can't exactly live a healthy lifestyle during boards prep, but try to get yourself some semblance of balance; it'll be good for your health, and since nobody is immune to burnout, probably your scores, too. Study hard, but at the same time, if you get more PRODUCTIVE studying done with 7-8 hours sleep and a short break daily than you would on 5-6 hours of sleep and no break, give yourself permission to do that.
 
cryhavoc said:
I eat healthy. I exercise. I sleep pretty well.

I constantly feel like I could sleep anywhere and just haggard and achy all the time. For months. Low energy. Not well.

Is this normal? It doesn’t help I’m learning about so many illnesses. Constantly feel like I’m experiencing the early symptoms of everything I’m learning about.

Just want to wake up one day and feel healthy again, sick of this malaise and spending the day “pushing” myself to get around and get things done because my body doesn’t feel like working properly.
Click to expand...

Normal. I don't know if I'll ever feel like 23 me again. Part of me wants says that's just the process of life, and aging. But yet, I do think there's something specific to medical training that makes me feel this way. Looking ahead, I don't see a gap in sight. C'est la vie and all that.
 
ortnakas said:
Is it normal? Yes.
Is it healthy? No.

Did most of us get Medical Student Syndrome and diagnose ourselves with crazy disease? Yes.
Are you likely to actually have any of them? No.

You can't exactly live a healthy lifestyle during boards prep, but try to get yourself some semblance of balance; it'll be good for your health, and since nobody is immune to burnout, probably your scores, too. Study hard, but at the same time, if you get more PRODUCTIVE studying done with 7-8 hours sleep and a short break daily than you would on 5-6 hours of sleep and no break, give yourself permission to do that.
Click to expand...

I mean, exercise is like, what, 30-90 minutes every other day? Sleep is 8 hours.

If you spend every other waking
Anti-PD1 said:
Normal. I don't know if I'll ever feel like 23 me again. Part of me wants says that's just the process of life, and aging. But yet, I do think there's something specific to medical training that makes me feel this way. Looking ahead, I don't see a gap in sight. C'est la vie and all that.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I feel way better today. I have this thing where if I miss out on some sleep and feel terrible, I forget it is only temporary and think I feel like that all the time.

You’re write in that I’m not 100% and that’s just the name of the game, but I got to remember that how I feel at my worst is not how I feel all the time. I just need a good meal and a good night of sleep.
 
This has been me since starting 2nd semester of 2nd year:
249D119400000578-2906090-image-m-58_1421032275222.jpg
 
Last edited:
Anti-PD1 said:
Normal. I don't know if I'll ever feel like 23 me again. Part of me wants says that's just the process of life, and aging. But yet, I do think there's something specific to medical training that makes me feel this way. Looking ahead, I don't see a gap in sight. C'est la vie and all that.
Click to expand...
Understatement of the year by the neurosurgery applicant 🙂. Best of luck, btw.
 
68PGunner said:
God, I hate second year. It's not board studying btw. In fact, the only thing that I enjoy about second year is board studying. It's the other bs that the school stacks on top of things that throw me off my rhythm and piss me off.
Click to expand...

My school down right lied that our hours would be better MS-2 (surprise we are giving you third year BS also).
 
IslandStyle808 said:
My school down right lied that our hours would be better MS-2 (surprise we are giving you third year BS also).
Click to expand...

Not going to lie but every time I’m sitting in weekly mandatory three or four for several hours, I die a little on the inside. Just let me study . . . That’s such a nerdy request but all I wanna do is return to the library.
 
cryhavoc said:
Not going to lie but every time I’m sitting in weekly mandatory three or four for several hours, I die a little on the inside. Just let me study . . . That’s such a nerdy request but all I wanna do is return to the library.
Click to expand...

You know why I look forward to the weekend... cuz I get time to study!
 
cryhavoc said:
I eat healthy. I exercise. I sleep pretty well.

I constantly feel like I could sleep anywhere and just haggard and achy all the time. For months. Low energy. Not well.

Is this normal? It doesn’t help I’m learning about so many illnesses. Constantly feel like I’m experiencing the early symptoms of everything I’m learning about.

Just want to wake up one day and feel healthy again, sick of this malaise and spending the day “pushing” myself to get around and get things done because my body doesn’t feel like working properly.
Click to expand...
OMSII? If yes, you're right on schedule
 
I once read if you try to be more happy and optimistic, you actually start to feel it.

Really working hard on this lately.

I think my zygomaticus major might have experienced a little muscle atrophy over the last year or so.
 
It's a drag, but I can't stress enough how important it is to eat decent and get some cardio at the very least a few times a week. And to have some hobby that is not medicine to refocus your mind. Preferably something active (playing an instrument, painting, playing a sport, etc) that you have to engage in, as opposed to watching tv or playing video games. As a gamer, I could play for hours and hours and it never seemed like a break because my mind could still wander to medicine/stress etc.

One of the things that has really helped me at different stages of my medical career (student, resident, attending) is just talking to other people about it. When you realize everyone else is in your same position, shares your same stress and frustrations, it helps get you through the tough times.
 
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