Fatigue and the 'cake dilemma'.

 Please note that this is my experience - with the conditions I have (PoTS, Hypermobility, and various associated stuff). Don't expect everyone to be the same! 

I struggle to digest, and full meals can leave me unable to function/with a reduced level of consciousness due to PoTS. When I'm severely fatigued, I'll reach 'unable to function' before I've finished a meal. The only way to eat enough during these times is to snack so I do lots of little bits of digesting instead of a few heavy duty sessions.

However: cake. I could probably eat cake all day on a fatigued day. The sugar hit gives me a temporary energy boost, then as soon as its gone, I crave more cake to get a new sugar boost. Only...it's not a real energy boost. When I'm fatigued and should rest, this sugar boost makes me feel like I have energy so I can do stuff, but in reality it just masks my fatigue - and when it fades my overall fatigue is worse than it was before. The cake effect essentially stops me from recharging - it masks my need to recharge without actually addressing it. It replaces my physical awareness that I need to rest with a misleading feeling that I don't need to. Which unsurprisingly means that sometimes I will crave cake when what I actually need is a nap. 

So on the one hand, cake on a bad day will give me short bursts of functioning. On the other hand, the cake coping strategy prevents me from recharging - meaning I get worse.

There's no way I'm going to ban myself from cake, however I need to be aware of its effect on me, and make choices. Sometimes I will eat the cake, use the fake energy, and take the consequences in due course - and sometimes I will take a nap instead.

And there you have it. My fatigue-related cake-dilemma.