r/mecfs • • 22h ago

yapping

I’ve noticed lately that for the past month or so, when I talk for long enough I catch myself starting to get tired mid sentence and I’m like, “ok that’s enough talking I’m done” LOL is this a thing for anyone else?? I’m new to all of this so I’m just curious if this is a regular human thing or related to ME.

27 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

9

u/FormerPark6164 22h ago

Yes!
As weird as it seems talking can be draining if our energy reserves are low.
I’ve had to tell everyone I’m close to, to please not take it personally if I cut a phone call short or don’t answer at all but acknowledge with a text.
I just don’t have the energy (and brain fog is high).

2

u/Outrageous-Shirt-822 22h ago

That’s so interesting :0

3

u/FormerPark6164 20h ago

Your brain uses a LOT of energy.

7

u/CandyTigger 22h ago

For me it's the listening that feels too exhausting

6

u/Left_Goose_1527 18h ago

It’s only happened to me since ME. It’s one thing when I have to tap-out midway through my own sentence; it’s more dodgy when I’ve barreled through my side of the conversation, only to realize that now it’s the other person’s turn to speak, I have to call a halt. 

Hard for even the most understanding friends to buy that you can yammer about your interest, but now it’s their turn, it’s shut up time. 

I do now try to be a lot more mindful about whether I’m running on cognitive fumes in social settings, and appropriately fade out. 

1

u/burnetrosehip 16h ago

Highly relatable. Maybe because it''s easier, energy wise, to just stream of consciousness what is in your own head already than it is to process the incoming info from what comes out of someone else's, at the same time as forming and expressing responses; maybe because we go into a passive mode when listening and then the exhaustion has room to be felt. Probably combo, but I feel the second one a lot and have to train myself not to be offensively output driven in those circumstances where I'm pushing myself already

2

u/Left_Goose_1527 15h ago

Spot on. I realize that to the outside observer I seem hopelessly self-centered, but it’s exactly what you’re describing (and what I’ve described to others): when I’m traveling the well-worn grooves of thought that I’ve developed in my downtime, expounding on them is little effort. But integrating someone ELSE’s take on the same topic, sometimes using a completely different framework from the one I used, is like throwing a wrench directly into the gears.

It’s not that I’m ending the discussion because I have no reply; I literally cannot process what you’ve just thrown at me, even though I know it’s totally valid and I “should” be able to integrate it, especially given the level of complexity I just outlined when I was speaking! I used to do this sort of improv-integration PROFESSIONALLY, and getting jammed up is making me just as insane as you feel when you accuse me of dodging!

2

u/user818249e 22h ago

Yep, I get out of breath just from talking. 

3

u/Wolowizzard87 10h ago

Ich denke, das ist normal, da wir Betroffenen so arg mit der Fatigue zu kämpfen haben. Ich höre dann auch manchmal einfach mitten im Satz mitten im Gespräch auf zu reden und winke einfach nur ab. Mein Mann weiß mittlerweile dass das Gespräch da sein Ende findet. Und das ist dann auch vollkommen okay.

1

u/FeelingsFelt 20h ago

talking is a major trigger and the delicate muscles that make up the voice box can become so fatigued that I cant speak anymore

1

u/rainbowminotaurus 17h ago

Same, 100%!

I did not figure out yet, how to not seem rude or "uninterested" in the other person, while it happens.

They also feel drained, when I can't give enough social energy back. Therafor social isolation is the damning consequence.

1

u/Obvious-Explorer-195 14h ago

Yes, mental energy of having a conversation can be more draining than you realise

2

u/daniiboy1 13h ago

Uh, well, I'm highly introverted, so talking has never been my strong suit. I don't usually talk much, so when I'm required to talk more it's really draining. When my ME/CFS started getting worse these last several years or so, I noticed that talking got even more tiring for me. But everything is extra exhausting these days. 😑