Tiredness/fatigue

[_HeyyItsHannah_]

Hello

So.. For a long, long, long time now.. I have been so tired. I get exhausted from doing nothing, and I never get over it. I have always been a tired individual because of medical reasons, and i'm pretty much always going to be tired but it's really gotten out of control. I can't do the things I want to do anymore, can't participate in the sports I want to participate in.. I went to my doctor about it and he said to try Vitamin D. Well. That helped a bit.. But not much. It's too the point in the mornings where I am missing the bus EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And I have to walk to school Because I can't get my *** out of bed to start getting around. I know everyones tired in the mornings but it's really not normal. I have no idea what to do anymore. I sleep a good 8 hours of sleep too usually... Lately i've been waking up a bit earlier but not early enough that I would be feeling this way.. I know and realize I will always be tired but I won't put up with this crap ;l

Any suggestions?? I just want to feel a bit more awake

[Matt]

We are pretty much the same by the sounds of things. I am tired all the time and get a decent 8+ hours of sleep a night. It could be a number of things really and I say this because I've been told by numerous people (even though I've not actually gone to see a doctor).

Low Iron is the first thing that comes to mind. I know if you're anemic the first major sign is feeling tired. Doing more physical activity might also help, even if you are too tired to do it in the first place, being more active might help you a bit. There could be more serious underlying issues so you could go and see another (different) doctor if you wanted a second opinion. They may do blood tests etc to get a clearer idea too.

I should probably go and see a doctor and sort it out myself tbh, I just live with the fact I'm always tired haha.

[lemons]

eat and drink

[Empired]

Low Iron is the first thing that comes to mind. I know if you're anemic the first major sign is feeling tired. Doing more physical activity might also help, even if you are too tired to do it in the first place, being more active might help you a bit. There could be more serious underlying issues so you could go and see another (different) doctor if you wanted a second opinion. They may do blood tests etc to get a clearer idea too.

If I'm right in remembering, Hannah is a vegetarian, so is already at a higher risk of anaemia than normal.
Simplest way to check for anaemia is to pull down the corner of your lower eyelid and look at what colour the area under your eyeball is. It should normally be a pinky/red colour but anaemics have considerably paler flesh there.

Here's some images of what your eye should look like compared to what it shouldn't. I'll just post the link in case some people are squeamish (it's nothing bad but still...)
https://osteopathicthoughts.files.wo.../03/anemia.jpg

If the flesh is pale it's not a sure sign that you're anaemic still, but you do need to go to your doctor and discuss the issue with them.

Second of all, you mention you get "a good" eight hours of sleep each night. How much over eight hours is that? It's been proven that those feeling most awake in the mornings get between seven and eight hours of sleep. Those who get quite a bit more than 8 hours can be left feeling as bad as those who aren't sleeping enough because too much sleep can also lead to exhaustion during the day.

Next, I'd take a look at your sleeping pattern if I were you. I watched a fascinating programme over a year ago now about sleep and how everyone's body clocks can vary massively. I remember there was one woman who slept best if she went to sleep at 2:30am and woke up at 6:30 because she just didn't need that much sleep and couldn't sleep early in the night. As summer is fast approaching, talk to your family and tell them that you want to change your sleeping pattern round a bit to see if it makes any difference. For example, I sleep best from 11pm to 6:30 - 7am. That's just how I like to do things and I feel awful the next day if I oversleep/go to bed too late.

Also investigate the surroundings you're sleeping in. Is your bedroom light, messy, cold? How much time do you spend in there when not sleeping? Do you have a bedside lamp? Do you have white lights or more yellow ones? These are just some of the things that can really impact your sleep because of your environment. I find that whiter lights just before I go to bed actually keep me awake more as I used to have a bedside lamp that shone white, so I had to change to a mellower yellow light to make me more sleepy when I'm reading last thing before I go to sleep. Also, your bedroom should be for sleeping and little else; try not to spend too much time during the day doing other things in there if you can avoid it.

What's your routine before bedtime? If you don't have one I'd thoroughly recommend getting one. They're super useful as a routine indicates to your body that it's time to begin to settle down for the night and hopefully get a better night's sleep because of it. Some normal things to do might include taking a bath/shower, turning off the TV half an hour before you go to sleep, reading for a while in bed, and anything else that would relax you that you can think of.

Some other things to think about that I'll just shove in a list:

• Try listening to white noise through the night (there's a white noise app somewhere). Some people- me included- sleep much better when listening to white noise than lying in total silence. If you discover it's not your thing, turn it off if it starts to annoy you.
• Invest in some blackout blinds. I find it very difficult to sleep if it's even slightly light and blackout blinds are a big help.
• Leading on from that^ make sure all lights in your room (even down to the tiny little charging light on your phone) are somewhere else/covered up.
• You MUST get out of bed in the morning. Even if you feel that there's no way that you can't, call someone up (even call your mum downstairs or something) to come and force you out of bed. Staying in bed is guaranteed to make this worse in the long run.
• Look at getting different alarm clocks. Find which one suits you. My mum likes to be woken up at 6:30 and lie in bed for 15 minutes listening to BBC Radio 2 whilst I prefer to have a horrible beeping sound that fires me out of bed. Seriously, I'm out of bed and into the bathroom 30 seconds after being woken up.

[Kyle]

Need to know about your diet and eating/sleeping patterns to really figure out what's causing your problem and the best course of action to sort it out. Up your dosage if you aren't getting vitamin d naturally from foods. If you're experiencing hypotension as well then tackle that too. General advice is to eat small but frequent meals to ensure you are getting enough energy but aren't depriving your brain of blood by sending it all to your stomach and keep your fluids up. Head back to the doctor and let them know that problems are resurfacing so you can figure it out with them.

[Monotonous]

Could be thyroid problems

[Empired]

Need to know about your diet and eating/sleeping patterns to really figure out what's causing your problem and the best course of action to sort it out. Up your dosage if you aren't getting vitamin d naturally from foods.

Or you could like... go outside...

Get your vitamins naturally as the most effective way of absorbing vitamin D is to go outside for at least half an hour anyway. I never understand why people waste money on buying vitamin D supplements that they won't be able to absorb very well anyway. In the pharmacy I work in we're always told to only recommend vitamin D supplements if the person has had a specific recommendation from their GP.

If you're spending a lot of time out in the sun but are still worried about your vitamin D levels you need to speak to your doctor rather than trying to sort the problem out on your own.

[Kyle]

Or you could like... go outside...

Get your vitamins naturally as the most effective way of absorbing vitamin D is to go outside for at least half an hour anyway. I never understand why people waste money on buying vitamin D supplements that they won't be able to absorb very well anyway. In the pharmacy I work in we're always told to only recommend vitamin D supplements if the person has had a specific recommendation from their GP.

If you're spending a lot of time out in the sun but are still worried about your vitamin D levels you need to speak to your doctor rather than trying to sort the problem out on your own.

She said that she had already been advised to try vitamin D but it only helped a little so I assumed she already goes outside but just gets an inadequate level. But yes consult your doctor for a reliable dosage.

[TCGEmily]

Normally on school days i get 2~4 hours of sleep. Knock 'em off with a mix of vodka, red blue & black coffee; blend it with ice and just gulp it down. I get brain freeze but i'm hyper for the rest of the day. Or get a hot caramel machiatto & expresso from Starbucks, blend them & gulp it down. Same effect. Gross combinations but they work for me.

As for weekends, i get about 6~8 hours of sleep. Same for the holidays.

Trying walking your tiredness off or running.

[Circadia]

Even if you're getting 8 hours of sleep a night, it depends what quality of sleep you're getting. You could have an underlying condition such as sleep apnoea, where you basically can't breathe and you wake up, but you wouldn't know or remember because of the fact you'll be too drowsy to even realise what has happened. You could also have another condition which affects your sleep.

Another thing that could be affecting you is your sleep hygiene, if you have bad sleep hygiene you're more likely to be drowsy even with a decent quality nights sleep. For instance, because I suffer from iron deficiency anemia, I tend to sleep a lot when I come home from college or work and then wake up and end up going to sleep early in the morning which is incredibly bad for my health. To sort your sleep hygiene out you'd have to cut down on napping, if you do nap, or completely get rid of it and try and get into a normal circadian rhythm of sleep.

You could also, like Charlie said, be being affected by the light in your room/electronic devices. It's been proven that the blue light used in electronic devices such as phones/tablets and in LED lights can make your body under produce melatonin, a hormone which when it increases makes you drowsy, when you're about to sleep so your body is physically tired but mentally it's thinking it's still daylight and to be awake. So you could cut out using the device an hour before bed time and if you need it to sleep, read a book with minimal lighting or find some other way to relax.

You are also at high risk of being anemic due to the fact you're a vegetarian. The main symptoms of anemia are tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache and cold hands/feet. There are others but they are less common like a symptom called pica where you have a desire to eat things like sand/ice/paper etc. Also, being a female you're also in the higher risk of being anemic especially if you have a heavy menstrual flow which can be helped by going on birth control, if you want to do that/depending on the age you are.

To be honest, to sort it out you're most likely going to have to see a doctor and ask about anemia and have some blood taken to see if you are anemic. If you are you'd be given a course of iron and usually, unless you're like me and the anemia persists for 11 years (lol), the anemia will go away and you'll be better again.