1w ago

Feel tired constantly. What did you do to solve this?

Edit1: some thoughts based on comments. I was diagnosed with low vitamin D a few months ago but took bills. Maybe a month ago I ran out. I thought getting outside more recently was enough. You all inspired me to be more serious about it. Got my vitamin D3 and b12 pills.

Also, I noticed the two days I felt so tired I slept later and had alcohol too late in the night. One drink but around 12am. I think not just sleep quantity but when I sleep and quality matter.

Will aim to take my pills, not drink after 8-9pm if I drink, and sleep before 11pm.

Thanks for all the advice :)

34 comments

If you're already getting enough sleep then I'd actually recommend exercise. Just two or three times a week, work up a good sweat for thirty minutes. Don't best yourself up if you forget or don't do it for any reason, just try again the next time.

How are your iron levels and blood pressure? Sometimes, when you're feeling tired all the time, it can be your body trying to tell you something. If you're sleeping well and you still feel tired, there's no harm in making an appointment with your doctor!

I quit smoking entirely and drinking except on special occasions, cut "empty" calories (from drinks and sugar) out of my diet, and adjusted my routines so I'm now forced to walk at least 5 miles a day (usually more) just to get to work and run my errands.
Basically a 180 degree lifestyle change, but I was lumbering half-asleep towards an early grave, so it had to be done.
Now I feel wide awake, full of energy and optimistic for the first time in 20 years.

Vitamin D3, B6, B12 and Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation helps a bit but I do have autoimmune disease so ymmv. Do yourself a favour and get D3 level checked at least.

Sleeping is good but sometimes just laying down stops my body from aching and feeling tired

Ask a doctor. Don't ask for medical advice from strangers on the internet

Try the low fodmap diet for a week. When I did it, every day felt amazingly better than the last, and it had a positive impact on my health even when I went back to eating what I had previously been eating.

Low blood pressure can cause this too especially if your on meds that can lower blood pressure. For me a cup of coffee, working out in the morning, and being careful when I take those meds helps.

Talk to your doctor, especially if the people you sleep next to have talked about loud snoring.
Long story short, I am using a CPAP machine now and it's amazing how energerized I feel after waking up.

Verify your sleep habits and that you're actually sleeping through the night. Disturbed sleep really messes with the cycles, so you don't get proper sleep. If you snore, that may be an indication of apnea, which can really mess with sleep.
Take a look at your diet, and eating schedule. If either are inconsistent, it can affect quality of sleep.
If you drink soda, (or any bottled drinks), work on changing that. Between the sugar and caffeine they can really mess with you in so many ways when consumed regularly.
This is a hard one - pay attention to (and respect) your sleep gate. I've struggled with this my whole life. When you body tells you it's sleepy, listen, and go to bed. I know, it can be tough. But overriding your sleep gate can really mess with your sleep schedule.
- When you body tells you it’s sleepy, listen, and go to bed.
  If I go to nap for 10 minutes at 12:00 and then at 17:00, the next day I'm guaranteed to be sleepy both at 12:00 and 17:00. That's how circadian rhythms adjust themselves. The only way to not be sleepy at 12:00 and 17:00 on further days is to overcome sleepiness and NOT give in.
  
  I dunno, I occasionally have a mid day nap, but not often. Never had a problem like that. Definitely varies person to person though
- Yeah, my first thought was sleep apnea. If OP sleeps alone, there are phone apps that will record and analyze the sounds you make through the night. This can be a good precursor to getting a doctor's opinion.

Go to the doctor. Advocate for yourself. Make them take you seriously. I've been extra tired for a couple years and it turns out I have a few autoimmune diseases.

It's good to talk to a doctor about this kind of thing, especially as you get older. It's usually nothing, but it might be a vitamin deficiency or something. A good family practitioner will know what questions to ask you.
- Yep. This is the right advice. Tired all the time’ is a super common condition to present to your doctor. It’s a symptom of very many things, for my last time I went with this condition it turned out to be a vitamin D deficiency.

Don't sleep (yuk yuk yuk) on this. Get blood tests. Mine was cancer.
If you also have night sweats and are constantly tired?
Get checked now. Don't wait.
Another common symptom is swollen or "hot" lymph nodes. (back of neck, under armpits, etc)

Got a CPAP to treat my sleep apnea. Easy top ten thing I've fone for myself. It took about 6 months to get use to the mask, but it was definitely worth it!
- Hah was coming here to say basically this: if you're always tired after sleeping, go get a sleep study. If you do have sleep apnea, absolutely nothing short of medical intervention will make a meaningful difference, and it's an easy place to start.
  
  Same here.
  OP, search for Epworth Sleepiness Scale, it's short questionnaire my doctor used to diagnose sleep apnea.
  I had a very high score, so she prescribed more exams to confirm the diagnosis.
  Now, I have a CPAP and it's a life changer for me.

Get more sleep, exercise on the regular and stop eating sugar.
I still don't get enough sleep, but I am at least getting more than I used to (~7hrs). I exercise regularly, but it isn't as rigorous as some. Just doing something helps heaps. Cutting out sugar evened out my energy swings a bunch. I also lost a chunk of weight quickly when I did so.
I am no healthologist, but doing the above (and maybe eating better if you are inclined) should get you to feeling better. Worth a shot, no?
- Regularly healthy habits like mentioned here really help, but also drinking (alcohol). There are so many reasons why it can negatively impact your health and energy. If you’re drinking a lot, really take a moment to ask yourself if you can take a break to see if it is what was negatively impacting you. Try 3 months and see if you can see the difference. Either way, if so or not, try another 3, then another 3, and then keep going. Never look back.

Have your B12 levels checked. (Don't assume you have a B-vitamin shortage, GET IT TESTED.)
- Fully support this. I've heard for years that "B12 deficiency is uncommon with a western diet," and yet, it happened to me.
  I stayed exhausted, lost a ton of weight, and had terrible anxiety.
  
  B12 is prevalent in the diet, but not everybody has the so-called "intrinsic factor" that permits the body to actually process it. If you lack it it's very difficult to get enough B12 no matter what you eat. (Ask me how I know…)

Depression?

Have you always felt tired or is this a new thing?
If you've always had trouble then you may have a chronotype that is set to differ from your daily routine. Research suggests it's heavily influenced by genetics. Unfortunately I'm not sure what to do about it if that's the case since the world is designed to run on 9-to-5 with no regard for those that don't fit.
If it's new, then think back to when you weren't tired and what has changed since then. Changes in diet, sleep habits, weight, stress, stopping working out and more can all affect sleep quality.
- I think this is/was my issue. I thrived once I got to go to college with mostly afternoon classes. I'm back in a rut because of kids waking me at 7am, though. Noon is where it's at for getting up!

Check your blood sugar. Being tired all the time is a symptom of diabetes. So is weight loss, bad vision.

Voted to fire the asshole in charge of this reality, felt mildly better for a while. Then he came back, and I'm more exhausted than ever.

Exercise - getting regular exercise makes it easier to sleep
Nutrition - B12, Vitamin D, Iron, Potassium are some of the usual suspects but there are more
Sleep - get 8 hours

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Sleep
This is a really excellent book on the subject. It's in the normal places 🏴‍☠️

Definitely don't smoke meth.

Could be many things, maybe even major depression. If your doctor fails you, I suggest reading about St John's Wort. There are pill formulations standardized to hyperforin content which might help with depression and possibly other conditions. Helped me with chronic fatigue of unknown cause.

34 comments