If you have made lifestyle changes to do with your physical activity, diet, stress levels, and sleep but still feel tired all the time, there could be an underlying medical condition. If you are concerned that you have a medical condition that is causing you to feel tired, arrange an appointment with your healthcare provider to discuss your worries as soon as possible.
This article provides details on rapid eye movement REM sleep, why we need it, how to ensure we get it, and how REM sleep is affected by alcohol. A lack of sleep can harm mental and physical health. Learn how much sleep is necessary, the effects of getting too little, and tips for better sleep.
In this Special Feature, we question some common misconceptions about sleep, including the role of alcohol, remembering dreams, and late-night cheese. Why you feel tired all the time. Share on Pinterest There are many reasons for tiredness, including a lack of sleep, poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle, stress, and medical conditions.
Lack of sleep. Share on Pinterest Tiredness increases the risk of accidents, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease. Poor diet. Share on Pinterest Eating a healthful and balanced diet can help to combat fatigue. Sedentary lifestyle.
Share on Pinterest Exercising can help to increase energy and reduce tiredness. Excessive stress. Share on Pinterest Excessive stress can lead to physical and emotional exhaustion.
Medical conditions. Iron deficiency alone, even without anemia, is now thought to be a cause of chronic fatigue. A simple blood test at your doctor's office can tell you whether or not you have anemia. Keep in mind that anemia is not just iron deficiency and there are a great many possible causes. Hypothyroidism is a disease in which thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Thyroid disease is very common, especially in women, and affects 27 to 60 million people in the United States alone.
Thyroid hormones control your metabolism so that when levels are low, you may have symptoms of tiredness, weight gain, and feeling cold. Making the condition even more confusing, hypothyroidism can mimic depression symptoms. Thankfully, a simple blood test can determine if your thyroid gland is functioning up to par, and treatment can be instituted if not. Heart disease, especially heart failure, can cause you to feel tired all of the time and unable to tolerate exercise.
Even your regular daily activities, like walking or carrying your groceries in from the car, can become difficult. Other possible symptoms of heart disease include chest pain, palpitations, dizziness, fainting, and shortness of breath. In recent years it's been noted that the symptoms of heart disease in women often differ from those in men and may be more subtle, for example, presenting as fatigue rather than chest pain. It's important to talk to your doctor about all of your symptoms as well as your family history of medical conditions.
Based on these findings, you and your doctor may decide that further tests to evaluate your heart are needed. Sleep apnea is a chronic condition in which there may be pauses in breathing, or shallow breathing, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a minute while a person is sleeping. And, each time breathing returns to normal, often with a snort or a choking sound, it can be very disruptive to a person's sleep.
This disrupted and poor quality sleep can be a common cause of daytime sleepiness. Other symptoms associated with sleep apnea include morning headaches, memory problems, poor concentration, irritability, depression, and a sore throat upon waking.
Your doctor will likely ask you if others have noticed problems with your sleep such as irregular breathing or snoring, and may also be concerned if you have risk factors for sleep apnea or experience daytime tiredness. A sleep study is often recommended to document sleep apnea, and if present, treatments such as CPAP may be recommended. It's important to note that untreated sleep apnea not only results in tiredness, but can lead to heart disease, stroke, or even sudden death.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver with several possible causes ranging from infections to obesity. The liver serves many important functions in the body from breaking down toxins to manufacturing proteins that control blood clotting, to metabolizing and storing carbohydrates, and much more.
When the liver is inflamed, these important processes can come to a halt. In addition to being tired, some of the symptoms that you might experience with hepatitis include jaundice a yellowish discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes, abdominal pain, nausea, dark yellow urine, and light-colored stools.
Liver function tests are easily done in most clinics, and if abnormal, can lead you and your doctor to look for the possible causes. Diabetes is a condition in which either the body doesn't make enough insulin or it doesn't use it as well as it should. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps glucose get into the body's cells to be used for energy production. There are several reasons that diabetes may be causing you to feel tired all the time.
Other symptoms of diabetes include frequent urination, extreme thirst, unexplained weight loss, extreme hunger, sudden vision changes, tingling or numbness in the hands or feet, dry skin, slow-healing wounds or more infections than usual. If you suspect that certain foods may be making you tired, consider working with an allergist or dietitian who can test you for food sensitivities or prescribe an elimination diet to determine which foods are problematic.
Food intolerances can cause fatigue or low energy levels. Following a food elimination diet may help determine which foods you are sensitive to. Calories are units of energy found in food. Your body uses them to move and fuel processes like breathing and maintaining a constant body temperature.
When you eat too few calories, your metabolism slows down in order to conserve energy, potentially causing fatigue. Your body can function within a range of calories depending on your weight, height, age and other factors. However, most people require a minimum of 1, calories per day to prevent a metabolic slowdown. Experts on aging believe that although metabolism decreases with age, older people may need to eat at the top of their calorie range in order to perform normal functions without becoming fatigued Not getting enough vitamin D, iron and other important nutrients can also lead to fatigue.
In order to keep your energy levels up, avoid drastic cuts in calorie intake, even if your goal is weight loss.
You can calculate your calorie needs using the calorie calculator in this article. Your body requires a minimum number of calories in order to perform daily functions.
Consuming too few calories can lead to fatigue and make it difficult to meet nutrient needs. Research has found that when your sleep pattern is out of sync with your circadian rhythm, chronic fatigue may develop In one study, healthy young men were allowed to sleep either seven hours or just under five hours before being kept awake for 21—23 hours.
Their fatigue ratings increased before and after sleep, regardless of the number of hours they slept However, if your job involves shift work, there are strategies to retrain your body clock, which should improve your energy levels. In one study, shift workers reported significantly less fatigue and better mood after being exposed to bright light pulses, wearing dark sunglasses outside and sleeping in total darkness Using glasses to block blue light may also help people who perform shift work.
Try to sleep at night or retrain your body clock. Inadequate protein intake could be contributing to your fatigue. Consuming protein has been shown to boost your metabolic rate more than carbs or fat do In one study, self-reported fatigue levels were significantly lower among Korean college students who reported eating high-protein foods like fish, meat, eggs and beans at least twice a day 5.
Other studies have found that high-protein diets tend to produce less fatigue among weight lifters and people who perform resistance training 30 , To keep your metabolism strong and prevent fatigue, aim to consume a high-quality protein source at every meal.
Consuming adequate protein is important for keeping your metabolism up and preventing fatigue. Include a good protein source at every meal. The many biochemical reactions that take place in your body every day result in a loss of water that needs to be replaced. Several studies have shown that being even mildly dehydrated can lead to lower energy levels and a decreased ability to concentrate 33 , 34 , Although you may have heard that you should drink eight, 8-ounce ml glasses of water daily, you may require more or less than this depending on your weight, age, gender and level of activity.
The key is drinking enough to maintain good hydration levels. How to get to sleep 10 tips to beat insomnia How to stop snoring. Healthy sleep tips for children How much sleep do children need? Sleep tips for teenagers. What's the difference between tiredness and fatigue? Here are 10 health conditions known to cause tiredness or fatigue. Anaemia One of the most common medical reasons for feeling constantly run down is iron deficiency anaemia.
Read more about iron deficiency anaemia. Read more about haemochromatosis. Sleep apnoea Sleep apnoea is a condition where your throat narrows or closes during sleep and repeatedly interrupts your breathing. Read more about sleep apnoea. Underactive thyroid An underactive thyroid gland means you have too little thyroid hormone thyroxine in your body. Coeliac disease This is a lifelong disease caused by the immune system reacting to gluten.
Read more about coeliac disease. Chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME is a severe and disabling fatigue that goes on for at least 4 months.
Diabetes One of the main symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is feeling very tired. Glandular fever Glandular fever is a common viral infection that causes fatigue, along with fever, sore throat and swollen glands. Read more about glandular fever.
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