I'm tired all the time?

Question

no matter how much sleep i get. i drink coffee and it just makes me sleepy. what do i do?

Answer 1

Go see a doctor.

Answer 2

Obviously, a healthy lifestyle is the first thing to try. But assuming you've already tried that, check for:
1. Depression (can kill your motivation and energy)
2. Sleep Apnea (often not recognized, especially if you can explain the fatigue away with other reasons)
3. Seasonal Affective Disorder , known as SAD (likely diagnosis if getting more sunlight everyday, especially when you wake, decreases your fatigue. Also, if the problem is worse in the winter than in the summer.)
4. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, known as CFIDS.
5. Fibromyalgia Syndrome, known as FMS. (If it is FMS, you will have symptoms in addition to fatigue.)

The info available online will help you decide if any of these are likely the cause. But you need the help of a doctor to diagnose them definitively and prescribe treatment.

Answer 3

Self-help

You can often begin to overcome your tiredness with some simple measures:

Sleep

If you are having trouble sleeping, aim for a better sleep routine. It helps to:

-- go to bed and get up at the same time every day

-- ensure that your bedroom is quiet, dark and comfortable and that it is neither too hot nor too cold

-- eat earlier in the evening

-- find time to relax before bedtime - relaxing music or a hot bath can help

-- try to get problems and worries out of your head, perhaps by writing thoughts down in a journal

Food and drink

What you eat and drink can have a big impact on how you feel. It can help to:

-- ensure that you get a balanced diet and eat proper meals even if you don't feel like cooking

-- if you are underweight, gradually increase your portion sizes and your overall calorie intake

--CUT DOWN GRADUALLY ON CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL, ESPECIALLY IN THE EVENINGS

-- if you are overweight, try to get your weight under control by becoming more physically active and eating less. However, you should avoid crash diets

Physical activity

Being unfit makes you susceptible to tiredness - and being tired often means you don't exercise enough.

To break out of this cycle, introduce physical activity into your routine, gradually increasing the duration and intensity. Ten minutes a day is fine to start with; the most important thing is to keep it regular. If you exhaust yourself for some reason, don't give up. Just do a small amount of exercise again the next day, and keep going.

Walking is the often the easiest exercise to start with, but any physical activity that you enjoy and that fits into your life is fine.

For more about physical activity, see the BUPA factsheet titled Physical activity.

A balanced lifestyle

Think about what you could change to achieve a more balanced, stress-free lifestyle. Have realistic expectations about what you can achieve and aim to gradually increase what you can manage over time. Staying in bed all the time will not help you to get over your tiredness.

Learning to relax will help to improve sleep and to relieve stress-related symptoms such as frustration, irritability and tiredness. Your GP surgery or local library will often have details of local adult education classes, books or tapes.

Write down a list of any things that might have led to your tiredness, such as family or work pressures. Are there ways that you could avoid overburdening yourself in the future?

Seeking further help

You can seek help from your GP for tiredness that has no obvious cause. Anxiety or depression, a sleep disorder such as insomnia or sleep apnoea and iron-deficiency anaemia are all conditions that could cause tiredness. These conditions will need to be diagnosed and treated by a medical professional.

Answer 4

First of all, get yourself fully checked by your doctors. Insist on a thorough check. If everything is fine then I suspect that you may have narcolepsy. Later on in the medical investigation mention that you've read about narcolepsy. The problem is, many teenagers don't get diagnosed until later in life because it is very commond for a 17-year old to feel tired all the time. This happened to me when I was 17 and they wrongly diagnosed me with depression, which clearly I wasn't. Only last year I've been diagnosed with narcolepsy. You can correct it with medication, it's a bit like instead of taking tablets to help you sleep, they give you tablets to wake up. Whatever you do, ignore that person who advised you to look into scientology and dianetics because you can spend, spend, spend and spend money but you will not get the results they falsly claim. Trust me, I know, a friend of mine was sucked into it and completely destroyed himself (career, perrsonality, etc.). Good luck!

Answer 5

you could have a sleeping disorder without realising it. If you drink alchol in large amounts at night , that can make your breathing while sleeping irregular. As for the coffee, the experts say it doesn't keep people awake or wake them up. It is time to see a doctor to find out what is going on.

Answer 6

By posting in Mental Health it suggests you suspect an emotional problem of some sort.

I suggest you carefully examine your diet and be certain you are getting proper nutrition. That means vegetables and fruit and lots of water. Maybe a good multivitamin while you are at it.

I do know this, people who are experiencing depression often feel as thoough they have "no energy". There IS a reason for that. Events that are traumatic can cause the brain to reduce production of chemicals needed to keep it operating at full potential. One friend described it to me as being unable to generate enough brain power to create a thought. He said he was building a garage, had all the materials laid out on the cement and knew exactly what he was going to do with it. Then his father died suddenly with no warning and it really took him down with a bout of the "blues". A deep feeling of sadness. After a couple weeks of moping around feeling lousy he went out to work on the garage. He couldn't "think" what he wanted to do with the garage. He couldn't generate an idea. He said it was like when you try to lift something too heavy for your arms and you can't muster enough strength to move it. That is what is was like in his head. He would squint his eyes and try really hard to "think" what he wanted to do but he couldn't.

So he went to his doctor afraid he had a stroke and ended up with a psychologist who told him that's how depression works. It isn't mental illness, like some folks think. It is the brains attempt to slow us down after a bad event. So he went to therapy and tried a few medications and with exercise and patience he was back to his old self in about six months.

That could be you but first do the correct diet thing and see what happens.

Answer 7

I feel you. I have the same problem. The other day, I went to bed around 1AM, woke up the next day at 11:00 AM, ate breakfast, fell back asleep around 1:00PM, woke up again at 7:00PM and was still able to go back to bed at 10:00PM. I just felt so unbelievably tired and worn out. I've seen a doctor about this before and he said that there is nothing wrong with me. I just don't understand it. Last night, I fell asleep right after work too. I couldn't help it. I tried to clean a little bit, but I was getting week and sleepy and just couldn't hold myself up anymore. My roomate just thinks I'm extremely lazy, but believe me, I'd do anything to have energy again. I hope you find out how to regain your energy. And please, if you find anything that helps, let me know.

Answer 8

Stressed out maybe? Sleep itself is not always the answer. You could go for a brisk walk around 8pm and that should help you sleep a deeper sleep.

Answer 9

Try getting into a regular sleeping pattern... wake up every day at the same time and go to bed everyday at the same time... your body can't properly rest if you sleep in irregular sleeping patterns.

Answer 10

start eating protein and good food, vegies, beans, greens, stay away from carbs for a few days and drink lots of fluids, especially water. If you don't notice a difference after 3-4 days, call your doctor for a check up. Also, please do not do the scientology thing - they are into mind control, redirecting thoughts, etc., and they call it a religion (cult) bad stuff! ok? :)

Answer 11

You just might have the opposite happen to you when caffine enters your body. You might want to think about becoming more healthy. If you'd like more information about how to change your lifestyle and live a healthier life, email me I have some great info to share! alcoserfamily@yahoo