caffeine

so here's the deal. i don't drink tea or coffee, i do drink the occasional diet soda, but for 2 reasons i was thinking of grabbing some caffeine pills even though some people try to cut it out of their diet completely.

1, there are some basic good effects of caffeine, i heard that it does help to counteract alzheimers later in life, it gives your metabolism a little kick, and just helps people get through the day. so it can't be horribly bad....

2. i'm just always tired, and red bull gives me wings, but i don't want to drink that all the time. my main thing is that i am always tired, and i have changed my diet, i excercise and all the good stuff, but there is nothing wrong with me to cause the exhaustion. it's not the winter blues, and i end up sleeping 10 hours a night, then take a nap. and it's not like i am just tired and want to sit down, it's not being able to get up in the morning, then my eyes are watering 4 hours later and if i sit down on the couch i am out for 2 hours or more.....

so since the dr says there is nothing wrong, i just thought maybe that was an option. there is the amount of caffeine in one pill as in one cup of coffee....not trying to give myself a heart attack, just trying to not have my 4 year old remember a mom that was always tired and sleeping. if people drink a cup of coffee to get them going is it so wrong?

If you're chronically fatigued I think you should find the reason rather than masking it with caffeine.  Not that there's anything wrong with a cup of coffee or two but it's not really fixing the problem.   I know your doctor says there's 'nothing wrong' but clearly there is...  If you're relatively young, sleeping well and still horribly tired that's not normal at all.   Common causes for fatigue are things like iron deficiency... doesn't have to be 'anaemia' but low iron stores are pretty common in young women.  Vitamin B deficiency is another common one.   If you've changed your diet are you getting enough calories... energy?    Then you've got other conditions that can result in chronic fatigue like glandular fever or CFS/ME... the latter being really tough to test for medically.

Keep bugging your doctor... even ask for a second opinion.   Good luck

thanks, i actually started taking iron (before i did some research on it, i know, i slapped my own hands on that one) but just figured because i was running and was tired that i was probably low on iron. turns out i wasn't and it actually made me MORE tired. if you have too much iron it hinders the absorption of zinc which oxygenates the blood and you become even more fatigued. 

so i feel slightly better after that, and i got a work up on my blood and everything is completely normal. i have low blood pressure but that's more a good thing than a bad thing. 

i am 31, i run anywhere from 30-40 miles a week and have been having trouble trying to figure out what calorie intake i should be at. i now have it at light activity then add everything physical that i do. so i monitor that i don't ever have more than a 1000 cal deficit (if i even hit that, and that's usually only on a long run day). normally i'll have a 200-600 deficit.

on paper, everything that i am doing is right. i just feel tired all day everyday. i know that caffeine isn't the way to go, but it's hard when everyone keeps telling you that there is nothing wrong. oh, and i have also gained at least 10 pounds in the past 6 months as well. very defeating....

Everything GI Jane said...

Another possible cause for fatigue is depression. I was in a very similar situation to you about 1.5 years ago. Young, healthy, and completely exhausted. After ruling out various diseases and deficiencies, my doctor told me it was probably either depression or CFS. I was surprised, because I didn't feel "sad" or anything, but sure enough, a low dose of antidepressants (Lexapro in my case) did the trick.

Keep after your doctor - a healthy young person should not feel tired all the time!

If you get to much sleep and rest, that alone will make you constantly tired. Try sleeping only 8 hours at night. 10 may be to much. I used to be the same way and let me tell you how I fixed it. I sleep 7-8 hours a night and every morning I take a Womens one a day weight smart vitamin and vitamin b super complex. It has made a HUGE difference! Also I try to keep active. It helps. even if you cant imagine getting up and walking to the kitchen, do it! Walk around the block, run up and down the stairs! anything and it will make you feel sooo much better!

The fatigue is probably the result of the extremely high doses of caffeine your getting in the Red Bull. 

i went through depression years ago, so maybe it is just laying dormant. but for once in my life, except for the normal stress, i am finally out of a weird relationship and doing things for me and very happy with where i am in life. i have run a marathon and am doing my second at the end of the month. i am not over training, just what they say to run. i throw in pilates for strength training a few times a week and to lengthen me out. and i try to only sleep 8 hours a night,and i set my alarm but keep hitting snooze. ultimately i would love to get up and do my runs before my son gets up.  but it always ends up with him repeatedly trying to wake me up!!! sometimes this goes on for an hour or so with me dozing back off. he plays quietly with his trains so it's easy to do. but i hate that!!!! 

i am going to keep bugging my dr and try to figure this out. it's been almost 6-8 months of this, maybe even more, and i was like this in the summer too. in the summer i just thought i was tired from being out in the sun, then in the winter it's the winter blues....nah, somethings just not right

right now i am taking calcium, 5-htp (a "nervous system health support" but that is for stress and tension, it just makes me a bit calmer) but that has vitamin b in it as well as some other good stuff. it's a naturally occuring amino acid so i'm not putting anything crazy into my system. 

i try to keep myself moving but there have been times where i am in the middle of doing things and don't finish cause i just need to lay down.

thanks for all your help and advice. i'll go back to the dr soon. i just have to watch cause my insurance is weird and they might not cover all of my visits. 

i'm a dog chasing my tail right now. i'm at the 4 hour mark of being up, so i'm tired now, and will probably lay down. but today i will use the excuse that it is raining outside and it's a good lay on the couch and watch a movie day....

thanks for reading my long posts....

Original Post by trhawley:

The fatigue is probably the result of the extremely high doses of caffeine your getting in the Red Bull. 

i really only drink a red bull at work when i am really tired, it's maybe one once a week....or if i have a long drive. i don't like drinking them, but will. 

I would recommend getting some caffeine from a nice cup of tea rather than in pill form.

Original Post by trhawley:

I would recommend getting some caffeine from a nice cup of tea rather than in pill form.

second... green tea rock

how about taking B12.

maybe you have S.A.D (seasonal anxiety disorder) I have this and it certainly makes you feel tired

thanks again everyone. only thing is, i am 31 and have never drank a cup of tea in my life. i am just not a fan of coffee or tea. hence the pill form of caffeine.

i'll bring up these things to my dr, but it's really not a seasonal thing. it's a constant thing. summer and winter...

this is why it is so frustrating. 

although i do take b-6, maybe i should take that super complex. i'll research that a bit....

thanks again.

30-40 Miles a week, and your at light activity?  That sounds like the reason why your so tired.  I think you need to up your cals. 

This week I've been really tired and I up'd my cals to workout better.  Increase it with protein and see what happens.

MJ

I agree with mperic; you're tired because you're doing a ton of exercise, possibly even too much.  Definitely up your calories if you're running that much.

i am set at light activity and then ADD all my runs and any other activities that i do to it. i make sure that my calorie intake and burn deficit NEVER go under 1000, and most of the time it is only 200-600. the only time that i will have a huge deficit is if i do a long run which also then turns into my cheat day. if i run 23 miles, i deserve to eat anything that i want!!!! 

honestly, i have been trying to figure this out for almost 8-12 months, it's not seasonal and on paper i am doing everything right. i mean i could add more fruit and veg to my diet but who couldn't. i am also going to up my protein, and see how that goes. trying a bunch of different things. 

again. thanks!!!

Did this exhaustion begin only after you began your training/dieting schedule or did it start before that?

I noticed in your profile that you seem to be in a constant state of training for one marathon or another, and you are also running a deficit while training for a marathon which is generally pretty tough. 

If it corresponds to your state of exhaustion then i'd say you might want to start by looking at your exercise and eating habits first.  You haven't posted your stats or how many calories you eat, or what you eat, so just knowing what your deficits are really isn't much help determining whether or not you're eating enough.

If it started before you began all this, then you definitely need a second opinion from a doctor.