exhausted and can't figure out why
please help! i've seen similar threads to this one, but nothing in them seems to apply.
i get 7.5-8 hours of sleep a night, more on weekends. i burn between 1900 and 2200 calories a day, depending on exercise. i'm consistently eating 1600 calories a day. diet is about 30% fat, 15-20% protein, and 50-55% carbs, and i always get an A for nutritional analysis. i take a multivitamin that fulfills my iron and b vitamin recommendations. my weekly exercise includes 2 hour-long pilates classes, about 60 minutes of walking to and from work 5 days a week, an hour or so of swimming laps, 3 days of strength training (about 15-20 minutes at a time - working on increasing, but have just been so tired), and 3 days of 30-minute cardio sessions. i work a full-time desk job, but it's never more than 40 hours a week.
and i... am... so... tired. all the time. all i want to do the rest of the time is sit on my derriere and watch tv. but why? any tips or tricks to help out until i can take time off work to get to the doctor would be appreciated.
But the fish helped me the most.
oops, forgot to mention i'm vegan. maybe that's the problem? but i've been vegan for nearly a year now and haven't felt like this until the past few months or so.
if i can't find another fix... i'll follow your fish advice. i do so hate the taste of meat (reason i went veg in the first place), and i'm allergic to dairy, so maybe i'll just have to suck it up and force down some fish every once in a while. i'm not sure i understand the carrots+tomatoes/cantaloupe+apple thing, but i'll give that a try as well. i feel like crap, and i'll do anything at this point - even eat fish - to feel better. thanks!
any more suggestions on what might be wrong with me?
depression and anxiety can also cause fatigue, which is another thing i am looking in to in my case. you may want to investigate that further if you are stressed out.
also, how is the quality of your sleep? sometimes with sleep apnea or other conditions, you may not be getting the amount of sleep you think you are.
i hope things get better, i am going through the same thing basically, and as you can tell, trying to figure out all the possibilities/reasons. good luck!
Original Post by gi-jane:
Have you been to see your GP? There are many reasons for fatigue and whilst some are diet/lifestyle related there are plenty of others that aren't and which don't improve without medical intervention. Multivitamins can top up levels in relatively healthy people but if you're clinically anaemic, for example, you may need much stronger doses. I would also look at your total calorie expenditure again because, with the exercise you describe, 1900-2000 sounds very low.
not yet. i moved recently and don't really have a gp, so i have to go about finding one and then taking off work and yada yada yada. a real pain, and i know i should go, but i was hoping maybe someone might be able to tell me any diet or activity tricks to try in the meantime.
i plug everything into the tools here on cc, and 1900-2200 is what it always says. unless i have a medium frame... gosh, the tools really shouldn't confuse me this much! haha. maybe in the meantime i'll put fat loss on hold and just try to eat more. thanks!
Original Post by notalone:
I agree, seeing a doctor is a good idea. I am borderline anaemic and need to take additional iron supplements plus a multivitamin, and B-12.
depression and anxiety can also cause fatigue, which is another thing i am looking in to in my case. you may want to investigate that further if you are stressed out.
also, how is the quality of your sleep? sometimes with sleep apnea or other conditions, you may not be getting the amount of sleep you think you are.
i hope things get better, i am going through the same thing basically, and as you can tell, trying to figure out all the possibilities/reasons. good luck!
i didn't even think about the possibility of sleep apnea. good call. that's pretty serious, isn't it? i guess i should make getting to the doctor more of a priority. i'll call around today.
i hope you get yours figured out, too. good luck!
Do you find that you are even more fatigued on days that have high humidity levels? Since the summer began I find that there are many more days where I'm just more sluggish....because of the humidity. I'm a whole new woman on the low humidity days!
I used to be so exhausted in the afternoons that I would actually fall asleep at my desk at work. My problem was that I was not eating "long-lasting" foods. I was eating foods that spiked my sugar levels and then made me crash. I was also eating too much at each sitting. I've found that when I eat smaller portions several times a day (3 meals, 3-4 snacks) that my blood sugar stays much more stable and I have more energy. I also was anemic, but I've made a conscious effort to get more iron (through leafy veggies since I don't eat red meat) and also take a multivitamin.
I'm not sure if any of this is helpful, but I thought I'd share my experience just in case. Good luck! I hope you feel better soon!!
If your diet and exercsie isn't showing a clue, you need to go NOW. Letting medical problems "percolate" just ups the expense and the severity of them.
thanks everyone for your replies. k-loo, i don't live in an area with much humidity, so i don't think that could be the case. plus it's been ongoing for a couple weeks now. maybe it's a blood sugar thing, but i'm already trying to control that with what ccrun has suggested - i eat every 3 hours and my coworkers are always making fun of me for eating all the time!
an hour ago, i made an appt with a doctor. it was crazy. the earliest i could get in anywhere was the end of july! luckily the one i managed to make an appointment with is located right across the street from my apartment complex... so i won't have to get too exhausted walking there lol!
anyway, thanks everyone, and i'll let you know what the diagnosis (if he gives one) is.
You say you don't live in a humid climate. I can relate to that being in Phoenix. I find that not drinking enough water makes me feel exhausted. With you activity level, you may want to drink more H2O.
So many possibilities and so much great advice here already. The first things that come to my mind also involve anemia/vitamin deficiencies, which you can only find out at your doc appt. Also, depression. My advice for something you can do now, while waiting to see your doc, is scale back your exercise routine for at least a week, maybe two, way back. Eat maintenance. See if you feel better. Make sure you are eating good-quality, balanced meals/snacks every day and not just "meeting calories." Continue your vitamins/calcium supplements (if taking) but look at any other supplements/herbals you may be taking and consider putting those on hold for awhile. You could try doing one or the other (stopping extra supplements or paring your exercise way down and eating maintenance for a couple of weeks) and see if you notice any differences in how you feel. This way, you'll have a better idea of which may be the culprit and what needs to be modified.
Failing this, hopefully your doc may be able to help you find a cause/solution. If you do what detective work you can on your own now, that's all the fewer possibilities to have to wade through when you have your doc appt. You could also start keeping daily notes/journals/meals/activities/moods/sleep patterns, etc., etc., to try to correlate things that you might not otherwise realize. This might also help your doctor if you bring it with you. Best of luck.
Original Post by h8cldwx:
I hear ya when it comes to wanting to just lay on the couch all day...haha. Have you had your thyroid checked? I get mine checked on a regular basis for general health (diabetic)...and found out 2 days ago that I have hypothyroidism. Thus...fatigue, slow metabolism, hard to lose weight, depression, dry skin...all the fun stuff. Hopefully that's not what you have..but you never know. I read that about 30% of people have some form a thyroid trouble and don't even know it. Find a good GP or Endo (even better) Good luck!
Welcome to the Club h8cldwx!
Go see your doctor. I started getting very tired a few years ago, when I used to be very energetic and active. I thought it was stress, bad eating, over working etc. When nothing else seemed to help, I started to see other issues. After visiting a ton of doctors I found out I had an autoimmune disease. Although it's not curable, I have learned to take other approaches to deal with all this fatigue.
Samesofam,
You say you just moved and have chronic fatigue? Did the fatigue occur before or after you moved? If it was after, your new home may be making you sick (even if no-one else in the home is sick). Most often this occurs due to significant mold growth (Sick Building Syndrome). This is not yet well accepted in the medical community but it will be one day. There are lots of causes for fatigue so there is high likelihood this is not it.
Check your HVAC system, especially heat exchanger coil. Also check outside where your air intake is. Are you using the same bed? Some beds begin harboring very high levels of mold. (sleep number) Any roof leaks? A wet basement?
Nevertheless, the air in your home should smell clean and fresh without any Glade or other air fresheners.
If you find mold/garbage/rotting waste doctors probably won't be any help.
For the person who is anemic and tired, you may have some sort of malabsorption. Have you thought about Celiac Sprue (Gluten Allergy)?
So you can log your weight -- which allows you to do the following:
- Plot your weight curve
- Analyze the trend of your weight (see under Recent in the figure above)
- Determine the projected target date (see under Overall in the figure above)