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Solutions for constant fatigue

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piku_playground

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 29, 2009
Messages
79
I'm constantly tired. I'm twenty now but it's been this way since about the time I hit puberty. I know it may just be a matter of physically growing but I feel that 8 years is a little too long for such a constant feeling of drain. And I don't just get tired around afternoon so I take a nap for a half hour, I'm literally struggling throughout the day to not just lay down on the sidewalk and sleep.

My fathers side of the family is all pretty similar in their lack of energy. My sister sleeps til 2pm whenever she can (but she is in graduate school so it doesn't effect her too negatively.) My father takes repeated naps but can also wake up at 5am systematically if he needs to. My cousins sleep a lot, one has suffered a lot of depression issues and OCD problems. My grandma slept a lot, but my grandfather was extremely disciplined. He woke around 4:30am everyday to do yoga and breathing exercises and had a strict diet.

I do suffer a lot of mood imbalance and depression. I'm getting really frustrated by the constant lows and lack of energy. It seriously is putting a hamper on my life. It's really hard to get me to do anything other than class once I have a moment availability to lay down as I usually take a two or more hour nap. If I'm not sleeping, I'm just really tired. When I feel happy or content, I usually have more energy.

Any recommendations? I don't want to go on any SSRIs or mood stabilizers. My diet is so so right now, I don't probably eat enough calories as I eat pretty irregularly. I'm vegan so the meals that I do eat are pretty well rounded and wholesome (whole grains, good proteins, low fat, etc.) I don't like caffeine as it increases my already high anxiety levels. I get enough sleep or too much, but I don't get to bed or wake at regular intervals. I'm not excerising right now, but I did just move to a new city so I plan on signing up for yoga tomorrow and a new gym.

I know the reason why I have low energy levels is probably pretty obvious- depression, no exercise, not drinking enough water, not eating enough food, not sleeping well, etc. It's really hard to fix any of these when I feel mentally pretty crummy. I'm not really sure where to start, because I cannot fix them all at once in my current state of mind and I now that they are all to blame for my fatigue, so I feel like focusing on one element will take forever until I see real benefits, not to mention the discipline it would take that I don't have.

Any healthy foods/supplements I could take to get a kick start? I was thinking of the coca tea stuff but I don't think it is fully legal. Thanks for any help. <3
 
I always take a daily multi vitamin with iron supplements. Does wonders for your red blood cells. Also, despite the crash, caffiene pills(the low dose 50mg ones) help me get through my long days at work. As long as you don't take like200mg's of caf. at once you won't crash but you can keep a steady "up" by taking 50mg's every 2 and a half hours.
 
Yeah I had a raw iron supplement I was taking but I didn't buy anymore after I used it up. I should get some more though. I do drink black tea 5-7 times a week which has around 50mg caffeine. That much caffeine never really gives me any anxiety.
 
Yes because the iron and red blood cell issue is mostly the cause of fatigue, the caffeine can be a life saver if you work/school full time. I have also used very very small "dots" of MDPV to give me all day energy.....but that is a whole other world of pain if you take too much. It is like Ritalin but you can take a very small amount for an energy "push".
 
I think getting enough calories can help if you are not eating enough. And were you always vegan, even during times when you had high energy? Some people do better with a certain amount of animal products. I was vegan in the past and it was not the best diet for me, although some people do much better on it.

Adrenal gland supplements are also good for energy, they contain different things like licorice root, adrenal extracts (from animals, you may want to avoid), ginseng, rhodiola, etc. They are a nice tonic that can help strengthen your system.

Stimulants are terrible for energy because they leave you with less than when you started. For occasional use it can be helpful but not as a daily thing. If you don't have enough energy to function (and I know how much it sucks to feel that way!) there is a reason for it, either physical or mental.
 
We're not doctors and I don't think a lot of people here are too refined in terms of their "healthy habits". *ahem* So in that spirit, I offer only two things--both serious--which you may not have considered.

1) Diet: you're "vegan". This can make you anemic.

2) Congenital heart condition. This will cause weakness and lethargy.

HTH
 
quite often people who are vegan or vegetarian are anaemic, so iron supplements can help, I know you will find them in green leafy veg. Also the lack of protien can make you tired if you are substituing with carbs which can make you more sluggish and tired.
I did notice you said that other people in your family have a similar need for sleep which means there could actually be more to it such as bd horse said above, a heart condition, but there are other things which can cause this.

best advice would be to go to the doctors and get yourself checked out and tested for what ever they can think of. good luck :)
 
For a quick fix, you might want to try out Yerba Mate, a South American tea. It's got caffeine and other things that wake you up, but it's also got anxiolytic properties. Caffeine can be too much for me too sometimes, but Yerba Mate both wakes me up and calms my nerves. It's also full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
 
Thanks for the replies. I don't feel like I am low in iron as I eat a lot of leafy greens like cale, black beans and pinto beans, soy, tempeh, seeds and nuts, etc. It wouldn't hurt to take some supplements though.

I'm not sure if I am getting enough protein or not. Some days I'm sure I get plenty, and others I get very little. Foods like seitan has more protein than meat I believe. One package has some insane amount like 70-80g (more than a bloody steak) and I eat about 3/4 of the package when I cook it with rice or noodles. Plus it is very little in soy which I try to not depend on too much.

I really think the main thing that causes my fatigue is my depression. From reading online, I see the same reports from people who suffer from mild to major depression. It pretty much kills everything.

I'll try some Yerba Mate. I also started doing yoga again which should help lots.
 
Hey man,
Try and get some food with higher calorie levels into your diet. Humans aren't really built to eat just vegetables, so you really have to adjust in order to get a proper nutritional intake. Other than that, chronic fatigue patients (around my area anyway) are often given weekly vitamin/mineral injections which apparently work like a charm.

Although in your case, the symptoms could be more psychological than physiological as you've mentioned above. In which case I know next to nothing about psychiatry/psychology so unfortunately I can't really give you any advice. Your best bet is to see your doctor for a routine check-up and while he/she's at it explain your situation.

Hope you figure it out :) Take care
 
If you're interested in going the medication route, a low dose of cytomel (T3 hormone) worked wonders for me. I'm on 15 mcgs right now, so well below the normally used doses for hypothyroidism. I don't have hypothyroidism, but my TSH levels have been normal with every test. I got it from a psychiatrist who worked with someone who commonly prescribed it to depressed patients that still suffered from fatigue. If you can find someone willing to try it for your fatigue, I highly recommend it.
 
piku_playground said:
I know the reason why I have low energy levels is probably pretty obvious- depression, no exercise, not drinking enough water, not eating enough food, not sleeping well, etc. It's really hard to fix any of these when I feel mentally pretty crummy. I'm not really sure where to start, because I cannot fix them all at once in my current state of mind and I now that they are all to blame for my fatigue, so I feel like focusing on one element will take forever until I see real benefits, not to mention the discipline it would take that I don't have.
Click to expand...

I think if you were to choose just one of these things to do it would be to wake and sleep at the same time every morning and night.
 
This symptom is reason enough to request blood tests from your doctor. A simple test may reveal an obvious reason which can be easily treated. It'll also show if the Epsteinn Barr virus has been active recently.
 
Other than multivitamins and iron supplements and whatnot, I'd start exercising.

Exercising's good for your mood (my therapist recommends it!), it'll stimulate your appetite so you'll eat more, give you more energy, etc. And a regular sleep schedule is a must!!! That'll affect your mood too. Well, it does mine, but I'm bipolar..? Anyway, if I sleep too much for too long I'll actually get depressed and if I stay out all night partying for too many nights I'll actually start getting manic so hey, you might wanna try regulating your sleep!
 
Thanks again for replies.

I've been increasing my calorie intake to probably around around 1,500-2,000 per day. I need to get to a constant 2,500 or 3,000 to gain weight. But I have been eating more consistently and have gained 2-3 pounds. Plus all of the food I'm eating is really healthy; Vega/superfood shakes, salads, brown rice, black and pinto beans, etc.

I have also been exercising more via my bicycle. I ride that daily to go to school and do various day to day stuff. I have also been taking it out on longer 10-20 mile rides. I feel great after I exercise for about 2 hours, then fatigue starts coming back.

I've actually been sleeping more in the past week even though I've been doing more beneficial things through diet and exercise. I usually wake up around 1-2pm, feel like shit, feel tired enough around 8pm that I want to nap again. If I'm at school, right during my three hour break I go take a nap after eating lunch. I think it is about time I go see a doctor and get some blood work done or see if I have hypothyroidism.

When someone has hypothyroidism, isn't a side effect weight gain? Because I've never had that issue in my life ha.
 
speaking just from personal experience, depression can cause fatigue on its own. depression also makes people need a lot more sleep which is evidence enough that it's making you tired. i was depressed and fatigued for such a long time that i really thought it was some crazy illness and had tests done ad nauseum until i knew every single thing about what's going on in my body and every result kept coming back normal normal normal normal.

i tried a lot of stuff to yank me out of depression but what was most effective above all was to write up a list (i know this seems like something a procrastinator would do but...) of concrete goals that (...here is the meat of it) i could and would actually meet.

a concrete set of goals makes your hopes seem real and you can break long-term goals up into manageable short-term goals just by thinking about it. "hey, what goals do i have to accomplish in order to accomplish this bigger goal?" is as far as it needs to go. as long as you actually make it as far as being able to tick a few items off the list you know you're on your way because it will generate and require a feeling of true purpose for you to be able to accomplish these long-term goals and you will really feel epic when you do.

but hey, that may not be the way it works for everyone. my best friend was mad depressed too and he fished himself out of it by throwing himself into work. that's sort of what i do lately as well, which i have to admit really does help, but it all points back to a) giving purpose to your work and b) believing in that purpose.

dream big, work small
 
You could have a thyroid problem .

Like an umderactive or overactive one...


But yeah. Go to the doc and get your thyroid checked
 
It might be worth it to look into some kind of chronotype disorder. Are you affected by the dark seasons a lot? I have delayed sleep phase disorder (co-morbid with adhd and sub-clinical Seasonal Affective Disorder). The good thing about this certain disorder is that it can be treated really well with harmless methods. I use melatonin for sleep and have a 500W daylight lamp wake me up each morning to break down said melatonin. I can sleep better now and also feel rested when waking up early.

Mood swings (4-5 times a day) are common in ADHD. If I were you I'd just get a full psych evaluation, because it could be anything. I really doubt it is something physical though (like hypothyroidism) because you're young and don't seem to have any physical symptoms.
 
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