Tired All The TIme

Mythril

These last 2 or 3 weeks I've been so tired! I eat a keto diet because I have PCOS and it helps with that. Usually I have tons of energy, I'm running around doing stuff I haven't done in years. Lifting weights, walking for 30 minutes, etc. But recently I have not been able to stay awake. I take my husband to work because he doesn't have his license, and I get up at about 6:30 am. When I get home at about 7:10 am I'm fighting not to get back into bed, and if I don't I'm usually starting blankly into space.

I take a prenatal vitamin, I am getting enough iron. I go to bed in time to get 8 hours of sleep. I get plenty of sunlight.

I'm blaming it on weather and allergies at the moment. But maybe someone else has better insight? IDK.

It's not the keto. Keto has given me boundless energy.

JenAndSome

You're taking a prenatal vitamin. Are you pregnant or trying to get pregnant? I honestly don't know anything about the keto diet.

kaitlinrt

If it continues you should have your thyroid checked. If you have high blood pressure or a BMI above 30 or are told by your husband that you snore loudly, you may need to talk to your doctor about a sleep study.

ereckless82

I don't know anything about the Keto diet. Does it allow for a little caffeine? Maybe some oolong tea in the morning? It could be the season change too. Also, if you're trying to get pregnant, possible that you are now? I know when I got pregnant, I was exhausted. That's how I knew I was pregnant very early on.

Mythril

No, I'm not trying to get pregnant. I take a prenatal vitamin because it's good for anyone of a child-bearing age to take one. Plus it has a lot of good stuff in it. I'm definitely not pregnant, I'm on the pill and I don't have any other symptoms. And I need doctor aid to get pregnant.

Keto is I only eat 25g of carbs or less a day. I use fat for energy through ketosis.

I drink plenty of caffeine! Lol, but caffeine has never had an effect on me.

I have perfect blood pressure. Doctors are usually surprised because I'm overweight, but I have PCOS which makes it difficult to lose weight. I also do not snore. He snores. But I don't. I believe I had my thyroid checked a few years ago, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask for them to check again. I'm not sure how that works, if it can change.

Zombella

I'd take a pregnancy test. Birth control can fail. I thought I couldn't get pregnant and then I started losing weight. Both times fatigue was one of my first symptoms.

cljohnoson52

You can also check your vitamin D levels. I was the same - falling asleep whenever I sat still. My vitamin D was a little low - with supplements I feel better. Good Luck!

Lizzy622

Mythril wrote: »

I also do not snore. He snores.

My husband has sleep apnea but I never realized how much it affected me until he got a CPAP. He finally slept through the night and so did I. I had many of your symptoms but since I am hypothyroid I just blamed it all on that. It is amazing how the person sleeping next to you can affect your sleep without you knowing it.

Katiebear_81

Get some sleep! If you've recently started to work out, your body needs more time to repair. If you have time to nap, then do it. You're obviously not getting enough sleep, so please get some more. Stimulating yourself with more coffee or whatever isn't going to fix the root of the problem.

I know for me, when I've had a more active day with exercise, I'm dead asleep on the couch by 10 pm. My body just needs the time to repair my muscles, and sort through my "stuff" from the day.

PS - if getting more sleep isn't helping, then please see your doctor for above reasons (thyroid, apnea, etc).

ninerbuff

How long have you been on the diet?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Katiebear_81

Oh, and allergies make me super tired... but I feel better when I get more sleep. So I'm back to that one.

bug1114

When is the last time that you had your blood drawn and your vitamin levels actually checked? I ask because you mention that you are taking a prenatal, so you say that it can't be low iron. That isn't necessarily true, it is possible to take an iron supplement (or multi vitamin) and still be low on your iron level (you could have an inability to absorb iron, birth control method could hinder iron absorption, diet, etc). You also might be low on B12 or Vitamin D. But the only way to know would be to have your doctor run some labs on you.

You also mentioned that you have allergies. Do you take allergy medicine for that? I know some people who have allergy flair ups this time of year and experience feeling overly tired.

Mythril

I do sleep a lot! Lol. I sleep 7-8 hours a night and then 1 or 2 more in the morning, and sometimes another hour in the afternoon!

I am definitely positive I am not pregnant. I will wait until a missed period before I take a pregnancy test. If I miss it, I will.

I was on Keto for 6 months last year, and have been back on Keto since the first of this year.

Mythril

I haven't had my blood drawn in a few years. I don't have very good insurance, and I don't do regular check ups. I haven't been since I had my gall bladder out in 2011. I've only been to the gynecologist for my yearly check ups. The prenatal doesn't have iron, I don't think. I'm getting a lot of iron from my diet.

I am not taking anything for my allergies. I only have a runny nose. *and the occasional sneezing fit.

jessicapk

Zombella wrote: »

I'd take a pregnancy test. Birth control can fail. I thought I couldn't get pregnant and then I started losing weight. Both times fatigue was one of my first symptoms.

First symptom for me, too. It took a while for other symptoms to set in but I went from high energy to weak and blah in no time.

jessicapk

Mythril wrote: »

I haven't had my blood drawn in a few years. I don't have very good insurance, and I don't do regular check ups. I haven't been since I had my gall bladder out in 2011. I've only been to the gynecologist for my yearly check ups. The prenatal doesn't have iron, I don't think. I'm getting a lot of iron from my diet.

I am not taking anything for my allergies. I only have a runny nose. *and the occasional sneezing fit.

Most insurance either requires a yearly physical and/or offers preventive services for free, before deductible. If you're only going to the ob/gyn for your yearlies, make sure they are doing full bloodwork that your regular doctor would normally do, as well. Either that or go to your regular doc to get full bloodwork. A lot of problems can be prevented early on and, in most cases, it's free of charge with insurance.

Mythril

I just am not pregnant. Sorry, it doesn't happen to me. I have thought in the past that something looked like I was potentially pregnant, and I wasn't. I want to have a baby so bad I drive myself nuts sometimes. I just can not believe that I am pregnant. I do not believe that I CAN be pregnant.

missimplicity

Mythril wrote: »

I do sleep a lot! Lol. I sleep 7-8 hours a night and then 1 or 2 more in the morning, and sometimes another hour in the afternoon!

I am definitely positive I am not pregnant. I will wait until a missed period before I take a pregnancy test. If I miss it, I will.

I was on Keto for 6 months last year, and have been back on Keto since the first of this year.

Yeah I "had" PCOS too and my doc told me that I'd need help getting pregnant too. My OMG surprise baby will be 7 this year. It can't hurt to just take a test to rule it out.

missimplicity

Mythril wrote: »

I just am not pregnant. Sorry, it doesn't happen to me. I have thought in the past that something looked like I was potentially pregnant, and I wasn't. I want to have a baby so bad I drive myself nuts sometimes. I just can not believe that I am pregnant. I do not believe that I CAN be pregnant.

I should add that I have absolutely NO problem getting pregnant now. I also have a three year old, angel babies, and am currently missing a period. Anything can happen.

wathjo1

Totally off topic here, but I have a friend who had PCOS... and she dropped about 30 lbs and got pregnant on accident! Sooo anything is possible! She was also on the pill.

She's on baby number two now. It's amazing what a healthy lifestyle can do.

lisaabenjamin

Drink lots of water - being dehydrated can make you feel tired.

scottacular

You don't know what the problem is and yet you dismiss the chances of it being a keto diet causing it. You can't say for sure it isn't that causing you problems when you don't know what the cause is. Just because it worked before doesn't mean it it's working for you now. Sometimes your body can change how it responds to these things, it adapts. The same way doing the same workout routine and eating at the same calorie deficit can lead to a stall in results. It might very well not be your keto diet doing this, but don't rule it out when you're clearly unsure what the cause is.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Fatigue is one of those symptoms that can be caused by so many things there's no way for us to even begin to address them all.

When you wake up do you feel better than when you went to sleep? Or are you just as tired?

(I feel you on the pregnancy thing. I get that anything is possible but every time I mention not feeling well everyone tells me I must be pregnant. I have a couple of chronic illnesses so that's pretty often.)

mhankosk

Do you drink enough water? I tend to get really tired when I don't have enough water the day before.

Lizzy622

Just like we need different types of essential amino acids and fatty acids, we need different types of sleep (REM and deep). A sleep study may should you are not getting the right type of sleep.

Mythril

Well, if it IS the keto diet doing it then that's too bad, because I'm not switching off of keto.

Like I said, I WILL take a test if I have a missed period. I know the horror stories- you can still have a period and be pregnant. But I will not get my hopes up again. I know that seems silly, but I can't handle another let down.

I've made an appointment for my Gyn and I'll ask her to do some blood work. It may be that I am not drinking enough water, I ran out of ice and so I stopped drinking as much without noticing. I will try that.

When I wake up I feel... tired still. Idk. Although I went to be an hour earlier last night and this morning I felt great only to crash this afternoon. However I didn't have ANY caffeine today either.

neatoina

Sounds like you need more electrolytes. I do Keto too and absolutely have to have my Morton's potassium salt as well as a bottle of magnesium and some pink Himalayan salt with me all the time. Anytime I feel like the flu is coming on or I have symptoms of hay fever and/or sandman eyes or I feel tired for absolutely no reason, I'll down some potassium and sodium. If I feel crampy in random places, I probably need magnesium. Usually my symptoms go away in less than 20 mins.

If you're on Keto, you need to be on top of your salt/electrolytes intake. No amount of caffeine and sleep are going to make you feel better. Also, drinking even more water (without replenishing your electrolytes) will make you more lethargic because every time you pee, you'll pee them out.

When you're eating carbs, your body is producing more insulin. Insulin tells your kidneys to retain water and salt. When you're in Ketosis, your insulin levels are lowered, so your body doesn't get the memo to retain water and salt. When your not holding onto your electrolytes, you feel like poop. Most people on Keto need between 5 and 7 grams of sodium per day (way more than a non-keto person).

You should read "Keto Clarity" by Jimmy Moore and Dr. Eric Westman. They go into a lot of detail about keeping your electrolytes in check while in Ketosis.

Mythril

I did know about electrolytes and ketosis. I get a lot more sodium than most because of this. I will look over my food diary and see if maybe I haven't been getting as much as I thought. I drink powerade zero after work outs (and sometimes when I feel like I need it.) I haven't been able to find the potassium salt, but I'll shop around. Reach outside of my comfort zone store wise. But I do keep track of potassium and salt.

P.S. for those who insist I was pregnant, I just got my period right on schedule.