Why am i always so tired, no matter how much sleep i get?

becci92
becci92 Posts: 30
edited September 27 in Motivation and Support
Sorry it's a long one......I'm an 18 year old female and for the past 2 years or so I've been tired ALL the time, I've never been a morning person whilst at school but i'd generally have energy by the time i got to school in the morning.

Then once i started college i started to feel like a zombie walking around, then left college and got a job as a nursery nurse, and now at 18 i feel like i could fall asleep at any moment during the day.

I go to bed about 10ish and usually asleep by 10.15, then wake up about 7am and really really struggle to open my eyes let alone get out of bed.

When drivng to work i feel as though i can't concentrate on the road and find myself staring into space.

Now, with my job i'm currently training, whilst working 35 hours per week, most of which are 7/8/9 hour days. Due to being a trainee, i have a load of work to do aswell, which just doesn't get done at home, because as soon as i get home about 5/6pm i just feel like i don't have the energy to do anything.

By the time 9pm comes i can hardly keep my eyes open.

Even on saturdays and sunday (which i don't work) i go to bed a little later about 11pm, but then sometimes i can sleep right through to 11/12 the next morning, and STILL struggle to get up and do the household chores!

I've been thinking about going to my doctor but would feel silly saying i'm always tired, as he will probably just say to improve my diet, exercise more etc...

Iknow about all the iron deficiency's, sleep apnia etc so dont want big essay's on that please!

oh, one more thing, i recently tried taking iron tablets everyday, but it just made me feel worse!

Sorry it's so long, any help much appreciated!

Replies

  • Sanya77
    Sanya77 Posts: 172 Member
    Get your hormones checked! I was also tired and sleepy unless I get my blood work done and found I had hypothyroid.
  • florabourne
    florabourne Posts: 21 Member
    It sounds like you know a fair bit about how to help yourself (diet exercise) and I assume you have tried this, I would therefore recommend you go to the doctor just to check that there is not something wrong with you that they can do something about, at the very least they should do a Full Blood Count, check your thyroid etc.
  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
    Its not silly to see your Dr at all, at 18 you should have lots of energy, you get 9 hours in bed and although diet does play a part I know many many teenagers with total crap diets that are bouncing with energy on far less sleep.

    Get to your Drs and request blood tests, blood count is a starting point but i'd request full blood tests to rule everything out
  • angechilada
    angechilada Posts: 21 Member
    The only way to know for sure I think would be to get blood tests done to make sure it's nothing serious, but once I went low carb I started waking up way easier. I used to have to set four alarms to wake up every morning, and now I usually wake up BEFORE my alarm. Haha. But yeah, I've cut out all breads/grains/noodles//sugar/starchy vegetables (except for every week or two when I have a cheat meal), and I feel GREAT! A good baseline to be at is a max of about 100–150g of carbohydrates per day (I get all of mine from green vegetables like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus for the most part) and to see what makes you the most comfortable.

    Hope that helps! :)
  • XLMKX
    XLMKX Posts: 86
    bumpbump
  • Lucy1Green
    Lucy1Green Posts: 9 Member
    I have been there myself! It turned out that I did have a medical problem. I have hypo-thyroidism - so bad that I have to see and endocrinologist! I have a friend who was describing similar symptoms as yours, and it turned out that she is diabetic - just found out last week. I have another friend who is your age who described similar problems and it turned out that he was still recovering for months after having had a virus.

    Please see your doc and be very honest about your problem. I would suggest making a complete list of all symptoms before your appointment so that you won't leave anything out. Lastly, I will say a prayer for you right now!
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member

    Iknow about all the iron deficiency's, sleep apnia etc so dont want big essay's on that please!

    oh, one more thing, i recently tried taking iron tablets everyday, but it just made me feel worse!

    Not sure why you made the comment - I was feeling the way you felt, and in the end sleep apnea was diagnosed - Treating it changed my life - I now sleep - and am refreshed in the mornings.....

    Talk to your doctor - and eliminate things like sleep apnea - if you have not done so yet.

    Also - you should not be taking iron tablets if you have not had blood tests done to see if you need extra iron - it could do more harm than good....
  • Robyn_T
    Robyn_T Posts: 540 Member
    I was going to write the same thing Sanya said.

    Prior to going on meds for hypothyroidism, it felt like I lived in a vat of molasses. Everything took way more energy than it should--both thoughts and actions. I was tired, and therefore crabby, all the time.
  • becci92
    becci92 Posts: 30
    Thanks for all your thought's and advice!

    I think i will go to the doctors just to get checked out, as one of you (cant remebmer who now) said their friend turned out to have diabetes, well my dad has diabetes and my mum has heart problems, so it does run in the family!

    The tiredness really is ruining my life, not only am i so work out at work, but my poor partner is suffering too, what with me being too tired to do anything after work, we never go out anymore.

    I'm also going to try cutting down on the carbs, thinking about it i do eat alot of them without even realising!

    Thankyou again!
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