Hi Claire,

I had the vitamin D deficiency (and anemia and B12 deficiency) and it can definitely make a difference. More protein might help as well.

Also, depression can manifest in the form of fatigue. Have you assessed your risk for depression?

...and sometimes "eating really healthy" can make you tired (and cranky), especially as your body is adjusting, so it might be a temporary thing. Just make sure you're getting what you need. (I need chocolate, the deep-dark 85% kind. every. day. Its surprisingly high in iron too, so I plan for that square of it every day!)

Good luck, I'm rooting for you!

I do not think I have crossed the line in to full blown diabetes yet, I usually am warned I am pre-diabetic but actually had my blood sugar and cholesterol tested today so will find out when those results are back. All I can offer is empathy and sympathy. Ever since I hit puberty I have been permanently exhausted and it just gets worse each year. My blood has been repeatedly tested for most things and never get any clear explanation. I am always hoping something definitive will show up like a deficiency that I could just take a pill or jab for and become human again but no luck so far. Back when I was still able to work I frequently fell asleep even while stood up at work , my eyes and nose would run like a tap all afternoon from yawning so much. I used to fall asleep on bus coming home. I was often late to work due to sleeping through all my alarms. My body is always screaming at me it is exhausted and nothing ever makes any difference to that apart from when I am hypomanic or full blown manic with bipolar. I do have PCOS and bipolar but still the level of tiredness i experience seems unnatural. My last thyroid test was mildly abnormal so had it repeated weeks ago and still not got a result. But all my previous thyroid tests were normal. I don't think the tests can be accurate. I am convinced I must be deficient in something important. Maybe they just do not know what needs to be tested. Some random brain chemical they don't understand yet could be responsible. All I do is make most of it when do feel able to and rest when I really can't do anything.

I have an auto immune disease that causes tiredness along with Diabetes . I have found that the more I move the more energy I have . the better I eat the better I feel. Very low carb seems to be key for me . I take iron , magnesium, vitamin c, vitamin d , folic acid , b vitiams and a b12 separately. And metformin for the diabetes , plaquenil for the auto immune. Right now I feel like crap because I wanted pizza . now I'm exhausted. From all the carbs feel like I gain 30 lbs . lesson learned. For me . water . water and more water.

Yeah I was going to say maybe sleep apnea if all your tests come back clear.

My depression manifested as constant fatigue coupled with occasional bouts of insomnia, up to three days without sleeping. On the fourth day I'd literally fall unconscious. I know the fatigue of which you speak, it's hellish. I had no clue what was causing it, complained to doctor a hundred times, finally got right up in his face and said YOU HAVE GOT TO HELP ME. He said you know what take this anti-depressant. I was like what for? I'm not depressed! He said trust me, if no help then we'll simply stop it. Take the lowest dose. In a week I was sleeping through the night and have ever since.

A big red flag is not recovering after exercise. Even having been diagnosed diabetic, since I take the proper med for depression I find I actually have more energy after exercise and sleep better. So it's a consideration for you that depression might be the cause or perhaps exacerbating an existing problem. Thing is even if you think you've got your meds tweaked to the max they can still poop out on you and simply stop working. No rhyme or reason. It might be time to question whether a change would help.

One more suggestion is monitoring your sleep with an activity tracker or if that's not possible, recording your sleep time with your phone. JawBone UP band has an excellent sleep tracker that tells how much REM and lite sleep you get as well as how many times you wake up during the night.

If that's not possible right away there's also a free android app on the play store that records sound during sleep with your phone. You set the sensitivity and it'll pick up every time you turn over, snore, apnea sounds, sleep talk, sleep walking, lots of things. This feedback might give you a clue if your REM is being disrupted and if so how often. It might be something as simple as you're not in deep sleep enough to be rested and don't realize it.

Best of luck getting this solved. Let us know how it turns out. I sympathize muchly. I suffered with this for years.

Glad you finally have an explanation! Hopefully the vit D starts working soon! ☺

Good news! Happy there's help around the corner.