Totally exhausted why

Go to bed earlier and take steps to improve the quality of your sleep. Sleep in a dark, quiet, and comfortable room. Avoid stimulating activities before bed, like exercise and watching TV.

You may need a prescription sleep aid or a sleep study. Being overweight can also cause tiredness. The more weight you carry, the harder your body must work to complete everyday tasks like climbing stairs or cleaning. Come up with a plan to lose weight and improve your energy level. Start with light activity such as walking or swimming, and gradually increase intensity as your stamina allows. Also, eat more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Curb your intake of sugar, junk foods, and fatty foods. Physical activity can also boost your energy level. A sedentary lifestyle, on the other hand, can leave you feeling exhausted and sleepy. In one study , researchers investigated how an inactive and sedentary lifestyle influenced feelings of fatigue in women. Seventy-three women were included in the study. According to the findings, the less sedentary women had a significantly lower level of fatigue.

This supports the notion that increased physical activity contributes to more energy and vigor. When under stress, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode. This causes an increase in cortisol and adrenaline, which prepares your body to deal with such situations.

In small doses, this response is safe. Learning how to control stress may improve your energy level. Start by setting limitations, creating realistic goals, and practicing changes to your thought patterns. Deep breathing and meditation can also help you stay calm in stressful situations. When you feel depressed, lack of energy and tiredness can follow.

Your doctor may prescribe an antidepressant or an anti-anxiety medication. You might also benefit from mental health counseling. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of treatment that helps correct negative thought patterns that lead to a negative mood and depression. A sleep disorder is sometimes the underlying cause of tiredness.

It's a common condition, affecting slightly more women than men. As well as feeling worried and irritable, people with GAD often feel tired. Read more about generalised anxiety disorder in adults. Page last reviewed: 15 March Next review due: 15 March How to get to sleep 10 tips to beat insomnia How to stop snoring.

Healthy sleep tips for children How much sleep do children need? Sleep tips for teenagers. What's the difference between tiredness and fatigue? Here are 10 health conditions known to cause tiredness or fatigue.

Anaemia One of the most common medical reasons for feeling constantly run down is iron deficiency anaemia. Read more about iron deficiency anaemia. Read more about haemochromatosis. Sleep apnoea Sleep apnoea is a condition where your throat narrows or closes during sleep and repeatedly interrupts your breathing. Read more about sleep apnoea. Underactive thyroid An underactive thyroid gland means you have too little thyroid hormone thyroxine in your body.

Coeliac disease This is a lifelong disease caused by the immune system reacting to gluten. Read more about coeliac disease. Although some stress is normal, excessive levels of stress have been linked to fatigue in several studies 41 , 42 , One study in college students found that avoiding dealing with stress led to the greatest level of fatigue While you may not be able to avoid stressful situations, developing strategies for managing your stress may help prevent you from feeling completely exhausted.

For instance, large reviews of studies suggest yoga and meditation can help relieve stress 44 , Engaging in these or similar mind-body practices may ultimately help you feel more energetic and better able to cope with stress. Excessive stress can cause fatigue and reduce your quality of life.

Practicing stress-reduction techniques may help improve your energy levels. There are many possible causes for feeling chronically tired. However, feeling overly tired may be related to what you eat and drink, how much activity you get or the way you manage stress.

The good news is that making a few lifestyle changes may very well improve your energy levels and overall quality of life. Read this article in Spanish. Experts say you can prepare for the end of daylight saving time for days in advance.

Among the recommendations is outdoor physical activity. Here's everything you need to know about shopping for the…. Sleep trackers are equipped with tools and features, such as sleep duration and quality, heart rate, blood oxygen level, that can help you make….

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Snag your new favorite pair of flannel sheets to keep you warm and cozy all night long. We dive into the research. Sleep matters. Here are some tips for getting your best rest as you age. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Written by Franziska Spritzler — Updated on April 3, Consuming Too Many Refined Carbs. Living a Sedentary Lifestyle.

Food Sensitivities. Not Eating Enough Calories. Sleeping at the Wrong Time. There are several reasons that diabetes may be causing you to feel tired all the time. Other symptoms of diabetes include frequent urination, extreme thirst, unexplained weight loss, extreme hunger, sudden vision changes, tingling or numbness in the hands or feet, dry skin, slow-healing wounds or more infections than usual.

A simple blood sugar test can be done in most clinics, and a test called hemoglobin A1C can help determine what your average blood sugar has been over the past three months. Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disorder characterized by intense fatigue that does not improve with rest and which may be made worse by physical or mental exertion. It is unknown what causes this condition. In addition to debilitating fatigue, some of the other symptoms which define chronic fatigue syndrome include impairment in short-term memory or concentration, muscle and joint pain, headaches, tender lymph nodes, and frequent sore throat.

Fatigue can be a side effect of several different medications. Some of the most common medications which may cause fatigue include:. Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you if fatigue is a possible side effect of any medications that you are taking, both prescription and over-the-counter. The causes of fatigue listed above are fairly common, but there is a multitude of medical conditions which can result in fatigue. If you feel your tiredness is out of the ordinary, and you aren't simply missing out on the sleep you need to feel rested, make an appointment to see your doctor.

She can take a careful history including your family history of medical conditions, perform a physical exam, and order any blood work needed to begin looking for causes.

It can be frustrating, at times, as you wait for answers to your tiredness, but don't give up. Finding a reason for your fatigue can not only result in improvement with treatment but may detect conditions which should be diagnosed for other reasons as well.

Everything feels more challenging when you're dealing with depression. Get our free guide when you sign up for our newsletter. Nutt DJ. Relationship of neurotransmitters to the symptoms of major depressive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. Yokoi K, Konomi A. Iron deficiency without anaemia is a potential cause of fatigue: meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cross-sectional studies.

Br J Nutr. Chaker L. Predicting coronary heart disease events in women: a longitudinal cohort study. J Cardiovasc Nurs. J Clin Sleep Med. Clin Liver Dis. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.