Why Am I So Tired?

Lots of factors can be the cause of chronic fatigue, but there are ways to identify & treat them effectively
Sleeping Woman
Sometimes it is very clear why you feel tired during the day; you were out late the night before, you had a grueling day the day before, the neighbor’s dog was keeping you up, etc.
 
But if you are tired most days, even when you feel like you had a good night’s sleep, there are steps we can take to figure out why.
 
And the first place to start is to look at how restful your sleep actually is.
 

How is Your Sleep?

 

  • Are you getting at least 7 hours of actual sleep each night?
    • Getting 7 hours may require you to be in bed for 8+ hours depending on your “sleep efficiency” (defined as the percent of time you were asleep while in bed).
    • Side note: If you think you are one of the rare people who need less than the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep, consider that the chances of being struck by lightning are far higher than you having the rare gene that would allow for this!
  •  If your alarm clock didn’t wake you, how much more would you sleep?
    • If you would naturally sleep well beyond when you set your alarm or you are ready to go back to bed by 10 or 11AM, you are not getting enough sleep. 7 hours is on the low end of the range for most adults and you might need more.
  •  Do you try to “catch up” on sleep on the weekends?
    • Fully recovering from sleep deficit is not actually possible. Feeling like you consistently want to try to do so may be a sign that you are not getting enough sleep during the week
  •  How is your sleep hygiene?
    • There are a lot of ingredients that make up good sleep hygiene, but the most important one according to Dr. Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, is to stick to a sleep schedule. Humans have a hard time changing our sleep patterns, so the best thing you can do for your sleep is to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
 
Once sleep has been addressed (or in many cases, while sleep is being addressed), we also need to look at the other potential causes of fatigue.
 
  • Vitamin deficiencies
    • You’ll typically want to look at anemia (low iron or B12) and vitamin D deficiency first to investigate chronic fatigue. While you’re running tests, you’ll also want to look at thyroid function which would fall under another category…
  •  Hormone imbalance
    • Besides thyroid hormones, you should also be evaluating melatonin, sex hormone and stress hormone imbalances as common causes of fatigue.
  •  Food & water intake
    • Your diet has profound effects on your energy. Caffeine and/or sugar, particularly on an empty stomach, will cause blood sugar to spike, and you know what they say about all things that go up…
  •  Exercise
    • Including exercise and/or movement in your daily routine can have a positive effect on your energy. Be mindful about when you exercise (ideally morning, but at minimum not right before bed) and how much (do not exercise to exhaustion if energy is an issue; leave some in the tank!).
  •  Medications
    • There are a lot of medications that can affect your energy, so it is a good idea to consider if your fatigue worsened in conjunction with starting a new medication.

 

What Next?

To paraphrase Dr. Walker again, ensuring good sleep helps you live longer, strengthens your memory and creativity, makes you look more attractive, lowers your food cravings and increases your metabolism, protects you from cancer, dementia and common viruses, lowers your risk for heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, and improves your mental state overall so you are happier and less anxious.
 
So don’t sleep on taking care of your sleep! 😉
 
If you are tired during the day without a clear cause, let’s dig into what the most likely causes are for you and develop a game plan to sleep better and have more energy!
Chris Goddin, owner and acupuncture of Balance Wellness

Why choose Balance?

I have made it my mission to be an advocate for you, my patients, and determine what steps you need to take to improve your health and get to the root of your health issues. My background in Integrative Medicine gives me the opportunity to understand the various mechanisms that are causing your health issues and the tools we can use to fix them.

I feel extremely fortunate to have found this medicine and I look forward to the opportunity to share it with you!

—Chris Goddin, L.Ac.

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