Really tired

[tophatter]

I have been really tired for months. It is very rare I can sit in front of the TV without feeling asleep and just feel lethargic all the time.

What do you lot think? Im 34 and is this normal and i just cant burn the candle at both ends any more or is there anything I can do to boost my energy levels? :confused:

[presto]

you could try a more healthy diet. fruit, veg etc... that will (should) boost energy levels.

[vegyjones]

My forst thought!

Get your doctor to check for Diabetes!

[mathare]

Are you sleeping properly?

Are you stressed, worried or nervous?

[Workshy]

You diet might lack certain 'thingies'.

I think its a lack of zinc that causes tiredness :doh

[vegyjones]

You diet might lack certain 'thingies'.
Is that the technical term Worky? :)

[sparkyminer]

Do more physical activity. The fitter you are the better you sleep. More energy for everyday tasks.

[Workshy]

Exactly young sir. I nearly wrote vitamins & minerals but theres a little more to it than just those :)

[bigcumba]

Could be lots of things TH - diet, lack of excercise, simple lack of sleep - you may think you're fine on 5 or 6 hours a night, but you really need 8. It could be a hormonal thing - not just women who have hormone problems - a low testosterone can cause tiredness, irritability, many other problems apart from the 'more obvious' ones. Well worth going to the docs, asking them to do a full check up and the following blood tests - print this list off and tell him this is what you would like done. Try and arrange it for first thing in the morning, and don't eat from 10pm onwards the previous night, and only drink water or tea - nothing with sugar or milk in it

U/E - kidney function
LFT - liver function
TFT - Thyroid function
Lipids - Cholesterol and other 'fats'
FBC - blood count to check for anaemia.
Glucose - check for diabetes
Testosterone - just in case

These are all common routine tests, and the lab would have them done in a day or 2, though it'll take longer for the results to get back to the doc.

Other less common causes of tiredness caould be mild depression, some sort of viral or bacterial infection, like I say many things can cause it... it's a case of ruling things out to get to the bottom of it.

Also well worth taking an all in one multi vitamin and mineral supplement if your normal diet is lacking in anything...

ANd good luck!

[vegyjones]

We could always send Keith round to give you an internal! :yikes:

[Roberto]

Difficult to add much further to such a comprehensive and useful reply from BigC, I think. Sounds more like "exhaustion" than just "tiredness", though ... and if it were me I must say I'd rather have a chat with my GP than do nothing. If only for the reassurance, which would be my main purpose, I think. Depends a bit what your GP's like, though, perhaps ... some don't like people arriving with a "shopping-list" of tests ...

[tophatter]

Thanks for the advice lads - much appreciated.

im very much a stressmonkey which dont help I suppose - I think I probably burn up a lot of nervous energy. I have mentioned it to the doc before and he said the stuff like diet etc. I never have problems sleeping though, Im out like a light within 5 minutes and will not wake up until the alarm goes. I reckon in the week I get about 7 hours solid kip, with plenty of snoozes in the evening and at the weekend it is more like 10 or 11 hours.

I think I may just be jaded - work is not the best and i find it very pointless. It is a means to an end and earns me my crust but I think the mental strain takes it out of me. My job is a desk job so there is no physical exercise involved but it is non stop preasure, which I would not mind but the end result is pointless and you just move onto the next round of problems - i think it is called crisis management but without the management! :)

Will give your ideas a go and will of course ask the doc his advice when I visit him next

Cheers

TH

[sparkyminer]

Will give your ideas a go and will of course ask the doc his advice when I visit him next.


Make an appointment to go TOMORROW.

[andyp]

Do more physical activity. The fitter you are the better you sleep. More energy for everyday tasks.

Good call Sparky. I sometimes come home from an office job and feel so tired, but when i go out and do some exercise i feel much better. TH, My diagnosis would be maintain a healthy diet and exercise on a regular basis, if you still feel tired see a doctor.

[tophatter]

will do. :box

I do visit him more than I used to anyhow. Have had problems with pains in my joints and had blood tests for rhuematoid arthiritis which came back negative thankfully. Have to go back for a appointment on another matter withing the next few days anyway so will make the appointment tomorrow.

[Profit Seeker]

In the most light hearted sense possible, get off your :butthead: and do something :D Sat at a desk all day is a strain on the mind, me sat on this pc all day "profit seeking" (hehe grrrreat!) does my nut right in and tires me out lots more than physical labour jobs I used to do. Some form of light or maybe even vigorous physical excercise is in a way therapeutic and liberating for the stressed brain. You'll be out like a light in 5 seconds never mind minutes, yet you'll have more energy generally, of course the diet is needed to supplement. I don't do any of this myself, I'm like you, knackered by doing next to nothing, I can't watch a film in bed unless it's in the morning/afternoon when I've just woke up :laugh cos I just fall asleep, so get off your :butthead: profit seeker! :doh

[sparkyminer]

Don't watch TV in bed. It doesn't make for a good nights sleep.

[susanwells]

One other thing TH, and am NOT trying to worry you. when you see the doc. get him to do all the heart checks..cholesterol/BP even an ecg.. I know you`re only 34 byut you are male (I presume :yikes: ) and unusual tiredness if you haven`t had a virus etc. can be an early sign of a heart problem... he`ll know this and should check you out for it but if he doesn`t, ask..I`m sure it`s not, but better safe than..
other advice about fruit and veg, good regular exercise.. good walk will do ..is all great..
:hearty
let us know how you get on and how you feel when you`ve taken all our wise advice to heart !

[Merlin]

Its yer age TH :yikes:...........and yer job dont help by the sounds of it -by the way, I have felt tired for the past 20 years......get used to it......:laugh

Check it out though as others have said.......yer about the right age and circumstance for a bit of mild depression though.........

Get yer ass over to Brazil - I will sort you out - if you can handle it of course.....:laugh

[sparkyminer]

If you're doing nowt on Saturdays. Get yer sen up here. We're short of players. :D

[tophatter]

Dont think I am depressed Merl - The football season dont start till August! :)

Have a heathy enough appetite - I eat like horse. Lots of sugar and a bucket of water :)

Will ask the doc all these things, although had my blood preasure checked LTO and It was bang on. Thinks it about time I had the well man test. Never really been checked over and a MOT wont hurt.

The work thing will resolve itself - Im rapidly reaching the conclusion that if I find it is affecting my health to any signifigant degree I will chuck it in. I did that last year for three months and then went back - same old thing lured me back - the old dinero.

Might take you up on the Brazil thing Merin. Not sure my pale, delicate Irish skin could handle that sun and those beaches though. Could give it a damn good try though.

Thanks Once again, Im off to get my large doner kebab now .....


(only joking before you all tell me off - Im having a small one!)

[vegyjones]

If you're doing nowt on Saturdays. Get yer sen up here. We're short of players. :D
Football season starts a week on saturday Sparky! :D

[Win2Win]

Stress makes you more tired. I cured it with a complete change in life, new job, new home, that was back in the 80's, and have never been close to being that bad again, as I was on medication for it. It does make you tired.

You should be taking multi-vitamins and antitoxidants, unless you eat pleanty of veg, fruit & fish, but even then taking extra usually sees a beneficial effect.

The vitamin B helps your energy levels, and antitoxidants detox your body by destroying the free radicals in your cells, it is these that cause damage & aging.

A 30 minute brisk walk each night wouldn't do any harm, also good for the heart. It'll actually wake you up.

[vegyjones]

eat pleanty of veg.
:yikes:
Leave me out of it! Ooo

[tophatter]

Well I went to the doctor and told him I was really tired and he just looked at me and said I should stop masturbating..... :yikes:

I asked him if that was because that particular pastime was sapping my energy and by abstaining I would feel more energetic.

He shook his head and said "No, its putting me off making my diagnosis and besides I dont want you to make a mess over my desk!"


:joke:

[Win2Win]

You dirty 'ald bugger :D

[Merlin]

Well I went to the doctor and told him I was really tired and he just looked at me and said I should stop masturbating..... :yikes:

I asked him if that was because that particular pastime was sapping my energy and by abstaining I would feel more energetic.

He shook his head and said "No, its putting me off making my diagnosis and besides I dont want you to make a mess over my desk!"


:joke:

I was gonna give you some advice TH - but it looks as if you have everything in hand.........:laugh

[MarcusMel]

I have occasionally suffered from tiredness with no explicable cause. This started happening when I was about 14. The cure was a simple course of iron tablets. Later discovered that if Iron taken with vitimine C is better absorbed into the body.

Ermm they do sell these things for pregnent women over the counter! :rolleyes: :23_116_6[

[podtog]

I have always had this problem, I need loads of sleep but very rarely get it these days and the only thing that works for me is exercise, at the moment I work nights on the underground and it can be quite physically demanding, its like going to the gym for a few hours but once the shift is over I feel the best I probably can in that 24hr period, Im at my most awake straight after finishing (sweaty and dirty but awake). Infact its probably the same for all the lads I work with, the vans full of life on the way home, radio on, beers cracked open, singing, its like a mini party after work every morning, and as hard as it can be sometimes we all agree it feels good. Exercise is the key.

[wb]

would definitely agree with potdog here re: exercise.

I do a bit of Karate training, and anytime I am out of it for a while, I become lethargic and agitated. Im not a big fan of fruit and veg so I got a blender and am trying to make different drinks. Although I do be wrecked after training, I feel great for the next couple of days.

[vegyjones]

Im not a big fan of veg
:ermmm Gutted :(

[wb]

:ermmm Gutted :(

I like putting veg in a blender :yikes:

[podtog]

Take back what I said earlier, just had one of my most labour intensive shifts ive had in a long time ( very nearly sick and went through the pain barrier more than id have liked ) :rolleyes: . Ive got that b :censored: d feeling all the way through my body.