# I am SO Tired all the time. Been there Done that? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090 "2012-06-04T22:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/1 "2012-06-04T22:44:10Z")
I’m just so tired. So tired. Bloods look good last we looked. I’m taking all kinds of supplements and am trying ginseng. And I’m on Vit D Rx. I just finished a 3 day course of of Cipro-something for a bladder infection; maybe that? I even took the kids Rit. I guess I’m asking if anybody has gone through this and found a magic concoction. Zzzzzzzzz ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/2 "2012-06-04T22:44:51Z")
Have you had your thyroid checked? Sleep study (sleep apnea can do this)? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/3 "2012-06-04T22:45:37Z")
Have you had a sleep study? Maybe you’re not sleeping at night. StG ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/4 "2012-06-04T23:11:12Z")
I third the recommendation for a sleep study. I had undiagnosed sleep apnea for years, and before I finally went and got diagnosed, there were days when I could hardly type a sentence without falling asleep at my desk five or six times. I wasn’t physically tired (muscles not tired or achy or anything like that), just sleepy all the time. It was funny though, one place where I never felt in danger of falling asleep was driving, which looking back seems odd. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/5 "2012-06-04T23:30:43Z")
Sleep study, thyroid, B12, iron. Chronic fatigue sydrome is your last resort. I know someone who was told first to “walk to work every day”. She ignored the advice and got a fancier doctor to give her the CFS label. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/6 "2012-06-04T23:44:27Z")
OK just spoke to my pharmacist. He said the antibiotic I just got off of could do this and it should clear up in a day or two. But I do have sleep problems. Two-three days ago I was WIDE AWAKE all night. (What a waste of time because I was too tired to get up and be productive.) Wide awake as opposed to tossing and turning– I happened to see my shrink today and made him write me a script for amitryptaline. It’s an antidepressant BUT at a _very small dose_ it’s great for sleep which is also great for pain management. I learned that from a rheumatologist decades ago. So maybe I’m in the clear. But in general, I haven’t been taking care of myself since 9-11 but I’m trying to change that. SO Rippy Van Winkie actually went to three docs in the past week or so. Sleep apnea has been ruled out but not in a study. Then there’s the menopause factor; they say THAT can go on for ten years. I just want to feel better before I croak. Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/7 "2012-06-05T01:12:41Z")
Madame Chronic Tiredness here. What helps me (to a degree anyway): **Get enough sleep.** This is actually very difficult. I have a set wake-point at about dawn, after which no sleep will happen again until the next night. Being chronically tired means I am often so tired in the evening that it’s a struggle to remember to start a going-to-bed ritual early enough and to complete it without curling up on the bathroom floor instead. I am extremely easy to wake up, and often I am so startled it takes me a long time to get back to sleep again. My doctor prescribed trazadone, an anti-depressant which in a very small dose simply keeps me asleep once I’m asleep, nothing more. I take it faithfully, and it sort of works (if I don’t take it I just lie there with my eyes wide open until I remember I haven’t), but still it is a very rare night when I get eight hours. And sleep lack accumulates – just fifteen minutes to a half hour short every night and eventually it reallly gets to you. Some people catch up by sleeping eleven hours straight. This has never happened to me in my life that I remember, unless I was very ill. I cannot nap either. It’s the biggest struggle in my life, the struggle to get enough sleep. There are other reasons to be chronically tired though. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/8 "2012-06-05T01:16:35Z")
> [@cynyc](#): > > Sleep apnea has been ruled out but not in a study. How did they do that? ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/9 "2012-06-05T01:42:13Z")
get a liver function test…i had auto-immune hep for a while and did not know it and my biggest complaint was that I was so tired ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/10 "2012-06-05T01:50:25Z")
My guess would be vitamin D deficiency. IIRC garden variety bloodwork doesn’t check your D levels. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/11 "2012-06-05T01:51:42Z")
The only two times I ever was tired **all** of the time, I was pretty sick. Once with the flu turned pneumonia, the other time with lyme disease. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/12 "2012-06-05T02:43:44Z")
How often do you exercise? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/13 "2012-06-05T03:38:03Z")
> [@cynyc](#): > > I even took the kids Rit. Please tell me you’re kidding and you’re not taking Ritalin prescribed for your child in hopes that it will help perk you up. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/14 "2012-06-05T05:36:24Z")
I would have assumed the antibiotic; no matter the kind, it always kicks your ass, as you’ve basically just told your body to put 2000 percent of it’s energy into killing something. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/15 "2012-06-05T17:29:53Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > My guess would be vitamin D deficiency. IIRC garden variety bloodwork doesn’t check your D levels. It does. I know because they tested mine and it was nonexistent. Also, if you are not hyperactive and you take Ritalin it will have the opposite effect - making you tired. Amitriptyline doesn’t help me sleep. Trazodone made me more awake and more anxious and gave me hallucinations. I’m tired all the time too. I have even been nodding off at work, which is something I have never done before. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/16 "2012-06-05T18:27:18Z")
I can sympathize. Like the OP, I am tired almost all the time. It’s a struggle to stay awake during the day. If a bed were nearby, I could fall asleep at just about any time of the day. I have tried everything to combat it. I eat healthily, run and lift weights during the week, and take vitamins & iron. The only thing that (sort of) seems to help is more sleep at night. As for the root cause to my fatigue, the only thing I can guess is **allergies**. My sinuses are clogged 24/7, I have lost my sense of smell, and I always feel pressure behind my eyes. I think it’s also responsible for my tiredness. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/17 "2012-06-05T18:44:31Z")
My wife had extreme fatigue that ended up being encephalitis/meningitis. Not something that can be diagnosed via blood work, only a spinal tap. Any other symptoms? Sore neck? Confusion? Dizziness? ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/18 "2012-06-05T18:46:46Z")
I had extreme daytime sleepiness and general fatigue/lethargy as part of my narcolepsy and those have basically disappeared by going to a ketogenic diet (extreme carbohydrate restriction, think vegetables, meats, and fats only). It has been more effective than expensive stimulants and “wakefulness enhancing agents” have ever been, and I’ve been losing weight and getting the energy to be active as well. You might look into it. The best resources I have found are gathered at [http://www.reddit.com/r/keto](http://www.reddit.com/r/keto) . ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/19 "2012-06-05T19:32:38Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > It does. I know because they tested mine and it was nonexistent. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. I know this because my doc just started doing it for routine physicals a couple of years ago, and since then I’m 0 for 2 on having healthy vitamin D levels. He says probably half his patients have come up deficient since he started routine testing. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090/20 "2012-06-05T19:44:41Z")
I’ll always be hanging around this neighborhood, for better or worse (incurable blood disorder - but treatable). My MD said if I worked at it I could be 90% of my self, so I resumed running. Helps a lot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-tired-all-the-time-been-there-done-that/624090.md?page=2)