# Is anyone else exhausted all the time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374 "2004-11-30T20:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/1 "2004-11-30T20:07:15Z")
I’m tired. I’m really really tired. I’ve been tired all my life. They do tests and never find anything wrong. I am healthy as a horse, it seems, just tired. I was a tired kid. I’m a tired adult. I am tired at night. I am tired in the morning. If I sleep for twelve hours, I’m tired when I get up. If I sleep for four hours, I’m tired when I get up. And I’m tired of being tired. Is anyone else tired? Writing this post tired me out. I may have to go lie down. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/2 "2004-11-30T20:10:52Z")
The only thing I can think of is anemia, you have an iron deficiency. Do you take your vitamins? If the doctors can’t find anything, have you considered you may be (slightly) clinically depressed? See a psychiatrist. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/3 "2004-11-30T20:13:26Z")
Me too. Gawd I love naps. My kid is sick today, so I didn’t go to work. In twenty minutes I’m telling him it’s time for a nap. Weeeeee! Once every month or so I pull a marathon, 12 or more hours. Just come home at about 6pm, and wake up to my alarm at 7am. I try to give my wife a heads up, cause she hates it when I do that. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/4 "2004-11-30T20:24:12Z")
I’ve been tested for anemia. Nothing. I have only one symptom in line with depression: exhaustion. Still, I’ve been put on anti-depressants in the past, with the only result being that I was even more tired, if that is even possible. I started just falling asleep randomly on a couple of them. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/5 "2004-11-30T20:24:41Z")
I’m tired all the time, but I know why. I’m prescribed a lot of antihistamines and one of the lovelies is also an antidepressant. This one’s a doozie, incredibly sedating. \ Huh?? Wha?? Oh yeah I was typing. I try to eat lots of dark green veggies for the B vitamins. Also, I try to eat yoghurt at least once a day because I’ve read that the calcium is [good for mood swings](http://moodfoods.com/calciumdep.htm). If it’s not, I needed the calcium anyway. But I still sleep every chance I get. MMMMMMmmm Naps. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/6 "2004-11-30T20:35:15Z")
Yeah, I’m always tired. For the last 3 years, though, I’ve been working full-time and going to school full-time. Whenever anyone asked what I was going to do after graduation, I said, “sleep.” No one believed me. Guess what I do? When I’m home, I’m either watching Law & Order reruns or sleeping. I’m tired all the time, it seems like. I’m starting a new job on Monday with CPS. I figured I’m going to have plenty of frustration to work off, so I decided to go get a membership at our city’s fitness club ($69 for a full year). I’m hoping getting more exercise will help me not be so tired all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/7 "2004-11-30T20:37:59Z")
Yeah, I’m always tired. I blame the internet. There’s just so much to _read_… I really must start going to bed at a decent hour. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/8 "2004-11-30T20:38:06Z")
I’ve always been very tired but just recently it got so bad that I missed work for 2 days. My problem: anemia, combined with a deficiency in just about every vitamin and mineral known to medicine. I started taking a regular old multivitamin. My doctor also told me to take 9x the daily recommended intake of iron pills with lots of vitamin C (OJ) - for 1 month. It took about 3 days of that before I noticed a difference but I have felt amazing now for over a week. I actually am having trouble getting more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. When I finally get tired, around 1:00am, I crash - but as soon as I wake up, I’m really awake. This is the best feeling. I finally don’t feel like a zombie. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/9 "2004-11-30T20:52:18Z")
They specifically tested me for vitamin and mineral deficiency. Did they test you for that? Even if they didn’t maybe you should think about taking vitamins. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/10 "2004-11-30T20:57:21Z")
Christ, I’m always tired. But I’ve found that my most productive time is in the early morning. So I start my day at 3:30 or 4:00. I do some housework, I work out, I get ready for work, I put in a 9.5 hour day, go home, make dinner, and damnit if I’m not snoozed out on the couch by 7:30. Oh well…it’s the best I can do. I find it increasingly hard to believe I was once a party monster who stayed out til 4 instead of getting UP at 4!! ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/11 "2004-11-30T20:57:40Z")
sleep apnea, maybe? The quality of your sleep may be very poor. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/12 "2004-11-30T20:59:29Z")
I forgot to say I’m a firm believer in following your internal clock if at all possible. People who try to adhere to “the standard 9 to 5 schedule” when their bodies are really working on another clock are invariably tired, cranky, and less productive than if they just give in to their own chemistry. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/13 "2004-11-30T21:16:25Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I forgot to say I’m a firm believer in following your internal clock if at all possible. People who try to adhere to “the standard 9 to 5 schedule” when their bodies are really working on another clock are invariably tired, cranky, and less productive than if they just give in to their own chemistry. Tell me about it. If I am left to my own devices, I’ll wake up around 7:30 or 8:30, and get out of bed in a reasonably bright-eyed and bushy-tailed condition. Make me get up before that, though, and I’m _worthless._ I need a major caffeine infusion just to think straight. I am completely demolished by 3 in the afternoon. It doesn’t matter if I go to bed early. I just lie awake until my natural “bedtime” (which is already pretty early: 10:30 or 11). Guess what? I teach a MWF class at 8 AM next semester. Pity me, and pity the poor wretches who have to try to learn physics from me. I’m bringing a mat into my office for midday power naps. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/14 "2004-11-30T23:50:07Z")
This has been a problem with me lately too… well, not just lately. But it seems to have gotten worse over time. I’m trying to take my vitamins more regularly, and they seem to help, sometimes. Sometimes not. It wouldn’t hurt to try, right? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/15 "2004-12-01T00:06:05Z")
> [@LoganDear](#): > > It wouldn’t hurt to try, right? Vitamins can really help some people. They haven’t helped me though. Unless of course I’d be even worse off if I weren’t taking them! _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/16 "2004-12-01T00:25:18Z")
I’m always tired, too. I do have a kidney condition, though, that leaves me with chronic anemia. My hemoglobin level usually reads at about 11. I am on permanent disability, so I don’t work outside the home. My daily schedule involves seeing my 9 yr. old daughter off to school every morning, then reading my favorite message boards the rest of the day. I try to stay awake, but by !:30PM at the latest I’m dragging myself back to bed. I usually sleep until my daughter gets home from school at 4:30. I feel like I am wasting so much of the day, but I just feel so awful when I force myself to stay awake. It’s a very frustrating way to live! ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/17 "2004-12-01T00:30:56Z")
I’m always tired. Even when I get enough sleep, I’m still tired. i’m convinced I must not be sleeping well, because that’s the only thing I can possibly think of. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/18 "2004-12-01T00:31:40Z")
Well, when one considers the mundane, dreary existance which is life… oww, oww, stop hitting me!.. ackkk, not the face, not the face… Have you tried exercise? :eek: Yeah, I know. Its a \*\*ghastly \*\* thought. But a light jog in the mornings might give you more energy. And theres all that stuff about metabolic rates and things too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kuizelemartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19b73/32.png) [@Kuizelemartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuizelemartz)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/19 "2004-12-01T01:04:50Z")
I had my gall bladder out the first week of November. Then had complications and was in the hospital the 2nd week of November (leaky bile duct thing). I’ve had no drugs for 10 days and I am so tired it’s making me insane. I hope this isn’t a permanent thing like what you guys have. But I just don’t understand why I have the energy level of your average 85 year old. I don’t feel well, but I can’t say I’m in pain. I average about 90 mins of activity a day before I just can’t do any more. I took a Percocet today to see if that helped, and it did. I was my old fast walking self again for 3.5 hours. Ha, then it ran out in the middle of Sam’s club. I am tired and annoyed after 2 weeks of this. I need my old self back in 4 weeks. January I get to go back to work. I hope this is normal and goes away soon. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374/20 "2004-12-01T09:32:41Z")
**jsgoddess** Have you had an echocardiogram? Have you had a cardiac work up. A significant number of young women have mitral valve prolapse causing tiredness. Its easy for a generalist to overlook. Have you been tested for [EBV?](http://www.utoronto.ca/health/healthtips/mono/mono.htm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-exhausted-all-the-time/277374.md?page=2)