Columnist Nozaina: If you are always feeling tired or have little or no energy, you are not alone. Poor sleep quality and underlying health conditions can cause fatigue. An active lifestyle, healthy eating, and managing health issues can combat chronic fatigue. Many people feel tired due to nutrient deficiencies, sedentary lifestyle, medications, autoimmune diseases, stress, thyroid issues, or poor sleep quality.
Poor Sleep Quality
If your sleep quality is not good, you still feel tired even after eight or more hours of sleep. Healthy sleep quality means how well you sleep at night. Poor sleep quality is waking up occasionally during the night. A sedentary lifestyle, excessive caffeine intake, and poor sleeping habits lead to poor sleep quality. Many people feel tired even after good-quality sleep.
Lifestyle
You may face difficulty performing daily tasks if you are physically inactive. Research reveals that an inactive lifestyle leads to fatigue and sleep disorders. Sleep quality is also affected by alcohol and cigarettes, which may leave you feeling foggy even the next day.
Autoimmune Diseases
In autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy body cells, leading to inflammation. Ulcerative colitis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease are autoimmune diseases. These diseases are not as common as depression; research suggests that depression-like symptoms are found in up to 50% of patients with autoimmune disease. People with autoimmune disease have a high risk of depression.
Mental Health Conditions
Constant stress about job, career, and life affects sleep quality. Stress increases the release of cortisol. Cortisol makes you feel hyperconscious and alert to aid the fight-or-flight response. Stress also leads to insomnia. The quality of sleep is also affected by anxiety and depression. According to research, staying awake during the night is associated with anxiety and depression. People with anxiety disorders feel anxious about sleep and fear sleep. Sleep variation is a cause of tiredness with anxiety and depression. Feeling low all the time is a sign of depression. You always feel alert with anxiety, which leads to fatigue. The symptoms of anxiety are nervousness, shortness of breath, fearful thoughts, rapid heart rate, and avoiding activities that were once enjoyed. Along with fatigue and sleep issues, excessive sleep, suicidal thoughts, restlessness, social isolation, and feelings of guilt are also caused by depression.
Nutrient Deficiencies
When your body does not get essential nutrients, you feel tired. Vitamins and minerals are required for proper cell function. The cells produce fuel for the muscles and brain. You may experience mental and physical fatigue when you lack essential nutrients that help the cells function properly. Fatigue is associated with vitamin and mineral deficiencies, like vitamin C and D, iron, folate, magnesium, niacin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin B12. Deficiencies of the essential nutrients can cause memory loss, a loss of appetite, muscle pain, and irritability.
Medications
Some medicines make you feel sleepy or fatigued as a side effect. People taking sleeping pills purposely feel sleepy even the next day. Many other medications make you feel tired, such as antidepressants, blood pressure medications, antihistamines, and anti-anxiety medications. Consult with your doctor if you feel tired even after getting enough sleep. If you have an underlying health issue that makes you feel tired all the time. You can feel active by managing the symptoms of the disease. Healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle help you feel less tired. You can boost your energy level by
- Following a consistent exercise routine.
- Avoiding excessive caffeine intake.
- Quitting or avoiding smoking.
- Avoiding large meals before bed.
- Sleeping in a quiet, dark, and cool room.
Thyroid Disease
Feeling tired even after getting enough quality sleep may indicate high or low thyroid hormone levels caused by thyroid disease. Thyroid glands make and release thyroid hormone, which regulates metabolism. Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone. Increased thyroid hormone production speeds up breathing, digestion, and heart rate. In this condition, the body uses more energy. People with hyperthyroidism feel more tired. Mood swings, goiter, diarrhea, irritability, weight loss, hand tremors, and sleep difficulties are the symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. When enough thyroid hormone is not produced, heart rate, breathing, and digestion slow, that causes fatigue. Hair thinning, constipation, weight gain, dry skin, depression, puffy face, less sweating, slow heart rate, and joint and muscle pain are symptoms of hypothyroidism.
If you feel extremely tired and experience dizziness, Insomnia, weight loss, confusion, blurred vision, frequent headaches, swelling, suicidal thoughts, unexplained muscle weakness, and weight gain, consult with a doctor. Doctors determine the cause of fatigue through physical examination and ask about sleeping habits, diet, and daily activities. A doctor may suggest lab tests to check thyroid hormone levels, nutrient levels, and liver and kidney function. Blood tests also help to identify underlying diabetes, infection, and inflammatory disease.