Many people are suffering from a constant lack of energy and ongoing fatigue. Such a situation harms the overall quality of life.

Many reasons are attributable to chronic fatigue. Some are as evident as lack of sleep, and others are complex underlying health conditions.

Let’s discover together what is possibly making you feel tired.

1. Lack of sleep

Besides being an obvious reason for chronic fatigue, it’s also a common problem among many people as they can’t manage to get enough sleep.

During sleep, our body can repair and regenerate cells to wake up refreshed and full of energy. A lack of sleep is known to affect the overall mental health by triggering or worsening anxiety and stress.

If there are no underlying conditions depriving you of sleeping, it’s then an easy problem to fix. Just stick to some good habits like following a healthy schedule of sleep and getting accustomed to it.

Our advice is to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep per night for optimal health.

You may accumulate a sleep debt if you sleep fewer hours than your body needs. In this case, you have to sleep more than the recommended average to catch up.

2. Sleep disorders

We talked about lack of sleep due to bad habits. Now, let’s talk about some disorders and underlying conditions making it impossible to achieve restful and restorative sleep.

Sleep apnea

It’s a disruptive sleep disorder that interrupts your breathing during sleep. It may also be obstructive, and in this case, blood oxygen levels will be low because the air is not getting to the lungs sufficiently.

Watch out for symptoms like loud snoring, fatigue, morning headaches, and lack of concentration. Talk to your health provider if needed.

Avoid sleeping on your back to alleviate sleep apnea. You may consider purchasing the CPAP device or even proceed to surgery if it’s recommended by your doctor.

Insomnia

You may have difficulties falling or staying asleep due to many reasons like menopause, psychological stress, inadequate environment, or excessive mental stimulation.

If you are experiencing insomnia, you may consider some treatments like natural supplements, medications, or dealing with the underlying cause that triggers insomnia on your own, or with the help of a specialist.

Narcolepsy

It’s overwhelming daytime drowsiness that may force you to fall asleep suddenly.

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)

The RLS condition forces you to move your legs to get rid of an uncomfortable sensation.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder

The REM disorder makes you act out dreams in your sleep with vocal sounds and other physical movements with arms and legs.

3. Depression, anxiety, and stress

Stress and anxiety can lead to insomnia and sleep disorders. By the same token, lack of proper rest can intensify stress and of course fatigue.

It’s also worth noting that stress and anxiety are known for causing psychological and physical symptoms of exhaustion.

People with depression are more prone to fatigue and sleep problems like difficulty in falling asleep, frequent awakenings during the night, or, on the contrary, sleeping too long and waking up late with some sluggishness.

Depression is a feeling of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, and lack of interest in normal activities.

Anxiety occurs when you are worrying too much and feeling nervous. Some of the common triggers are work and money worries.

If you can’t spot the real reasons for your anxiety or depression, you may want to consult a psychiatrist or psychologist for a psychological evaluation.

For stress, practice some deep breathing, meditate, exercise, socialize with friends, …

4. Diabetes

If glucose stays in the bloodstream and does not get into the body’s cells to be used as fuel, you may feel tired all the time.

Fatigue can also be attributable to spikes in blood sugar levels that may dehydrate you.

If you have type 2 diabetes, you should adopt some healthy lifestyle habits:

• Lose weight.
• Become more active.
• Eat low glycemic index foods.
• Monitor and control your blood sugar levels.
• Quit smoking.
• Reduce your cholesterol levels.
• Maintain healthy blood pressure levels.

Watch out for other symptoms like feeling thirsty and the need to go frequently to the bathroom.

5. Heart disease

If you feel tired when doing an activity that should be easy or that used to be easy (ex. climbing the stairs, carrying groceries), that may be a symptom of underlying heart diseases such as heart failure.

When your heart is not pumping sufficient blood as it should, your muscles and other tissues in the body are not getting enough oxygen.

Watch out for some common symptoms like chest pain, rapid or irregular heartbeat, dizziness, and fainting. Don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor if you have any doubts. Proper medications or treatments may help treat your condition and restore your energy.

6. Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is the medical condition of an underactive thyroid that doesn’t produce enough hormones.

The hormones released by the thyroid gland regulate the body’s metabolic rate.

If your thyroid is underactive, the metabolism rate, which means the rate at which the body uses energy, will be slowed down. In such a situation, you may feel some tiredness and other symptoms like weight gain, and feeling cold.

7. Anemia

Having anemia means having low red blood cell counts. In this condition, your body doesn’t get enough oxygen, and consequently, fatigue sets in.

Additional symptoms can arise like shortness of breath, dizziness, and pale skin.

Anemia can be caused by many reasons:

• Internal bleeding (stomach ulcers, hemorrhoids, …).
• Lack of some nutrients like iron, vitamin B12, and B9.
• Some chronic diseases such as diabetes or kidney disease.
• Periods.

If you have iron-deficiency anemia, add iron-rich foods to your diet or even supplements. Vitamin C is reputed to enhance iron absorption by the body.

8. Viral or bacterial infection

If you have fatigue, among other symptoms like fever and aches, it’s probably an infection.

There are a lot of infections known to cause fatigue like:

• Flu.
• HIV.
• COVID-19.
• Pneumonia.
• Hepatitis.

When the infection is treated, the fatigue fades out but the time may differ according to the contracted infection.

9. Nutrient deficiencies

Some nutrient deficiencies are linked to tiredness regardless of how much sleep you are getting. The most common are:

• Iron deficiency is responsible for about 50% of all anemia that causes fatigue among other symptoms.
• Vitamin D.
• Vitamin C.
• Magnesium deficiency may prevent you from achieving deep sleep.
• B Vitamins, especially B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, and B12.

Vitamin B12 plays an important role in oxygen delivery and energy production. If you are following a vegan and vegetarian diet, you are more likely to have vitamin B12 deficiency. Indeed, this nutrient is only available in animal-based foods, but luckily you can buy supplements to cater to your needs.

These deficiencies are quite common, so monitor your levels with appropriate tests and follow healthy diet plans.

10. Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by persistent and overwhelming fatigue that doesn’t go away with rest.

CFS can be intensified with physical or mental activity. The root cause is still not clearly identified and studies are ongoing to know more about this complex condition.

Other symptoms to watch out for include insomnia, lack of concentration, and muscle pain.

11. Medications

Many medications may trigger insomnia, tiredness, or even drowsiness as side effects. Some common groups are:

• Antihistamines for allergies.
• Proton pump inhibitors used to reduce stomach acid production for ulcer, gastritis, and GERD treatments.
• Antidepressants.
• Blood pressure medications.
• Diuretics for high blood pressure.
• Antibiotics for infections.

If you experience fatigue after taking new medications, read medical notices and consult your doctor or pharmacist. This concerns both prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

12. Imbalanced diet

Eating less than your needs or eating ultra-processed foods may cause calorie and nutrient deficiencies. In such a situation, your body will turn into catabolism mode and start breaking down your fat and muscles to produce energy.

This process is accompanied by tiredness. To prevent that, just stick to a balanced diet containing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, protein sources like dairy products, meat, eggs, …

Avoid consuming foods and drinks high in sugar, because it can lead to diabetes which is correlated to fatigue.

13. Caffeine addiction and abuse

Depending on caffeinated beverages to enhance your concentration and energy may produce the opposite effect because you will be deprived of restorative sleep, and the next day you will feel tired and will be tempted to take again your dose of caffeine.

Caffeine can stay in your body for up to six hours. For this reason, don’t consume coffee in the evenings to be prepared to sleep easily.

There’s nothing bad with drinking coffee, but you should know when to consume it and how many cups to take per day.

14. Dehydration

Water is involved in many processes in our body. It was proven that dehydration is linked to a lack of energy and concentration.

Luckily, this is a small issue that can be fixed easily by drinking enough water to replace continuous water losses.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article may help you find the root cause of any type of fatigue you may experience.

Some issues can be fixed with some dietary changes and healthy lifestyle habits. If it’s a more complicated medical condition, talk to your doctor to get proper treatment and return to your ordinary levels of energy.