Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am 25 years old, college student, in excellent health. During the school year I work out on a regular basis and get plenty of exercise walking to work, going for runs, or doing workout videos. I love spending time outside and I love to cook and take care of myself nutritionally.
I've always been a tired person in general, but it became debilitating a couple of years ago after I graduated school. I got a 40-hour job in an office and would come home from work exhausted every day even though all I did was sit at my desk (walked a couple miles each day at lunch and would still go for runs after work). I would get 9 hours of sleep per night and it still wouldn't be enough, I'd always be exhausted and would zone out while driving home from work and would be extremely sleepy at dinner and wouldn't have any energy all evening.
I had a sleep study done and they said I don't have sleep apnea, but sleep depreivation, even though I was getting a solid 8-9 hours of sleep per day. I tried taking a daytime sleepiness medication but it interfered with my ability to sleep in the evening and it didn't give me any more energy. I've had blood tests done and nothing comes back out of the ordinary.
I went back to school this fall and felt less sleepy, but I think that was due to a less rigorous schedule. Now I'm in another summer jobs that's 40 hrs per week. I've gotten 8-9 hours of sleep again each night but I'm still extremely tired all over again. I can't continue on like this, I'm 25 and should be in the prime of my life but all I ever want to do is go to sleep. Does anyone know what might be wrong? I'm going to get another array of blood tests done but I swear the doctors think I'm making it up. I can barely handle making it 8 hours at work and I don't know how I will manage having a real career job if I am this tired.
A. Look into hypoglycemia. You may have to break up your meals into smaller snacks.
B. Could it be your job is sapping you? Do you like what you do? Would you be happier doing something that's not deskwork? Personally I'd never make it through the day if I had to sit at a desk all day which is why I thought of this. Also, I have inattentive ADD, which makes it really hard for me to sit w/o getting sleepy and driving can be hell sometimes. Now I have a job that requires me to move around all day going up and down stairs and that helps a lot.
It could be many things. Low iron, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, hormones, depression etc. Only your doctor can know for sure. But I can tell you that if your doctor thinks you are making it up, you need to find a new doctor before it gets worse due to a delay in treatment.
Oh yeah and has your doc looked into narcolepsy? Google symptoms and see if it seems to fit. Here's a little something:
Quote:
Most sufferers experience their first symptoms of narcolepsy between the ages of 10 and 25. However, those symptoms can vary greatly from one person to another. The main narcolepsy symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness (with or without sudden sleep episodes) and abnormal REM sleep.
from: Narcolepsy: Symptoms and Treatment for Narcolepsy
My understanding is that the main course of treatment for this is high doses of stimulants like adderall--like 5x what a person with ADHD would take.
Or, have you had the flu in the past just before onset of major symptoms? I agree with the poster who said that if your doc won't take it seriously, find another--you could fall asleep driving and not even know that you did.
Oh yeah and has your doc looked into narcolepsy? Google symptoms and see if it seems to fit. Here's a little something: from: Narcolepsy: Symptoms and Treatment for Narcolepsy
My understanding is that the main course of treatment for this is high doses of stimulants like adderall--like 5x what a person with ADHD would take.
Or, have you had the flu in the past just before onset of major symptoms? I agree with the poster who said that if your doc won't take it seriously, find another--you could fall asleep driving and not even know that you did.
OP, what kind of sleep study did you have? Sounds like you need more than one. I have been diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia, which sounds a lot like what you are experiencing. My symptoms started when I was around 11 or 12 years old. I wasn't diagnosed with it until I was 31! I was constantly told it was depression, but I never experienced any relief with anti-depressants.
I went through two sleep studies, back to back, one overnight and a series that followed the next morning through the afternoon (known as MLST, multi latency sleep test). When they wired me up from head to toe, I thought, "How in the heck am I supposed to fall asleep with all of this crap on?!" I had leads everywhere, including some adhered all over my face and head. The "unknown" sleep disorder took care of that, though. I slept through the night, which completed the first study. The second study was a series of "possible" naps, where I was put in bed for 15 or 20 minutes every 2 hours to see if I would fall asleep. I fell asleep every time, and usually in under 3 minutes. When they would wake me they would ask if I had fallen asleep, and I knew I didn't. I had been laying there thinking about stuff the whole time...or so I thought. I was falling asleep and I didn't even know it. They knew it just by looking at my brain waves.
The results were interesting. My overnight exam was considered fairly normal, except for the fact that I spent way too much time in one of the sleep stages (I think it was stage 4). My doctor told me that this result was the most important because that sleep stage is the most restorative, so I should not have been able to fall asleep even once during the following exam, much less as many times as I did and as quickly.
I was not diagnosed with narcolepsy because I did not exhibit either of the tell-tale signs: cataplexy or early onset of REM. My doctor did tell me it was possible that I still had narcolepsy without either of these, but they could only confirm it through a spinal tap. He said he wouldn't do that because the treatment was the same. Basically, I am taking the same meds that a narcoleptic takes to stay awake. He said if they found a way to truly cure narcoleptics in the future that a spinal tap would then be beneficial. I take 200mg of Provigil every morning. It works great, no side effects like other stimulants.
See another doctor, possibly go directly to one that is closely associated with a sleep study center in your area. That way you know you will get the tests you need and you will have someone competent to interpret those tests.
I am 25 years old, college student, in excellent health. During the school year I work out on a regular basis and get plenty of exercise walking to work, going for runs, or doing workout videos. I love spending time outside and I love to cook and take care of myself nutritionally.
I've always been a tired person in general, but it became debilitating a couple of years ago after I graduated school. I got a 40-hour job in an office and would come home from work exhausted every day even though all I did was sit at my desk (walked a couple miles each day at lunch and would still go for runs after work). I would get 9 hours of sleep per night and it still wouldn't be enough, I'd always be exhausted and would zone out while driving home from work and would be extremely sleepy at dinner and wouldn't have any energy all evening.
I had a sleep study done and they said I don't have sleep apnea, but sleep depreivation, even though I was getting a solid 8-9 hours of sleep per day. I tried taking a daytime sleepiness medication but it interfered with my ability to sleep in the evening and it didn't give me any more energy. I've had blood tests done and nothing comes back out of the ordinary.
I went back to school this fall and felt less sleepy, but I think that was due to a less rigorous schedule. Now I'm in another summer jobs that's 40 hrs per week. I've gotten 8-9 hours of sleep again each night but I'm still extremely tired all over again. I can't continue on like this, I'm 25 and should be in the prime of my life but all I ever want to do is go to sleep. Does anyone know what might be wrong? I'm going to get another array of blood tests done but I swear the doctors think I'm making it up. I can barely handle making it 8 hours at work and I don't know how I will manage having a real career job if I am this tired.
Do you seem to be effected more so after you eat......drowsiness brought on by a meal.
I used to have this problem a LOT when I was eating a low fat/high carb diet. I would eat a meal and quickly get drowsy.
This problem is very common, from what I have read, in people who have some sort of carbohydrate metabolism disorder.
What basically cured me was cutting way back on the carbs and eating a lot more fat.
OP, what kind of sleep study did you have? Sounds like you need more than one. I have been diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia, which sounds a lot like what you are experiencing. My symptoms started when I was around 11 or 12 years old. I wasn't diagnosed with it until I was 31! I was constantly told it was depression, but I never experienced any relief with anti-depressants.
I went through two sleep studies, back to back, one overnight and a series that followed the next morning through the afternoon (known as MLST, multi latency sleep test). When they wired me up from head to toe, I thought, "How in the heck am I supposed to fall asleep with all of this crap on?!" I had leads everywhere, including some adhered all over my face and head. The "unknown" sleep disorder took care of that, though. I slept through the night, which completed the first study. The second study was a series of "possible" naps, where I was put in bed for 15 or 20 minutes every 2 hours to see if I would fall asleep. I fell asleep every time, and usually in under 3 minutes. When they would wake me they would ask if I had fallen asleep, and I knew I didn't. I had been laying there thinking about stuff the whole time...or so I thought. I was falling asleep and I didn't even know it. They knew it just by looking at my brain waves.
The results were interesting. My overnight exam was considered fairly normal, except for the fact that I spent way too much time in one of the sleep stages (I think it was stage 4). My doctor told me that this result was the most important because that sleep stage is the most restorative, so I should not have been able to fall asleep even once during the following exam, much less as many times as I did and as quickly.
I was not diagnosed with narcolepsy because I did not exhibit either of the tell-tale signs: cataplexy or early onset of REM. My doctor did tell me it was possible that I still had narcolepsy without either of these, but they could only confirm it through a spinal tap. He said he wouldn't do that because the treatment was the same. Basically, I am taking the same meds that a narcoleptic takes to stay awake. He said if they found a way to truly cure narcoleptics in the future that a spinal tap would then be beneficial. I take 200mg of Provigil every morning. It works great, no side effects like other stimulants.
See another doctor, possibly go directly to one that is closely associated with a sleep study center in your area. That way you know you will get the tests you need and you will have someone competent to interpret those tests.
This sounds like the study I had done. I had an overnight plus a day of napping times every 2 hours. During the naps I was awoken and could not recall if I had slept or not. I had a tendency to fall asleep very quickly. My overnight results were fine - no pauses in breathing or cessation of breath and good sleep cycles. The doctor said she would not say that I had narcolepsy, but I was borderline narcoleptic.
She prescribed a low dose of Ritalin, but that gave me terrible headaches and no more energy. I tried another medicine for daytime sleepiness (can't remember what it was) but it didn't do much. It was effective in the morning for a couple of hours, but no difference after about 10:00AM aside from not being able to sleep at night!
I plan on going to another doctor after I have my medical records transferred. I will make sure to look into idiopathic hypersomnia, thank you.
Also thanks to the other advice/tips - I will make sure to take these all into account! Lots to think about!
I am 25 years old, college student, in excellent health. During the school year I work out on a regular basis and get plenty of exercise walking to work, going for runs, or doing workout videos. I love spending time outside and I love to cook and take care of myself nutritionally.
I've always been a tired person in general, but it became debilitating a couple of years ago after I graduated school. I got a 40-hour job in an office and would come home from work exhausted every day even though all I did was sit at my desk (walked a couple miles each day at lunch and would still go for runs after work). I would get 9 hours of sleep per night and it still wouldn't be enough, I'd always be exhausted and would zone out while driving home from work and would be extremely sleepy at dinner and wouldn't have any energy all evening.
I had a sleep study done and they said I don't have sleep apnea, but sleep depreivation, even though I was getting a solid 8-9 hours of sleep per day. I tried taking a daytime sleepiness medication but it interfered with my ability to sleep in the evening and it didn't give me any more energy. I've had blood tests done and nothing comes back out of the ordinary.
I went back to school this fall and felt less sleepy, but I think that was due to a less rigorous schedule. Now I'm in another summer jobs that's 40 hrs per week. I've gotten 8-9 hours of sleep again each night but I'm still extremely tired all over again. I can't continue on like this, I'm 25 and should be in the prime of my life but all I ever want to do is go to sleep. Does anyone know what might be wrong? I'm going to get another array of blood tests done but I swear the doctors think I'm making it up. I can barely handle making it 8 hours at work and I don't know how I will manage having a real career job if I am this tired.
How is your diet?
You should be eating a diet that is very high in raw foods. Raw foods have energy in them that your body can assimilate.
I would certainly be tested for Lyme disease.
I am curious, on your days off, do you sleep late and then have LOTS of energy late into the night? You may have a circadian rhythm disorder if this is the case. I have had Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome my entire life, and I know that I can get 12 hours sleep and if I have to wake up early, I am very tired. On the other hand, if I allow my body to adjust to it's natural rhythm, I can get by on less sleep and feel *amazing* when I am awake.
Well almost a year in now and things are no better. I ended up going to another sleep doctor who re-interpreted by sleep study. He said I did not get that good of sleep at night and recommended I start taking lunesta. I took it for 3 weeks and had bad side effects (metal taste in my mouth 24x7) and did not experience any increase in energy levels so I discontinued it.
I went back and he perscribed me provigil, which I took and it didn't have much effect on my daytime energy levels, but it did keep me up until 2-3AM even when I took it in the morning right after getting up. So I was even more sleep on provigil.
I also went to a thyroid specialist to be tested for hypothyroid but the TsH test came back normal and I was told I wasn't hypothyroid. About 6 months ago I started taking bovine thyroid supplements once per day to see if it would make any difference. I've been vigilint in taking them once per day but have not seen any increase in energy levels.
The past few days have been really difficult with the combination of allergy season plus already being sleepy all the time (lots of nodding off at the desk). I've slept about 10 hrs/night for the last two nights and still feel tired. My sleep schedule has been more or less good overall, haven't gone to bed later than 10:30 PM in the last month, and have woken up around 6:45-7:30AM every day. Even keeping a consistent sleep schedule doesn't seem to help. I've also tried cutting out all sweets (not overweight, I weigh 145 5ft 9, but I figured eliminating sweets would be healthy overall) to no avail.
I don't have a health insurance plan that will allow me to have another sleep schedule and I just graduated school so I don't have any money to pay my own way. I am so frustrated. I don't know what to try. I exercise regularly, have a great diet, good sleep schedule, normal weight, etc etc but I just can't shake these sleepy feelings.
OP: Why do you describe yourself as being "in excellent health," when you feel extremely tired? That is not a sign of health.
Do you eat healthy, drink lots of water (with lemons?), take supplements? Do you have psychological problems you have not dealt with?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
