A common complaint from many of my patients is a lack of energy, a feeling of complete and utter exhaustion. They rely on stimulants like coffee to get them through the morning and again at 3 PM to finish off their day…sound familiar?
While it’s normal for us to feel tired during different seasons of our lives — after the birth of a child, or during a career transition, for example, it’s a possible indicator of serious health issues that shouldn’t be left un-investigated.
So many times, I see patients who have been living half a life, thinking their feelings of fatigue are just their new normal. Someone told them it’s just a normal part of getting older.
But once we’re able to uncover the root cause of fatigue, recovery is entirely possible, and sometimes, we can even improve energy levels beyond where they were before.
Are you getting enough rest?
The causes of fatigue are many and can be complex.
However, the first and easiest thing to consider if you’re feeling extremely tired is to assess your sleep.
These days, overwork, perceived stress, commute times, and a general societal reverence for “being busy” robs us of one of our most precious resources — sleep.
Ample sleep is critical to support all of our bodily functions, and if we’re not getting enough of it, everything from our immune system to our emotional health is compromised. There’s even an association between lack of sleep and cardiovascular disease.
Here are a few of the simplest ways to improve the quality of sleep you’re getting:
- Listen to your body. When you feel tired, go to bed and don’t try to push through until you get your second wind
- Try to sleep between 10 PM and 6 AM
- Wake up at the same time every day. Yes — even on the weekends
- Get outside during the day
- Banish blue light (like the kind from the TV or cell phone) from your bedroom or wear blue-blocking glasses after sunset
Prioritizing sleep is one of the single most important things you can do to improve your health. It’s completely free, and relatively painless. Remember, there’s no badge of honor for being sick and tired.
For a detailed breakdown of how sleep affects our health and in-depth practical tips for the best night’s sleep of your life, check out my best selling book, Built to Thrive — which you can now download for free.
Insulin resistance and fatigue
Have you ever noticed you feel extremely tired after eating, especially a meal high in carbohydrates?
This could be an indication of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is becoming a national epidemic — a shocking 1 in 3 adults in the country have it. It’s a precursor to diabetes, and for the most part, doesn’t really cause too many symptoms. For this reason, many people have it and don’t realize that they do.
One of the symptoms of insulin resistance is feeling worn down or fatigued, particularly after eating. Unfortunately, many people assume this symptom is just a part of aging, or due to a lack of quality sleep.
If you’re feeling more tired than usual and experience any of the following, please have your doctor check your blood sugar:
- Feeling hungry, even after you’ve eaten
- High thirst
- Frequent urination
- Tingling or numbness in hands and feet
Why adrenal dysfunction may be making you tired
Our adrenal glands are an important and often overlooked component of overall health. These small glands that sit atop our kidneys produce some of the most crucial hormones in our bodies — including ones that regulate immune function, blood pressure, and metabolism.
While many in the medical community disagree on the specific terminology used to describe problems with our adrenals (some used to call it adrenal fatigue, others hypoadrenia, now the more accepted term is hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction).
No matter what it’s called, one thing is clear. When we are under stress for prolonged periods of time, our adrenals can’t do their job properly — and this ultimately results in feelings of extreme tiredness.
The problem is, we are under stress a lot! Our bodies can be stressed due to undiscovered food intolerances, chronic lack of sleep, hidden infections, and life experiences like worrying about finances or moving.
The good news is, once we identify that the HPA axis is what’s causing your fatigue, supporting your adrenal function can significantly increase energy levels.
Easy ways to make your adrenals happy again include:
- Meditation — the health benefits of meditation are many and studies have shown it can benefit everything from chronic pain to blood pressure. If meditation sounds too difficult for you, don’t be intimidated. Successful meditation practices are built one minute at a time. To get you started, check out this guided meditation I recommend to all my patients.
- Adopt an Anti-Inflammatory Diet — be sure to include lots of whole foods, especially veggies in your diet. Your adrenals love B vitamins, so fill up on dark leafy greens, avocados, nuts, seeds, beans, and high-quality protein.
- Avoid excess caffeine — while the initial jolt from your morning cup of joe may help mask the tiredness for a short while, you’re actually doing more harm than good relying on it for energy. Try switching to green tea which has less caffeine and is loaded with antioxidants.
Still feeling sleepy?
There are a ton of other reasons you may be dead tired. Some of the other common things I see every day that cause fatigue:
- Hormonal imbalances
- Hidden infections
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Heavy metal exposure
- Thyroid disorders
- Lack of exercise or too much
- Severe calorie restriction
In my practice, we use cutting-edge functional medicine testing and labs that you don’t have access to in a typical doctor’s office.
We take the time to listen to every part of your story and use that information to discover the root cause(s) of your fatigue. We don’t believe in simply dispensing pharmaceutical bandaids and sending you on your way. We don’t stop until you’re thriving, full of energy and happy again.
If you’ve been feeling tired for a while now, and you’re ready to take your life back from fatigue, schedule a free call with me so we can talk about your future.
References
“Sleep Duration and Cardiovascular Disease Risk – NCBI.” 9 Jan. 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791534/.
“Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes | NIDDK.” https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/prediabetes-insulin-resistance.
“National Diabetes Statistics Report | Data ….” https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html.
“Adrenal Glands | Johns Hopkins Medicine.” https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/adrenal-glands.
“Does mindfulness meditation improve chronic pain? A … – NCBI.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28961631.
“Meditation and blood pressure: a meta-analysis of … – NCBI.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28033127.
