7 Causes of Constant Fatigue and Excessive Tiredness

The general view from doctors is that the single biggest complaint they hear from patients is a feeling of constant fatigue. For some the trouble is simply not making sleep a priority... burning the candle at both ends for too long. Your doctor will tell you that continually getting 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night is going to catch up with you... at any age.

If you're getting the recommended, research supported 7 to 9 hours a night fairly regularly, and you're still tired, it's time to see your doctor to find out the causes of constant fatigue. While it could be the first sign of a more serious illness, most often the excessive tiredness is a more straightforward medical issue that has an easy fix.

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Here are seven sometimes overlooked causes of fatigue for you to consider and discuss with your doctor.

7 Causes of Constant Fatigue and Excessive Tiredness

1) Anemia. A woman in her reproductive years, especially if you have heavy periods, have recently given birth or have uterine polyps or fibroid tumors can lose enough blood to bring on anemia. This is one of the leading causes of fatigue in women. Your doctor will order a blood test and if anemia is the cause of your fatigue, you'll be given iron supplements and urged to add natural food sources like spinach, broccoli and red meat to your diet. With treatment, your fatigue should lift in 30 days, or less.

2) Underactive thyroid. If you generally feel sluggish, run down or even a bit depressed, a slow thyroid could be the cause. Known as hypothyroidism, this condition is one of the major health problems of women in the U.S., and may be much more widespread than anyone has realized.

According to the American Thyroid Foundation, by 60 years old, about 17% of women will have a thyroid disorder and not know it. To check, ask for blood tests known as T3 and T4 used to detect thyroid hormones, if they're low, synthetic hormones can be prescribed to bring you back up to speed. You'll start feeling better pretty quickly.

3) Undiagnosed urinary tract infection (UTI). In some instances fatigue can be the only clue of a UTI a woman gets. You might have no other symptoms, or symptoms that are mild enough to go unnoticed.

UTIs are caused by bacteria in the urinary tract that can come from improper wiping (back to front) or sexual intercourse. A urine test will tell and the treatment is simple, involving an oral antibiotic medication. Your fatigue should lift within the week... perhaps sooner. If the symptoms return after being on medication, get tested again - sometimes UTIs can be chronic.

4) Caffeine Overload. For some women, the caffeine that revs most people up does the opposite for them. Caffeine is usually acts as a stimulant, but if you use too much, the opposite can be true - abuse brings fatigue. If you try to solve the problem with yet more caffeine, your fatigue will actually get worse. Your best bet is to eliminate as much caffeine from your diet as you can. Look beyond coffee to chocolate, tea, soda and even some medications.

5) Food intolerance. Hidden food intolerance, even mild ones, can leave you feeling tired. Eat the troublesome food long enough and you could find yourself feeling continually exhausted. Fatigue is sometimes an early warning sign that food intolerance has developed. To find out, start with an elimination diet, cutting out any food that has you feeling sleepy within 10 to 30 minutes of eating it.

6) Sleep apnea. Some people don't realize they're not getting sufficient sleep, and this is particularly true of sleep apnea, a disorder that causes you to stop breathing for a moment, usually many times during the night.

Each time you stop breathing you wake long enough to disrupt the natural sleep cycle. The only clue many patients have is that they experience constant fatigue, no matter how many hours of sleep a night they get.

Women who are overweight or obese are often diagnosed with the condition. Snoring is often another sign; though the definitive diagnosis comes from a visit to a sleep lab, or a physician who specializes in sleep disorders.

If you do have sleep apnea, your doctor will suggest lifestyle changes (stop smoking, lose weight) to help. Left untreated this condition can increase your risk of stroke or heart attack.

7) Undiagnosed heart disease. If you're totally exhausted after doing things that used to be easy... like vacuuming, yard work, even your commute each day, then it's time to talk to your doctor.

Fatigue is usually not the first sign of heart disease and is often the result of something much less serious. However it is an under diagnosed problem in women, even though heart disease is the leading cause of death for females. Medication or treatment can usually correct the problem and restore your energy level.

Our world is a busy one to be sure, but that does not doom us all to excessive tiredness. To always being tired, feeling awful. Whatever are the causes of fatigue in your life... keeping you feeling exhausted and dragging can be treated... all you need do is get the process started.

7 Causes of Constant Fatigue and Excessive Tiredness

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Top 4 Causes of Extreme Tiredness

We have all experienced being tired at one point or another- after a hectic day at work, following a vigorous aerobic exercise, after playing a sport. To feel tired after a highly physical activity is normal. But many people experience tiredness even upon waking up in the morning, despite a seemingly long sleep. Are you one of them? Do you often feel a lack of energy for apparently no reason at all? In order to address this problem, the first step is to know what is causing it.

Here are the 4 most common causes of extreme tiredness:

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4th Most Common Cause: Medical Conditions

Many diseases and disorders can trigger fatigue, including the flu, anemia, and sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. Hormonal problems, heart ailments, and cancer are also known to cause fatigue. Certain medications, especially those used to treat chronic illnesses, also bring about extreme tiredness. The source of one's extreme tiredness can be even harder to trace if one has undiagnosed medical problems. When experiencing abnormal physiological conditions, it is best to see a doctor.

3rd Most Common Cause: Emotional concerns and stress.

Studies suggest that psychological factors are present in at least 50% of fatigue cases. Emotional concerns may include depression, chronic anxiety, emotional stress, and excessive grief, especially that due to loss of a loved one.

2nd Most Common Cause: Workplace issues

This is widespread especially in the working population who juggle their work priorities, family concerns, and social life. Examples of tiredness triggers in the workplace are shift work and poor workplace practices such as working long hours, hard physical labor, irregular working hours (such as rotating shifts), stressful work environment, and even boredom. Social factors at work such as working alone with little or no interaction with others and fixed concentration on a repetitive task are also known culprits. Workplace stress caused by a wide range of factors including job dissatisfaction, heavy workload, conflicts with superiors or colleagues, bullying, constant and unwanted change, and threats to job security are also known culprits. Recently, burnout among workaholics, the result of striving too hard in the work area while neglecting everything else, tends to drain all their energies from other aspects of their lives. Even among the unemployed, financial pressures, feelings of failure or guilt, and the emotional exhaustion of prolonged job hunting can lead to fatigue.

And finally the most common cause of extreme tiredness: Unhealthy lifestyle choices

In the absence of a medical illness, psychological problems, and work-related stress, lifestyle choice is the most prevalent cause of extreme tiredness among all ages. Common lifestyle choices that can cause fatigue include: lack of sleep, too much sleep, intake of alcohol and drugs, sleep disturbances, absence or lack of regular exercise, and poor diet. In some cases, extreme tiredness is caused by a combination of these factors.

Diagnosis can be difficult making treatment even harder. Consequences of extreme tiredness can even be worse. To avoid this plague, it is best that we know the triggers and avoid them at all cost. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Top 4 Causes of Extreme Tiredness

Gerrard Mackenzie is the author of the Special Sleep Report and has taught thousands of the stressed-out, tired and overworked how to overcome their sleeping difficulties and get a better night's rest. He also writes for the website Supercharge Your Sleep. He no longer suffers from extreme tiredness.

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