Tiredness - questions and answers

I get 8 hours sleep each night and I still feel tired all the time .... Why?

Lack of sleep is an obvious reason for feeling tired. On average most of us are happy with eight hours sleep each night. Some people can get by on five or less hours e.g Winston Churchill. He was reputed to have survived on 4 hours a night, but had regular daytime naps lasting about 15-20 minutes, which seemed to 'recharge his batteries'.

The most important hours of sleep are those at the start of your night's sleep, when sleep is at it's deepest. If you're having the right amount of sleep, then maybe the cause of your tiredness is due to the quality of the sleep you're having, rather than the quantity.

Snoring is a common cause of poor quality sleep, so ask your partner or family if you are a loud snorer, i.e. if they haven't already complained!

One cause of loud snoring is a condition called 'Sleep Apnoea (ap nee ah)', which causes extreme tiredness and sleepiness the following day. This condition is more common in those with a fat neck over 17 inches in collar size, heavy drinkers, smokers and those who are overweight.

Your quality of sleep may also be worsened by sleeping in a room which is too hot through the night, and is also poorly ventilated. So switch off the bedroom radiator at night and keep a window slightly open.

Might there be a genuine medical reason for my tiredness?

Many patients complain to their doctor that they feel tired all the time (known in the profession as TATT!), and there are several medical reasons that can cause tiredness.

Given that your sleep pattern seems normal, your doctor will probably check you for anaemia, which 'simply put' is thinning of the blood. This can be caused through poor iron intake in the diet, or loosing iron through blood loss such as occurs with heavy periods.

Deficiencies of Vitamin B12 or folic acid are other causes of anaemia, and a simple blood test will soon ascertain the cause.

An underactive thyroid could also cause tiredness, along with weight gain, constipation, slowness of movement, thinning of the hair, and brittle nails.

Diabetes is another condition that may cause feelings of weakness and tiredness, and both this and thyroid disease can be detected by blood tests done at your GP's surgery.

A more serious cause of tiredness can be cancer of any part of the body, including leukaemia (which is, in effect, cancer of the blood). However, there will usually be other symptoms present such as weight loss, loss of appetite, weakness or an abnormal swelling, depending on where the tumour is situated.

You must also appreciate that certain medications can cause tiredness such as beta blockers and other treatments for blood pressure, as well as tranquillisers, anti-histamines and some sleeping tablets might leave you feeling 'hungover' the following morning!

Apart from feeling tired all the time, I've lost all interest in my work, home and family. I also feel very weepy... can you help me?

The symptoms you describe could well be due to depression. Along with those symptoms you might also get early morning wakening (4am-5am), loss of confidence, feeling very low in mood, loss of interest in sex, as well as feelings of anxiety and tension.

With depression you can't be bothered to do anything, (which you might have interpreted as tiredness), so go to see your GP explaining all your symptoms and if it is depression, it can be treated very successfully with modern anti-depressants which are safe and non-addictive.

Don't forget also, that stress and overwork can tire you out both physically and mentally, so if you are working long hours try to change your lifestyle, so that you have more time for relaxation, hobbies, yourself and your family.

No one should feel tired all the time! If you do, then see your doctor.

Good Health

This article was published on Mon 31 July 2006