I'm Tired All The Time

[jenngolightly]

I'm not fatigued, I'm tired. I get at least 8 hours a night, but when I get home from work, I crash on the couch and sleep for 3 hours, get up and eat, go to sleep again and my dh wakes me up to go to bed.

On weekends I sleep 11 hours per night, and nap on the couch during the day.

This has been going on for months and it seems to be getting worse. I'm exhausted at work and have low concentration. I can't do anything with my family because I'm so tired. On a typical Saturday I'll sleep until 8:30 am, take a nap from 1-5 and go to bed at 9:30. But I'm tired all the time.

I wonder if it's something in my diet that's making me tired? I'm still not confident in what will/not make me sick. I was dx 2 years ago and am quite diligent about not eating gluten, but I keep getting the sick feeling, so I think I might be intolerant to something else. I try to keep a food diary, but I fall asleep before I can write down what I ate. LOL

What to do?

[Glamour]

Make sure you are not anemic, get tested. I was unbelievably tired with a few rashes and fibroids and that is why I went to the Dr. They wanted me to get blood transfusion at the ER. I take iron. You have to repeat this test every so often

Evidently many C and DH are very anemic. With the increasing skin rashes, I have become a total insomniac. After a few days I will take benedryl to fall asleep. Since trying to go gluten-free I am sleeping better.

You also might have a food allergy - allergies make you very sleepy and they are hard on the body.

[Ahorsesoul]

My first thought was for you to increase the amount of protein you are eating. It might help. It's easy and no trip to the doctor is required.

Remember, real meat and plain veggies are gluten free. Just stay a way from processed foods. Also keep a food journal so you can look over what you've eaten in case you do get sick. There really isn't any reason why you can have variety in your eating habits.

What are your favorite four menus? We can help you keep them gluten free.

Have you been off of dairy and soy long enough for your intestines to heal?

[tarnalberry]

Just because you are sleeping doesn't mean that you're getting rest. Do you feel rested when you wake up? Do you feel like you have energy for a while, and then it peters out? When does it peter out? Do naps help? Are you on medications that can affect sleep? Do you know if you sleep soundly? Have you ever had a sleep study? Do you know if you snore, or are you being treated for apnea? Do you have a particularly high stress job or life situation? Do you get regular exercise (at least two hours *prior* to trying to sleep)? Do you have other symptoms (low libido, depression (even mild), feeling cold all the time) that might suggest an underlying condition (like hormone imbalance, hypothyroid, etc.)?

There are a LOT of things that can contribute. If you have any doctors you feel comfortable working with, I would highly encourage you to talk to him/her.

[elainer]

Celiacs are also know to have stressed adrenal glands which can also affect

there thyroid. I have been feeling very tired also, no energy to do much of anything.

I am going to the Dr. in a month to have these and other hormones checked.

I have to go to a new Dr. because our family Dr. is very closed minded about celiac,

we have tried to tell him about celiac and just tells us this or that has nothing to do with celiac

(he is very uneducated about celiac)

I have been gluten-free for 6 years.

My son has some issues with being tired also he has been gluten-free for a year and

is having problems with complex carbs. So he watches the carbs he eats.

I myself am on the Atkins diet because I am having issues with carbs also.

It has helped some only been on it for 3 weeks, hoping I can go back on a regular

diet after I go to the Dr. and find out whats wrong.

I will let you know when I find out more.

[ang1e0251]

I think the above advice is good. Iron is a big one that contributes to energy but you also could use a B complex and a sublingual B12 on top of that. I would make sure you're getting enough manesium, Dr. Carolyn Dean suggests 600 mg for a normal sized adult. Vitamin D is huge and your dr will run a normal blood CBC on you for other problems like thyroid. That is really a lot of sleep time so it's worth it to try and get to the bottom of it.

[jenngolightly]

Thanks to everyone's suggestions, I did go to the doc and get an annual physical and bloodwork. My blood is okay, but a little low on ferritin, so I'm taking iron 2x a day. Nothing too low, though. What's really great is that my doc is referring me to a dietitian. Although I've been gluten-free for 2 years, my diet is crap because I haven't got a good handle on how to feed myself healthy EASY meals. Doc also said to start taking a multivitamin.

Thanks everyone!