Chronic Fatigue – Life Doesn’t Have to be Miserable

Being tired all of the time can have severely negative effects on your life. You may feel moody around friends and family, unable to perform well at school or work, have dissatisfaction in your physical or intimate life, and struggle to deal with minor inconveniences. 

If you know that you are not sleeping 8 hours a day, then you may be able to identify the cause of these issues. However, if you are getting the appropriate amount of sleep are and still having these symptoms, then you may be even more frustrated.  

If you find yourself in the latter category, you are not alone. There are conditions that will interfere with your rest regardless of how much sleep or rest you think you are giving. Overall categories include: 

• Sleep conditions
• Medical conditions
• Lifestyle conditions

In this blog post, we will discuss these three categories in more detail.

Sleep Conditions That Cause Fatigue

One of the more common reasons you are tired all the time even after 8 hours of sleep is that you have a sleeping disorder. Sleeping disorders are conditions that prevent you from getting quality sleep. Here are a few sleeping disorders that would give you illusion of sleeping throughout the night, but actually don’t provide quality sleep.

Sleep Apnea Causing Chronic Fatigue

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder and medical condition that causes you to repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night.

When you stop breathing, you subconsciously wake up to begin breathing again, disrupting your sleep. Therefore, you might sleep for 7-8 hours and still feel like you barely slept – because you really didn’t! 

Here are common symptoms:

• Bed partner hears you repeatedly stop breathing throughout night
• Loud, chronic snoring
• Wake up exhausted in the morning
• Wake up with headaches
• Waking up choking/gasping
• Mood disruptions, such as constant irritability, brain fog, etc.

Parasomnias Causing Chronic Fatigue

Parasomnias are disruptive sleep disorders that interfere with your circadian rhythm, and may impact sleep quality without your awareness. You might compare this to insomnia where you are acutely aware of your lack of sleep.

Common parasomnia disorders include:

• Restless leg syndrome
• Sleepwalking
• Night terrors
• Chronic nightmares

Other Sleep Related Causes of Fatigue

Sleep deprivation despite good length of sleeping isn’t always the product of a sleeping disorder. Your sleep quality might also be impacted by:

• Not having an ideal sleeping environment: quiet, dark, peaceful, and comfortable room
• Adjust to doing shift work
• Stress/anxiety from work, marriage/divorce, moving, etc.
• Working hours that do not align with your natural circadian rhythm
• Too much “screen time” with laptops/TV/cell phones before bed, as the blue light can delay the onset of restorative stages of sleep
• Shift work

Any of the above can cause you to get less quality sleep even though you are getting the right amount of sleep time.

Common Medical Causes of Fatigue

There are some common medical conditions that can make you tired all the time, even though you are getting 8 or more hours of sleep. These include:

• Hypothyroidism
• Hormone problems
• Diabetes
• Anemia
• Heart Disease
• Chronic illness

These medical conditions can leave you feeling drained of energy and enthusiasm. With such conditions, you might have large fluctuations in your energy levels and sleeping patterns. 

Lifestyle and Cognitive Causes of Fatigue

Finally, there are numerous lifestyle and emotional causes of sleep deprivation from lack of sleep quality. Some of the more obvious ones are:

• Drinking too much alcohol, which greatly impacts REM sleep
• Poor diet/malnutrition, such as allergies or intolerances that can make you feel lethargic and sluggish all of the time
• Clinical depression/anxiety
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Shift Work

If you are living in Anchorage and struggle with chronic fatigue or tiredness during the daytime, contact us by clicking the orange button below to take a free online sleep test and talk with one of our sleep health professionals.