Sooo tired all the time.

[Juise]

I always feel like a slug, and it's really, really, excruciatingly hard to get up the motivation needed just for routine household care. And often I don't. Not enough to keep on top of things, anyway. It's really hard to do more than it takes just to get from one day to the next.

How do you know if it is just because you don't get awesome sleep? (Which I don't - I have a 3 y/o and a 9 month old, so it isn't likely to get better soon,) Or if there is something else going on? I'm pretty confident in my diet, and I don't think that is it. It seems like there are a million and one things that cause fatigue.

How are you supposed to go about finding out what the problem is? I am so sick of struggling all the time with everything, I want to feel awake, even just for a period of the day. Like I can tackle the kitchen or start and finish picking up the living room ( / playroom.) I don't have to wake up and feel ready to spring out of bed, I don't think that's likely to happen. I just want to be able to handle every day life reasonable well.

[tessie]

Have you had any blood work done? Could it be anaemia? Or perhaps thyroid?

Are you eating well/enough? I notice you're vegan, so I presume you'll be familiar with good nutrition, but it's easy for good food habits to slip when you're tired and it can sometime be difficult to get all your body needs from a vegan diet unless you work at it.

[frugalmum]

I have suffered from unexplained severe fatigue for many years.  It started after I was very ill for more than a year-- I got better from the illness but I never fully regained my strength and ever since have had classic signs of chronic fatigue syndrome.  I have had many tests, anemia, thyroid, but everything is normal.  There are three things that have helped me-- 1) eating as healthy as possible-- I eat a lot of raw vegan but do eat animal products from time to time.  I avoid junk/ sweets as much as possible, never drink soda. 2) pacing myself-- understanding I have physical limits and that pushing myself can be counterproductive.  Often I have to sleep during the day.  I hate it, but I have to in order to function in the evening.  3) low-impact exercise.  For the longest time I assumed exercise would make me feel worse.  2 months ago I started walking and doing walk at home dvds (leslie sansone).  i worked up from 1 mile to 5 miles.  I do 3-5 miles every day.  This has had a wonderful effect on my energy levels.  I'm definitely not back to normal but I am better.  Instead of sleeping three hours a day, the absolute most I sleep now is 2, and often just 45 minutes, or not at all.  I'm also sleeping better at night and feel stronger. Instead of having just 2 productive hours a day, I have 4 or more.  I would highly recommend her videos (there are some available for free online and on youtube).  You can start with an easy 1 mile (15 minute) one and eliminate arm movements and go from there.  This is the only exercise I've been able to do since I started suffering from fatigue.

I don't know if I have chronic fatigue but i do have all the symptoms including body and joint aches, especially when the fatigue hits me.  Do some research on chronic fatigue and coping mechanisms-- even if you don't have it, the coping methods might be of help to you.

People will be quick to blame this on veganism (well maybe not here on MDC) but I felt a lot worse when I was eating a meat and dairy heavy diet.  I have also been very strict gluten free and it had no effect.

[CarrieMF]

Low B12 can cause it.  It is more common among those who do not eat meat products as meats contain large amounts of it.

[frugalmum]

I would assume she is taking supplements... I have not felt better in terms of energy levels on supplements (or when eating meat). 

[CarrieMF]

supplements don't always work though.  If your body does not process B12 digestively then no amount of oral supplement or eating red meat is going to help.  I have never been a vegetarian, I have always eaten red meat but have low B12.  i get B12 shots because eating B12 through meat & other foods, taking an oral or under the tongue supplement does not get digested by my body.

[Juise]

I had blood work done maybe 2 years ago or so, because I was trying to find out why I was so tired, and everything checked out fine. My last iron check was about 6 months ago, but it was good then, and all through my pregnancy with DD2 (who is 9 months old now) so I'm feeling like if my diet was good enough to provide enough iron while pregnant it should still be okay.

I thought about getting some B12 supplements, but then I looked at the nutritional content of a lot of the foods I'm eating and there is really B12 in a lot of things. One cup of soy milk has 50% of your daily value, and there are a bunch of other things we eat containing it as well, not to mention the prenatal vitamins I still take for breastfeeding that say they have 500%. So I think I can safely rule that out.

Frugalmum - That sounds awful and worse that what I'm experiencing. I'm sorry you can't find answers I would looovvveee to take a nap and sometimes I really don't think I can possibly make it without falling asleep, but DD1 doesn't nap and DD2 doesn't nap well, so I don't have an option there. I feel like even a 30 minute nap would help me get myself together in the evening, but, alas.

I've been having a lot of knee pain, too, which started pretty suddenly and without apparent cause a few months ago. Not if I run, or "impact" them, just if I bend them. If I sit criss-cross, unbending my knees is excruciating.

I do feel a bit better when I seriously remember to actually take 3 vitamins a day spaced throughout the day, but not like I should. I should probably point out that I only have one adrenal glad as I lost the other to cancer. They said it is like kidneys and that one will make up for 2, but I have my doubts

[ameliabedelia]

Lyme disease??   The knee pain and tiredness would really indicate that.

[Marnica]

Honestly having only 1 adrenal gland puts you at a disadvantage. Adrenals that are stressed can cause what you are describing. I would do a 24 hr saliva cortisol test and see if your 1 remaining adrenal gland is shot.

Also when you say your thyriod was normal, Id becurious to know what they tested and what the results were. Most mainsteam docs use lab markers that are totally incorrect and there are hundreds of thousands of tired people out there being told that their thyroids are normal and they are NOT!

Hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue also often go hand in hand.