Tired all my life

Go VEDA - I sleep a lot too and love and don't care what anyone else thinks. It IS a standing joke with my adult kids and grandkids but that's all - a joke. WHAT is the problem with enjoying long sleeps zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I have always had difficulty getting a good nights sleep, so I find this one very interesting. Personally I would prefer natural remedies rather than pills or machines so:
1. There was a Michael Moseley prog on the TV this week about sleeping. If you can watch it on catch up it might offer you some help. The main thing I took from it was that eating 2 x kiwi fruit each evening appears to help. I looked at the limited research for this, and a small study suggests it is worth trying as they are not expensive, and are delicious.
2. If you know your blood group, then I urge you to give the Eat Right for Your Type diet a serious trial. I know when I have wilfully eaten foods from my avoid list my sleep is more disturbed than usual. Anyone wants to know more about this, pm me. [No cost involved.]
3. B12 crops up often in the replies here. The top ten sources are: eggs, cod, beef, fortified cereals, yeast extract e.g. Marmite, lamb's liver, pate, pork, duck, pheasant. N.B. sleeping pills & alcohol inhibit absorption.
Hope sufferers can improve the situation. Good luck.

I've had the same problem since i was a teen...I'm now 67 !!! About 7 years ago I had a sleep study done & was told I have narcolepsy !! I take 60 mg adderal to keep me awake...but doesn't help all the time !!! Adderal is just an amphedamine !! But on days I forget to take it early enough...I've slept 22 hours !!!!

I'd ask for a print out of all your blood results and Google 'Symptoms ofHashimotos'. Many gps dont look atresults as they should.
Good luck from someone who always needed lots of rest and sleep and at 60 needing more than ever. I got diagnosed a few years ago xxx

Hard getting to sleep, but once there could sleep for ever, well have a jolly good lie in.

I'm another champion sleeper. I wake up yawning! When I almost fell asleep on the M6, I took myself to the GP and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. After about 20 years, I am now on 100mcg of levothyroxine and don't drive long distances any more. However, I also have Sjogren's Syndrome of which one symptom is exhaustion. Can't win!

There is a condition connected to sleep disorders called CFS/ME is the other name for it. CFS stands for Constant Fatique Disorder. It is diagnosed by symptoms as there is no blood test for it.

There are many reasons you can develop it.
It is also coñnected with fibromyalgia though you dont necessarily develop both. I do have both.

It can develop through an illness, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which can be of any level causes can be from an accident to a traumatic life event. Its personal to everyone what is the level of trauma that brings this on

There is unfortunately no cure. The symptons include being continuously tired, being able to sleep far longer than usual and still exhausted. Heaviness in the legs, is another symptom. I suggest you Google it and speak to your Dr about it as some people have more symptoms than others

The only relief I have found which doesnt cure though helps is 4 weekly reflexology which I pay for. I also have pain relief and meds to help my body relax on a night when I go to bed as though it doesnt feel like it our bodies are restless in sleep

Just read your last post and that "Vit B deficiency" is what they're testing me for as apparently I was extremely anaemic even though I eat plenty of green veg, fish and Iron rich foods - but my body hasn't been storing those vitamins.

When I was younger my father used to say I didn't sleep I died... I now use a light box in winter-time otherwise I'd sleep all day or at least until it was light enough to waken me! I don't use curtains and keep the blinds slanted to give me the most bright light! Recently I've been doing a 30 minute walk / or about 1-2km every day and that has helped me! I'm due to have my blood tested again tomorrow as I was severely deficient in Folic Acid vitamins last December so hoping that all is back on course now, but have you had your blood tests done for Vit D and Vit B etc... as deficiency in those can cause the symptoms you are describing? Sorry if I've just reiterated what others have said and hope you get help with your problem soon.

Thank you for all your replies. I can't believe how many of you took the time to respond to my post. The B12 deficiency certainly looks worth looking in to especially since I have a cousin with pernicious anaemia. My big problem will be getting a GP appointment. My practice in common with others in this area only allows an appointment to be made on the day. Phone lines open at 0830 and I have never managed to get through before 0845 when I'm told that all appointments are gone and that the triage nurse will ring me back if it is an emergency. I have a fitbit and it shows that I wake very often and also am very restless. I thought this was normal until my hubby got one and he sleeps all night. I'm also interested in the kinesiology route and will certainly follow that up. I am taking an iron supplement - SpaTone. I didn't know this could cause problems. I have suffered from depression and have been taking antidepressants for years. It's a relief to know that other people have the same problem. It's often been commented that I could get a gold medal if sleeping was an Olympic sport and I was glad to see one post using that analogy. Again thanks so much and I'll keep you posted on any progress.

I have found by using headphones and my iPad or smart phone on you tube 'guided meditations' I can stay asleep long enough to have good quality sleep and wake refreshed. Google it and you find loads for free. I like Jason Stephenson myself but certainly worth a try

I read that most people in this country are short of iodine in the diet, especially as we now eat less salt and iodine is no longer used in flour treatment, so most of our thyroid levels are too low. This can lead to chronic tiredness. As iodine is only found in things like lobster and prawns which don't exactly feature heavily in my daily diet(!), I now take a daily kelp pill and have found this really helpful. I used to feel tired all the time but am much better now. You can get kelp tablets from Holland and Barrett and they aren't very expensive.

Blood tests at the lower end of normal or upper end Fal within normal added as a GP us concerned but still doesn't mean that your thyroid levels are right - I'm not saying that's the cause but it's a thought
If sleeping so much is worrying you then I think I would take up some of the suggestions made to try and get to the bottom of it

vivvq, I wouldn't take an iron supplement without a test or consultation with a doctor - it can be quite damaging especially after the menopause.
I would go with possible CFS too. Hypersomnia can be one of the symptoms.

I have similar problems, and I think it happened after a TBI plus possible infection with leptospirosis. I tend to get better, then go downhill again.
Get some form of physical excercise - whatever you can manage: walking, gardening etc.

I do think, nowadays, us oldies are supposed to be as lively as we were when we were 20! It's nonsense! Our bodies are wearing out.

Viv , I was just about to mention Chronic fatigue syndrome but Janey mentioned it first . Check up on the symptoms to see if you think that's it . If I were in your position I would allow myself a set amount of sleep - for instance 8 hours- then get up whether you are tired or not , you can end up sleeping your life away x

Have you considered Chronic Fatigue. If all usual bloods have come back within range it may be an answer. Also if you have sleep apnea that could cause your symptoms.Discuss options with your GP. All the best.

Consider reading up on Pernicious Anemia and have that tested. GP's often don't test for PA (B12 deficitcy and sometimes Folic Acid). Your need for sleep is familiar with PA and better to have the blood test and know one way or the other. There is treatment. Good Luck

Hi it took them more than 15 years and all the blood tests, MRI etc going to refer me to a Respiratory Consultant who listened and sent me home with a simple (and cheap) little kit comprising a finger clip secured in place by a wrist band connected to a small box with a memory card... After wearing it for 24 hours I sent it back and lo and behold the printout showed that my blood oxygen levels were dropping below 85% for x% of the time when I was asleep.
They think (though of course being the brain they cannot tell for sure) that the part of my brain that stimulates breathing was damaged when I had a TBI impacting the back of my skull (traumatic brain injury previously known as 'Closed Severe Head Injury'). So cheap and simple I am surprised that only Respiratory Consultants seem to use these little gadgets.
Official diagnosis is Central Alveolar Hypoventilation which translates as Brain Lungs not breathing enough!
So I am on oxygen - via a nasal cannula with a machine at home and cylinders for travel. When I am with people and talking or eating I have to breath but when alone or sleeping it sort of doesn't happen. I do not yawn or feel breathless just an overwhelming need to sleep. I had to give up my job, stop driving and now am coping with neurological deficits esp memory loss that could have been prevented.
Anyway for those of you experiencing this brain 'shut-down' imperative (especially if you have sustained a TBI) do give it a try as it is so easy and does not cost the NHS much at all. BW

I love sleeping. Zzzz

I have been suffering from several complaints including sleepiness for many years now and was resigned to living with them. Then I decided to make an appointment with the kinesiologist who holds a clinic weekly at the osteopaths we use on occasion.

I had seen a lady over twenty years ago who had helped me enormously but me and my body especially are a lot older now!

My current kinesiologist has steadily been putting me back on the road to health happiness. I won't try and describe what it is exactly but I can assure you it works. All the staff at the practice cannot praise him enough and my body is gradually becoming balanced once again.

I don't know where you live but mine recommended looking on
www.systematic-kinesiology.co.uk as I'm going to find one for my daughter's partner who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

I do hope you find a solution.
Sleepiness is as debilitating as insomnia I've found.

My sister had this type of problem and was eventually diagnosed with depression.

I suppose sleep is like everything else and we are all on some wonderful 'spectrum', I agree with everybody else who says you must go back to the Drs and say you want to be referred to somebody who deals with sleep problems as you are worrying about it and it has become difficult to cope with. Just a thought GPs don't usually do much with Vitamin testing in ordinary circumstances, might be interesting to know if you are short of anything, I was amazed the difference Vitamin D and Calcium made to me and I see B12 has been mentioned and iron, as I understand it we don't make as much use of our food as we age.

I have to point out that you are very dependent on your doctor with regard to blood tests. For example, if you were to enter a maths exam where the pass mark was 25% and you got 26% you would have passed but you would hardly be ecstatic at your performance!! It is the same for blood tests - there has to be parameters for readings otherwise everyone would have to have further tests but you need to know your reading in order to judge if there could be a problem. In my case I had a 'normal' reading for B12 but it was something like 160 in parameters of 150 - 860 which meant, according to the lab, that I was normal but my doctor was horrified and immediately ordered me B12 injections every fortnight for 2 months and I now have a B12 jab every 3 months. It is the same for Thyroid readings - you really do want to know what the readings (and parameters) are. Some surgeries will charge you for a print out so I suggest you go along with paper and pen and simply ask then write them down.

Have you tried reading a couple of chapters of a good book once you are settled in bed for the night. I find that on nights that I get absorbed in a chapter or two of a really good book I always sleep much better and soundly (not remembering dreams etc) and feel far more alert and refreshed in a morning. Also have found doing this I am not woken up by the need to go to the loo in the night. Maybe if you alter your daily routine somewhat and possible examine the types of food you are eating (some being more energising than others) you will see some changes. Sometimes a little walk in the fresh air is what's needed. It can alter your mood or sleepiness and revitalise you.

I've got a friend like that and she's only 45 she can go to bed anytime of day or night be asleep in seconds and sleep for hours.When she's bored she says I think I'll go to bed for a few hours and if she goes. Think maybe there isn't any medical answer it's maybe just the way some folks are. Sorry not very helpful. But may I ask do you suffer from depression .