Feeling constantly exhausted despite 8.5 hours of sleep – how do people do it?

When I was about this age I went to the GP for similar symptoms, and bear in mind this was 30 years ago, the GP was very sympathetic and described "waking up tired despite having slept well". I was doing my PhD at the time and obviously was doing some activities.
For me it turned out to be a food intolerance - and then another one.
Go to a different GP.

What do you eat? Is it food that does you good?
Is the tiredness somewhere specific? I know if I feel tired in the crown of my head it’s vit D deficiency?
you sleep long enough so how’s the quality of your sleep?
Take a really good multivitamin as soon as you’ve had bloods. And put your results in ChatGPT and ask it what it thinks could be improved. The uk has acceptable some rates that would be considered nigh on lethal elsewhere.

Lots of things have already been mentioned, but quality of sleep can be a big issue. Do you tend to remember lots of dreams by any chance? I used to and it was many years until I discovered it was a sign of broken sleep (waking up mid sleep cycle) so I was never properly rested. Turned out I had asthma and a deviated septum and I struggled to breathe at night or would be coughing. I didn't wake up enough to 'feel' awake so I had no idea. I thought sleep apnea was only for people who were very overweight and didn't realise there could be other reasons. I honestly just thought I was lazy, because I could sleep for 9 hours, wake up groggy and still feel tired in the day!
I had treatment and am much better these days, though still find i need a bit more sleep than most.

Luckily, I’m an early riser but even if I weren’t kids need to be ready to be out of the house before 8.30am. OP, might be because you’re interrupting your sleep cycle, it can make you feel awful all day.

You need to get your ferritin levels checked alongside your iron levels and B vitamin levels as others have mentioned. Anaemia is the last stage of iron deficiency - in the earlier stages you can have normal serum iron levels but low ferritin.

Yes, I was going to add that digestive symptoms could be a clue. If there are any food intolerances or auto immune problems in the gut, that can actually cause an awful lot of fatigue.

I was also going to add gum disease. It's just beginning to be realised how much even low level gingivitis affects our overall health. So if you have bleeding gums it's really important to get it sorted.

It’s good your blood tests are going ahead but sorry your GP was so rude and dismissive in what he said.

I am late 30s now but was full of energy in my 20s until about 29. Then I had a horrible 6 months or so of fatigue. I never really got to the bottom of it as all my blood tests were normal except for being slightly anaemic. But I think it was an interlinked mixture of depression/stress and post viral fatigue. I felt fine in terms of my mood but I think the depression and work related stress was being expressed by my body as fatigue if that makes sense.

I would sleep for 10 hours and still be tired. I would have to walk at a snails pace if I was going anywhere meaning the 15 minute walk to the station in the morning became 30 minutes etc.

You need a blood test for anaemia and possibly thyroid function. You could be low on iron, B12 or vit D. They should also do a blood count for signs of infections.

You could possibly have a low-grade infection, such as urine, which is sapping your body's resources but not giving you obvious symptoms. Have to had any illnesses recently? Viral fatigue is a real thing, and common after infections like glandular fever, tonsillitis, sinusitis, Covid, Cold sores, shingles, etc.. signs like mouth ulcers and skin rashes could also indicate that your immune system is dealing with something.

Hopefully you'll get some answers soon. Don't be cowed or disheartened by the gp, if you don't feel right keep going back until you find out what's going on.

I went to the gp last year as I was very tired - but like you, too tired to be normal. I work full time and have two dc but nothing about my life meant I should be as tired as I was! Bloods all fine. I went again a few weeks ago as along with the tiredness my anxiety has returned from nowhere. This gp did another blood test but also tested fir vitamin d and b vitamins and it turns out I am deficient in vit d and folate. Been taking them for two weeks now and already feel better. And when I read the symptoms of both I was amazed at how they matched up to how I was feeling!

Horrible when the gp says things like that though. Loads of people are tired but not to the point where it is affecting them every day.

I was about to ask about this! I felt like that for years, all through my 20’s and early 30’s - once I got diagnosed with ADHD though and started medication, it all reduced a lot as I wasn’t constantly recovering from overwhelm. In fact, I’ve barely seen a GP in ten years since, whereas prior to that I was regularly having blood tests as I tried to figure out what was wrong. I also got genuine illnesses back then as I seemed to pick up everything going, but that all stopped too (maybe to do with reduced stress levels?)

If you struggle to put on weight it could be coeliac disease or Crohns. Both affect absorption of nutrients and would leave you very tired.

Definitely get the blood tests. Can you look at your diet and see what you can increase?

I have found recently that I have more energy and am less tired on less sleep. When I was sleeping 8.5/9 hours I was constantly tired and napping in the day.

Are you taking any SSRIs? As this can effect people in heat which could contribute. And do you have any underlying conditions that the heat could impact

No, that isn't normal OP. At 27 and only working PT with no kids you should be full of energy! My 20-something colleagues work FT and have busy social lives at the weekends and I've never seen any of them yawning at work. I hope the blood test shines a light on things. I often suffer with low iron and that makes me feel pretty exhausted, but I'm a lot older than you with kids and a job. If you're borderline underweight you may need to eat more/eat better. A malnourished body doesn't function at its best.

I’ve felt like that since puberty. I think I am autistic. DD1 is diagnosed.

I went on a course with work once and it talked about sleep cycles. They said that each sleep cycle is 90 mins and if you wake up in the middle of one you’re not fully rested.

So it’s better to get 6, 7.5 or 9 hours sleep. By waking up after 8.5 you’re waking up half way through a cycle.

I know it sounds a bit made up, but this really was a game changer for me!

I'm so sorry the GP was rubbish OP. Frankly it doesn't sound normal at all. I have a full time job and 2 kids and I'm tired yes, but not that tired.

Your thyroid is fucked.

I was more tired as a single person on 9 hours sleep than I am now as a single mum on 6.

Sleep apnea? I was told I couldn't have it or be tested for it as I wasn't falling asleep in the afternoons. Turns out I do have quite severe sleep apnea and I feel much better now it is being treated.

i have 5 kids a fulltime job and a large house to run and I don't feel like that EXCEPT when my vitamin D is low. Make sure GP tests for that as well if iron and vit B come back ok.

I hate, hate, hate GPs who behave like this. Sorry OP. I’m sure he is massively overstretched and exhausted and irritable, but even so, he shouldn’t behave like that.

Why do you need to get up so early? Not everyone is designed to wake up by 7am. My natural waking time is 8.30 - 9am. I've tried all sorts over the years and any other schedule leads to me feeling like a zombie. A good test would be what time you'd get up on an long holiday from work. I've made sure my employment and lifestyle fits with my natural rhythm. I'm not changing my sleep genetics to fit in with the early bird society. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Appreciate not every one has the choice, which is why I only ever apply to jobs with flexi time.

Secondly any chance of being neurodivergent / autism / adhd? They all can affect energy levels.

Do you drink enough?

This might sound like a daft question, but if I don't drink enough then I feel exactly the same.

I’d take a guess that your not eating enough to keep your energy levels up and probably low iron, vit d maybe

Get yourself to your GP urgently. This is NOT right, and sounds like it’s been going on for some time.
How is your MH?