Is it normal to be this tired?

[aweekip]

I’m exhausted and feel like I could go for a nap. I know I’ll end up sleeping for 2 ish hours because that’s how long I usually sleep for when I go for a nap. But I didn’t get a bad sleep last night, in fact I actually got a good sleep. I went to bed around 11 but watched a film until 1, then went to sleep and got up around 12 ish so I got almost 11 hours of solid, quality sleep. I haven’t done anything particular strenuous today- I walked my dog, went out for lunch in Edinburgh with my friend and came home. I genuinely feel exhausted and sluggush, like I need a 2 hour+ nap.

i went to sleep quite late yesterday but usually I go around midnight so it’s not that unusual and I got a good amount of sleep. I don’t nap during the day (unless I’m absolutely shattered) so it’s not like my body is used to it. No matter how much sleep I get, or what time I go to sleep and wake up, I still feel exhausted the next day.

I’m not iron deficient or anaemic and I’m not feeling unwell right now. I enjoy sleeping so I don’t know if maybe it’s just that, but is it normal to be this tired? I’m 23 and healthy.

Yes I could do that at the weekend. I wouldn’t need that much sleep (13 hours) every day though.
When I was a student (18-23) I could have some late nights/ early mornings and then sleep 16 hours straight (sometime consecutive days) for couple days to catch up!

Oh wow!

Just bumping this in case anyone else sees it!

I had a good, solid sleep last night (approximately 10 hours) and had a very quiet relaxing Boxing Day- I didn’t do anything other than walk my dog and lounge around at home, however I still feel so tired! I fell asleep at 5 for a 3 hour nap. I would have slept longer but I was woken up and I still feel exhausted.

Yes it's all quite normal. I was like that when I was younger.

I would probably go for a medical check up personally, for your age that’s a lot of sleep and if it has an impact on your quality of life (can’t get as much done as others etc), then that’s what I’d say. I’d get bloods taken for sure. When I slept like you did my thyroid had given up. Could be nothing but worth checking. Good luck

I think it's the laying about, out of our usual routine. I have 3 twenty somethings home for Christmas. Usually busy, active people who exercise/ eat well etc. But since coming home they are snacking, napping, watching movies, napping again and finally going to bed late. Its all part of the season and my dd was just saying how much she is totally enjoying not running here and there. Sometimes when we stop the tiredness shows itself. Listen to your body and rest. Soon you will be ready to hit the road again.

Might be worthwhile getting checked out for an under active thyroid.

Have you been working especially hard recently and now have some down-time? Might just be your body and mind trying to catch up, but you should ask GP for blood test anyway.

sleep breeds sleep. you slept late and had 11 hours, I’d feel sluggish and sedated after that much too. a nap at 6pm would be insane, it’ll wreck your night’s sleep! Just stay awake and go to bed earlier than usual

yeah I know what you mean and agree about late nights making you feel tired etc. I didn’t actually have a late night last night though, I went to bed at a much more normal time and got around 10 hours of solid sleep. I didn’t mean to nap tonight, I just sat down on the couch and felt so tired and then i woke up and it was 3 hours later. I’m very lucky though that my sleep doesn’t get too disrupted thankfully so I’ll be going to bed in half an hour and I’ll probably get another 10-11+ hours x

How much exercise do you do?

if you're not getting out and doing any exercise I think it's normal to feel sleepy and to sleep a lot. Even a short brisk walk or a short jog can make a huge difference to your energy levels.

Get your B12 tested and post your results on a b12 Facebook page for feedback. Weirdly the nhs assume rock bottom results are just fine.

If I don't sleep until after midnight then it doesn't matter how much I sleep, I'm tired the next day. There's a saying I heard once that said every hour before midnight is worth two after, and that's always held true for me. I do always wake in the night though!

Otherwise; I do generally feel better sticking to a routine of sleeping and getting up at the same time every day, boring though it sounds!

You need to look into what you have been doing in the past months, could you be catching up with sleep or after some hard work? also your sleep may not be as good if you go sleep at 1am after watching films.

Theres a difference between sleepy/drowsy and bone tired exhausted.
If its the first it may be a combination of being relaxed, warm after being out in the cold, a big lunch, nothing much to do etc.
If its the second and you feel well in all other respects it might be the quality of your sleep that's lacking. You might want to track it and see how much 'good' sleep you're getting.

I’m shocked how many people think this is normal.

it isn’t.

sleeping after midnight isn’t actually good for you.

go to your doctor.
thyroid, b12, calcium, iron off the top of my head.

As in the quality of sleep after midnight is shit, you need to go to bed earlier

Definitely worth asking the doctor to do bloods. Could be thyroid, low iron, low vit D. I find that lowering my carb intake helps reduce my tiredness but everybody has different bodies so it might not help everyone.

Only two things in my life have made me feel exhausted no matter how much sleep I got. First was b12 deficiency and the other… pregnancy.

Someone else has asked this but do you exercise? I've had bouts of being sleepy and drowsy when I wasn't exercising at all.

I know in my first post I went to bed really late but I don’t usually- normally it’s around 11 ish. I’ve been a bit lazier in the past week or so but normally I’m working, out and about everyday and so on. It’s hard to know when this all started because I’ve always been a sleepy person- I’ve been known to fall asleep at parties before if I’m tired enough! But recently it just feels like a much deeper type of tiredness. Like tonight, I felt as if I was absolutely exhausted. I don’t ever fall asleep randomly or unexpectedly like with narcolepsy, it just feels like I got 4 hours of sleep when I got 3 times that! Normally I exercise regularly and I’m sporty but the last few days have been quieter with Christmas. I had several blood tests for an unrelated thing earlier in the year and they said my b12 was fine and I wasn’t anaemic but i suppose it could have changed since then!

I am permanently knackered and often go to bed at 10pm, sometimes 8pm. I get up at 6.45am. I often stay in bed, or jump back into bed, or have an afternoon nap. I've slept a lot My whole life. I need so much, but am never satisfied. No GP listens, all blame it on me being a T1 diabetic.

what’s calcium got to do with it?

I’ve had a few episodes recently of extreme fatigue; i think each time I’ve been fighting off a virus, but it’s never got to the point of actually feeling ill. Each time it’s lasted one, two, three weeks - but has eventually gone back to normal. Wonder if that could be your case too? I don’t think the fatigue you describe is normal, but I wouldn’t be too worried if it’s short-lived.

Have you got any other symptoms? When I was doing a levels I had glandular fever and would fall asleep in the middle of revising. That was accompanied by bouts of tonsillitis and general malaise but the tiredness was the main symptom.