25 Potential Causes Of Fatigue And Chronic Tiredness

We all get tired from time to time, but if you feel fatigued all or most of the time, it’s usually a sign that something else is going on.

This article looks at some of the most common reasons why people are constantly tired.

Anaemia

This is a condition caused by insufficient quantities of iron (see the section on diet, below).

Iron is used to help transport oxygen around your body, so if your cells are not receiving enough oxygen, they are unable to generate enough energy, and low energy levels lead to tiredness and fatigue.

The good news is that you don’t need to take iron supplements because you can get what you need from your diet.

Autoimmune Disorders

Problems such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis can all cause fatigue.

Being A Parent

Giving birth and then caring for your newborn as they grow up is often described as those years when you forget what sleep is.

For both parents, interrupted sleep and having to be on high alert all the time, dealing with energetic youngsters, can be an extremely wearing experience.

And even though you may realize up front that having one or more young children in the house will be tiring, there’s a good chance you are going to seriously underestimate just how bad that can be.

Burning The Candle At Both Ends

If you are the sort of person who parties late and gets up early (e.g. to exercise, go to work early, do some writing), then sooner or later, you’re going to end up feeling incredibly tired.

The effect of this can be similar to not getting enough sleep (see below), but this is less to do with problems sleeping and more to do with simply trying to accomplish too much for too long.

Caffeine

While the jury is still out on whether coffee is good or bad for you, and how much you should drink, it is well-known that caffeine can cause sleep problems.

And, of course, caffeine is not only present in coffee but in some other drinks too, including tea and some sodas.

Cancer

As if having cancer weren’t already bad enough, there are often additional issues you have to deal with, one being not having enough energy leading to a constant feeling of tiredness.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

As the name says, CFS causes people to be extremely tired almost all of the time. (Other symptoms include cognitive impairment such as an inability to concentrate and memory problems, insomnia, muscle pain, and weakness.)

Chronic Infections

When you have an infection (e.g. hepatitis, mononucleosis, tuberculosis) that simply won’t go away, that can cause excessive tiredness.

Drugs

I include in this category prescription drugs (e.g. benzodiazepines, which are used to treat anxiety), recreational drugs (e.g. marijuana), and socially acceptable drugs (e.g. alcohol), and all of them can lead, at the very least, to feeling groggy when you wake up.

With chronic drug use, that temporary grogginess can become chronic fatigue, though.

Fibromyalgia

This little understood condition causes not only chronic pain, but also fatigue too. Sufferers may also experience anxiety and depression, as well as gastrointestinal problems.

Food Allergies

Some food allergies (or even intolerances) can cause you to feel tired.

If you suspect this may be the case, you can try an elimination diet, but before you undertake this, you should probably discuss it with a trained professional (which need not be your doctor, as they don’t receive much information about nutrition at medical school)

Heart Disease

When your heart is unable to pump enough blood around your body fast enough, your cells will not receive enough energy, leading to fatigue.

Hypothyroidism

Fatigue is just one of the symptoms of having an underactive thyroid gland. Others include aching muscles, brittle nails, hair loss, sensitivity to cold, and weight gain.

Even if you haven’t been diagnosed with this condition, it’s still possible that your thyroid gland is not producing enough of the necessary hormones to keep your cells energized and your metabolism correctly regulated.

Inadequate Hydration

I have written at length about the importance and benefits of drinking water, which is still the best way to ensure you are adequately hydrated.

Without enough water (and a loss of only one percent or so can be enough to affect your mind and body), your cells cannot function optimally, and this can lead to many issues, including chronic tiredness.

Insufficient Exercise

While you obviously need to expend energy to exercise, the fact is that the body requires regular movement and doing so, preferably for 30 minutes a day doing some form of aerobic exercise, does make you feel energized.

Insulin Resistance

Problems that affect your blood sugar levels (e.g. diabetes) can also have a negative effect on your energy levels and, therefore, how tired you feel.

I’m sure you’ve experienced the so-called “crash” after eating (too many) sugary foods. 🙂

Menopause

The hormonal changes that take place during menopause can have all sorts of unpleasant effects (e.g. hot flushes / flashes, excessive sweating), as well as disturbed sleep patterns.

Mental Health Issues

Problems such as anxiety and depression are well-known for causing you to have sleeping issues (e.g. partly because you typically have less energy) – you may find it harder to get to sleep, and you may also have trouble staying asleep throughout the night.

Not Enough Sleep

By this, I mean both not enough hours of sleep, and sleep that is not high quality.

The mind and body use the time when you are sleeping to help heal and recharge, so if you deprive yourself of sleep, you can expect health issues to appear and, over time, worsen.

I have written many articles that touch on the importance of sleep, and how to ensure you get enough (about eight hours per night is the general recommendation, give or take an hour or two), which you can find here.

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

Usually abbreviated to POTS (for obvious reasons), this is a type of blood circulation disorder that can cause fatigue, for reasons that are not yet fully understood.

Shift Work

The human body has evolved over time to follow a circadian rhythm that is aligned to daylight hours. (This is partly why some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder.

People who work nights, for example, have this rhythm disrupted, and while you may be able to sustain that type of shift work for a while, it will in most cases take its toll, leaving you constantly tired.

Sleep Apnea

This is a sleep disorder that is characterized by experiencing usually short periods when you cannot breathe.

Not only can this condition cause loud snoring, but it can also lead you to becoming extremely tired, because you are not getting enough sleep.

The symptoms of sleep apnea can be aggravated by being overweight, drinking alcohol, and smoking.

In extreme cases, you may need to use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, which helps keep your airways open while you sleep.

Too Much Exercise

Yes, although earlier I recommended moderate exercise each day, too much of a good thing can be unhealthy.

If you exercise so much that your body cannot replenish the energy you use up, you will start to feel tired.

Unhealthy Diet

This is a big one – what you eat (and how you digest and metabolize it) plays a major role in both physical and mental health.

Eating the wrong foods can cause disease (e.g. scurvy, caused by a lack of vitamin C), and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

And, sadly, many Americans (and this probably applies to many other countries) are extremely deficient in certain key nutrients, including calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin B12, and vitamin D.

Pretty much all of those deficiencies can be addressed via diet, and, in the case of vitamin D, spending more time outdoors in natural sunlight.

Urinary Tract Infections

Amongst the other problems that UTIs can cause (e.g. painful urination), tiredness or fatigue is something else that may result.

Conclusion

There are, of course, many more medical conditions (e.g. gastrointestinal, neuromuscular) that can lead to fatigue, which is why you should see a doctor if none of the above reasons resonate with you.

Some of the above can be managed or treated via lifestyle changes (e.g. diet, drinking less alcohol, stopping smoking, exercise), while others may require a different approach.

While I am a big advocate of natural remedies whenever possible, you may need to resort to appropriate prescription drugs (preferably those that do not exacerbate the situation), or you could try options such as meditation or yoga.

Whatever you choose to do, the longer you remain fatigued, the more potential damage you are doing to your health.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Elimination Diet
2. Surviving Menopause