Feeling lazy and tired all the time but wishing that you had the energy to be up and motivated can be really frustrating. There’s nothing worse than wanting to be super productive but having zero energy to be able to do so, and this is something that can be caused by a variety of different things.
If this is something that is happening to you regularly, then you might be left wondering why this is happening. Lots of different things can lead to tiredness and laziness, including things that are related to your sleep, health, and lifestyle.
We understand exactly why you might want to stop this from happening, which is why we are going to provide you with a list of things that could be causing you to feel tired and lazy. This will help to give you some options and allow you to get to the bottom of the problem.
Why Am I So Tired and Lazy All the Time?
There are various reasons why you might be feeling tired and lazy all of the time, like an iron deficiency, lack of sleep, poor diet, and even underlying health issues. We are going to leave a list of possible causes below to help you find out what the problem is.
Not Getting Enough Sleep
If you are not getting enough sleep, or you are staying up too late, then you are more likely to be tired. It is really important to get a good amount of sleep each night, as a lack of sleep can lead to exhaustion, making you feel tired and lazy all day. It is also harmful to your body and skin.
Lack of Iron
One possible cause of tiredness and laziness is a lack of iron. When your iron levels are low, it doesn’t matter how much sleep that you get, as you are still likely to feel tired regardless. Low iron is even more common for women, especially when they are pregnant or on their period. Iron deficiency can also be more common for vegans.
Stress and Feeling Overwhelmed
Stress is something that can have many negative effects on your health, including tiredness. If you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, then you might notice that you are more tired. Stress can also lead to sleep issues if your mind struggles to shut down.
Lack of Water
Being dehydrated means that you do not have enough fluid in your body, which could lead to a lack of energy and feeling more tired than usual. It can even cause headaches, cramps, and dizziness.
Unhealthy Diet
The food that you eat is going to have a direct effect on your body. The quality and quantity of the food that you eat can make the difference between you feeling wide awake and exhausted.
Over-Exercising
Working out for too long or pushing yourself too hard during exercise can leave you with little to no energy afterwards. This is why it is really important to have some sources of energy when you are working out to maintain your energy levels.
Health Conditions That Can Cause Tiredness and Laziness
There are also some health conditions that can cause tiredness and laziness at times. If you have a known or underlying health condition, then it could be the cause of your tiredness, and you will need to treat the condition to improve symptoms where possible.
Anaemia
One of the first things that a doctor will test you for if you are complaining about feeling tired all the time is anaemia. This is something that can be discovered through a blood test, and it is actually more common than people think.
Anaemia is when your blood does not carry enough oxygen to the rest of your body, and the most common cause of this condition is an iron deficiency. People that are anaemic might also experience headaches, feeling cold, dizzy, or irritable.
Thyroid Problems
Another thing that is commonly tested for after complaints of tiredness and lack of energy combined with other symptoms is a thyroid problem. If you have a thyroid issue, like an underactive thyroid, not only are you more likely to feel tired all the time, but you are more likely to experience dry skin and constipation, as well as a lack of energy.
Hypothyroidism is a condition that occurs when your thyroid gland does not produce enough of certain important hormones. Women are more likely to have this condition than men, but it is something that can be found easily. If you are found to have this condition, your doctor might prescribe you a synthetic thyroid hormone.
Prediabetes and Diabetes
If you are someone that has high blood glucose, your blood circulation may be impaired, which means that cells are not able to get the oxygen and nutrients that they need. This can make you feel really tired.
Low blood sugars also lead to fatigue, as there is not enough fuel for the cells to work as well as they should. If your high levels of glucose are causing blood vessels to become inflamed, this chronic inflammation can also make you feel fatigued.
Depression
Depression is something that can make you feel like you are tired all of the time, to the point where you might not even have the energy to get out of bed in the morning. Depression is something that affects a lot of people, even though it isn’t as widely discussed. It can cause a variety of different symptoms, but tiredness and a lack of energy are two of the most common.
Leaky Gut or Food Sensitivities
Your gut is supposed to be a tight tube of cells that does not allow anything from inside of the gut to get to the outside of the gut. It is essentially a pathway where the body will absorb only what it needs, without having things enter the rest of the body.
If you are eating badly, then the gut cells can become looser, and proteins that are not supposed to be in our bloodstream can leak into the bloodstream, creating an inflammatory response. This is especially common in people that eat a lot of processed foods. This inflammatory response can show itself in symptoms like bloating, fatigue, moodiness, headaches, or weight gain.
If you are someone that has food sensitivities or allergies to foods like wheat and dairy, then you are also more likely to feel fatigued. You may also experience things like rashes, bloating, and brain fog.
If you think that you might have a food sensitivity, it can often be helpful to follow an elimination diet, which many doctors will recommend. This involves eliminating possible food groups that you may be sensitive to and reintroducing them slowly to help you to identify the cause. For example, if you completely scrap dairy from your diet and have lots more energy, then you reintroduce it to your diet and feel lethargic all the time, this could be a sign that you have a sensitivity to dairy.
Sleep Apnoea
If you are someone that has sleep apnoea, then your throat will start to close when you are sleeping, which is why people with this condition will often snore. You will not be getting enough oxygen, but your brain is too clever to let you suffocate. Once your brain realizes that you are not getting rid of your CO2, it will wake you up in a state of alarm.
People with sleep apnea can wake up multiple times a night, and so they are often tired throughout the day, as they have only been getting disturbed sleep. You might not even notice that you are waking up, as it is often only briefly, which can leave you confused as to why you are so tired the next day. Thankfully, there are some treatment methods available to help you manage this condition.
Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal fatigue is something that is not recognized as a medical issue by a lot of western doctors, as it is difficult to find through lab testing. It is most likely to show up on tests as an adrenal insufficiency, or an endocrine/hormonal disorder that is a result of the adrenal glands not producing enough of certain hormones.
Such hormone imbalances could be brought on by stress, lack of sleep, over-exercising, poor diet, or drug or alcohol abuse. These kinds of circumstances can make your stress hormones higher, leaving you feeling exhausted and depleted over time. Stress in itself is often a cause for over-tiredness, as it is something that can result in many different health conditions. Trying to avoid putting yourself under too much stress can often help you to get your energy back, but this isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Infection
Something that doctors will often test for as a cause of fatigue is chronic infections, like Lyme Disease, or other infections. Such medical issues can result in extreme fatigue, and they will need to be treated directly in order to improve your symptoms.
