“I am out of sorts … I don’t have the energy to do anything…I feel sleepy all the time …” are common complaints people make when they go to a doctor. As usual the doctor prescribes some vitamins. However, Director of the Sleep / Wake Disorders Centre at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, Dr. Michael J. Thorpy says, “Tiredness is a feeling of lethargy that may have nothing to do with how long you sleep. When someone who is healthy and not boredfeels sleepy during the day, either because they are not getting enough sleep or the quality is poor.”
If you are not getting quality sleep, you have to do something about it. Most adults need about six to eight hours of sleep a night. Some people try to get more than the stipulated quota of sleep.
They seem to think more the merrier, however much they try to show that their sleep is not restful. Dr. Thorpy has a solution to such problems. According to him, you should go to bed at your usual time forone week. During the second week you should move your bedtime one hour later.
In the third week switch to one hour before your regular bedtime. Gradually you will realize that you can fall asleep in 30 minutes and wake up refreshed. You should try to get up at a particular time without using an alarm clock. Use your biological clock to the maximum.
Hundreds of body rhythms affect the sleep-wake cycle. Another important matter is that cortisol levels decrease before bedtime and rise again before you wake up. If you change your sleeping habits, you will wake up when the cortisol and sleep- wake cycles are out of phase. Your system will require a few days to get used to the new schedule.
Fuzzy-headed
Some people skip breakfast and then go for a heavy lunch. Susan M. Cohen, director of a graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing says, “Too much food diverts blood and oxygen from the brain to the digestive tract, leaving you fuzzy-headed.”
Therefore, you should avoid eating high-fat foods and refined sugar. The trouble with fats is that they take longer than other nutrients to convert to energy. On the other hand, empty carbohydrates in refined sugars trigger a sudden peak of insulin followed by a sharp drop in blood sugar. As a result you will suffer from headaches and fatigue. The solution is simple. Take in complex carbohydrates and non-refined sugars.
After a heavy lunch you naturally begin to nod. On the other hand, if you eat a heavy dinner, you will have trouble sleeping. This is because your digestive system is overloaded with work.
We are still not sure about the vitamins or lack of them affecting fatigue. The water-soluble vitamin C and B complex get washed out of the body so you may need to supplement them. However, certain vitamins such as A and D are not excreted by the body. Therefore consult your doctor before taking them.
There may be other hidden causes for fatigue. Caffeine is somewhat addictive. That is why you want a cup of tea or coffee whenever you feel tired. On the other hand, smoking is also addictive and it will impair your body’s utilization of oxygen and reduce the level of vitamin C. Many people who take drugs to control hypertension will also feel drowsy.
Feeling lethargic
However much we consume good food, some of us still feel tired. On such occasions avoid swallowing vitamin pills and do some exercise. If you cannot do aerobic exercises due to age, go for a brisk walk which will help you to get through midafternoon slumps.
If you feel tired all the time, you need medical attention. It is a warning sign of illness. If you are tired and have dizziness, it may be a viral infection. If you feel an unquenchable thirst, you may have diabetes. Loud snoring is a sign of obstructions in the breathing passage. Chest pains, shortness of breath or heart palpitations may indicate heart disease. If you are subject to hopelessness or diminished self-confidence, there may be a chemical imbalance.
It is important that you pay attention to your fatigue patterns. Although you need not panic, persistent fatigue needs treatment. Psychologists have defined tiredness as a temporary decrease in work capacity under the effect of a prolonged effort. It arises from exhaustion of an individual’s inner resources and discord of activity-ensuring systems.
However, there is no need to think that your tiredness is caused by low energy. The world has not suffered from low energy people. In fact, low energy people are quite innocent. It is the high energy people who create all the troubles. Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini were high energy people. They used their high energy as a destructive force.
Causes for tiredness
It will be interesting to probe into the problem of why we become tired. There can be many causes for your tiredness. If you are tired and run down, it is possible that you have been hitting the high spots or burning the candle at both ends. Some of us are exhausted because we try to do the impossible.
Perhaps we do not bother as we should about diet, exercise or sleep. Perhaps we are drinking too much. All these will lower your self-esteem and make you tired. Even heavy smoking can lead to tiredness.
When you have an appetite, eat. If you are not hungry, do not eat. When you do not follow such simple rules, you will feel tired. Sometimes tiredness is often an unconscious appeal for pity. It is the baby in us that demands to be loved and cosseted and made comfortable. Psychologically, tiredness is frequently a secret satisfaction because it is a secret you keep from your own selves.
Acute bodily pain affects your mind and emotions. However, it is not so easy to recognize that most of our bodily aches and pains have their origin in our emotions. Very often such aches and pains are a problem in the mind. Dr Leslie D. Weatherhead says, “When the pain in the mind becomes too severe, the mind tells the body to take it over.”
If happiness is full of significance and delight for us, we can have it. When the mind is delighted, pains will disappear. Develop a positive attitude towards life. That is perhaps the best way to pep up your life.