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Many people are walking around, driving, going to work and living their lives in a permanent state of fatigue. Sometimes people are tired for unexplained health reasons, but often there are very typical reasons for fatigue which include lack of regular sleep, poor diet, and not getting enough exercise. Fatigue can be very frustrating and even disabling due to feeling as if you cannot get things done or enjoy your downtime.


In this article, we?re going to look at different ways to combat and overcome fatigue so that you can get your life back. There is no reason to be tired all the time. It?s not a normal state of being in healthy people. If you use all these ideas there is no doubt that you?re going to be on your way to not just getting over fatigue, but also becoming an energetic, happy, recharged individual who can accomplish more than you ever thought you could.



Why You Feel Exhausted Even on Your Best Days

Before we get into the meat of getting recharged, let?s address the fact that sometimes medical issues will play an important role in your energy levels. These can drag you down no matter how well you do on any given day.


If you are suffering from unexplained exhaustion, it?s important that you seek medical answers first. Go to your doctor and ask him/her to give you a complete blood work-up to check all your vitamin and hormone levels, plus test you for common diseases that cause exhaustion like sleep apnea. Alternatively, you may be taking medication for an illness and one of the side effects is tiredness. If you feel tired after taking the medication for two weeks, ask your doctor if there are alternatives.


The following conditions can easily be tested for and acknowledged by your primary care doctor through typical blood tests.


Anemia

This medical condition is characterized by paleness, fatigue, racing heart, and sometimes even upper left quadrant abdominal pain. If a person has anemia their red blood cell count (known as hemoglobin) is too low. If hemoglobin gets too low, it can cause severe fatigue and other problems as well. For men, hemoglobin levels less than 13.5 grams per 100 ml and for women, hemoglobin less than 12.0 grams per 100 ml is too low.


Other Vitamin Deficiencies

Besides low iron, if you are short on vitamins D3 or B12 you may feel severely fatigued and even anxious, which can cause you to lose sleep - thus making you feel even more tired all day long. Even though you can buy D3 and B12 (with folate) to help with this issue, it is still best to get a blood test to rule out anything serious before starting with treatment.


Thyroid Disease

Whether you?re hypothyroid (slow) or hyperthyroid (fast), you will suffer from fatigue. Having said that, hypothyroidism tends to cause you to feel tired, sluggish, and even depressed, while hyperthyroidism tends to make people feel anxious, restless, irritable and then contribute to fatigue due to lack of sleep. If you are feeling tired even if you have bursts of energy, ask your doctor to test your thyroid levels to be on the safe side.


Diabetes

One of the biggest first indications of diabetes is fatigue. Even though most people think diabetes only affects overweight people, many people who appear healthy still wind up with type II diabetes.


If you already know you have diabetes since birth and are often tired, talk to your doctor about this. Today, even older people are being diagnosed with type I diabetes, so the old rules don?t fit anymore. You can feel fatigued whether your blood sugar is high or low; if it?s off you will feel the effects. That?s why it?s so important to talk to your doctor to try to manage your disease through medication, diet, exercise, and regular sleep.


Depression and Anxiety

While there can be underlying causes of depression and anxiety such as anemia and other vitamin and mineral deficiencies, sometimes people have these conditions for other or even unknown reasons. If you?ve checked everything and nothing shows up, talk to a professional about whether you suffer from depression or anxiety (or both). Anxiety causes fatigue by preventing a good night?s rest, and depression sometimes has the effect of making you want to sleep away your problems regardless of how much sleep you get.


Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

Another illness that can cause fatigue is CFS. It?s right in the name. There could be many causes for CFS that we don?t know yet. But it is a real medical condition that is often characterized by fever, body aches, and protracted exhaustion. This condition sometimes occurs after you think you?re recovered from another viral infection. It?s very difficult to diagnose and is only given after a complete work-up to discount other possibilities. But, it is a real illness that can be managed and treated.


Sleep Apnea

An almost epidemic problem today, sleep apnea is caused by either an obstruction due to the way you sleep, or because the brain isn?t signalling your muscles to breathe properly even if your airway isn?t blocked (known as central sleep apnea). Both types of apnea are very dangerous and can lead to sudden death while sleeping. However, most often what it leads to is a low quality of life due to experiencing non-restorative sleep.


To diagnose this issue, you?ll be sent to a sleep centre overnight to do a sleep study. There are many ways to get help with this problem. Even if no one has mentioned that you snore, this is a great test to get to ensure that you are sleeping well.


Medications

If you have any type of illness where you?ve been given medications, they may be causing your problems. They might make you tired, or they may make it hard for you to sleep - thus causing daytime fatigue. Sometimes you still must take the medication, but often there are other options that you can use so that you can find a medication that doesn?t cause you as many problems. Other times, there are additional medications that you can take to combat the problem if it?s interfering with your ability to live your life fully.


So, now that we have talked about potential medical issues that cause fatigue, we can move on to talk about other issues that may cause fatigue and how you can overcome it. After all, the entire point is to find ways to recharge your body and take control of your life. Whether that is via medical intervention or something else is less important than doing something to make a difference.



How Mental Exhaustion Affects the Whole Body

Everyone thinks it?s normal for someone to be tired if they work out in a field all day or stand on their feet all day. But, people who have a desk job or spend a lot of your time on mental tasks are often surprised and shocked that they are still exhausted.


Mental exhaustion can affect your entire body in negative ways. Not only are people with mental exhaustion tired, they also often suffer from body aches as if they have worked out all day long. Overusing your mind is just as bad for you as overusing yourself physically.


For example, many people who suffer from mental exhaustion, in addition to being tired most of the time, may start to get sick more often, have a lot of headaches, experience back pain, muscle aches and more. Plus, mental exhaustion can affect your ability to get a good night?s sleep which can just make all the above worse.


Take note of the symptoms that are caused by mental exhaustion. If you have more than a few of these and have been burning the wick at both ends, consider mental exhaustion a potential culprit.



When people are mentally exhausted, their body tries to get them to take a break and rest in every way it can. That?s why it?s so important to pay attention to the signs of mental exhaustion. Thankfully, there are ways to combat and overcome mental exhaustion, which we will discuss next.



How to Overcome Mental Exhaustion

Suffering from mental exhaustion is not a fun experience. It can sneak up on you. You may think you?re doing wonderfully well and then one day you realize you?re not. Therefore, let?s go through some steps to overcome mental exhaustion but also learn how to prevent it in the first place. After all, prevention is the best medicine of all.












If you are currently mentally exhausted due to a project of some kind, and if it?s possible, take a sick day on a Friday or Monday, or take two vacation days - one on a Friday and one on a Monday. Spend that time resting, doing nothing, eating right, drinking water, and just getting yourself back. Then start fresh when you go back to work or school.



Activities That Raise Your Physical and Mental Energy Levels

There are many activities that you can do to help raise your energy level, whether you need more mental energy or physical energy. Your mental and physical energy are so intertwined that when you do something to help one you?re automatically helping the other. Here are some effective activities to try.









It might seem like these activities will take away from the time you need to spend on things you need to do. But the truth is, the more productive you are, the easier everything will be. Productivity doesn?t mean that you need to take more time doing something. It means that you need to focus closely on what?s at hand, and not what?s to come. By taking breaks with these activities, you can help yourself become far more productive and reduce mental and physical exhaustion exponentially.



Revitalizing Foods to Boost Your Energy All Day

One of the best ways to treat any type of exhaustion, beside hydration, is by eating the right type of food so that you can keep your energy balanced all day long. One thing to understand about food is that it?s all just different nutrients.


When you think of food as nutrients, you realize very fast that some things we put into our mouths aren?t really food. It?s more like a toy, a distraction, or a leisure activity ? an unhealthy one at that. For example, coffee and donuts are not nutrients. Therefore, they are a horrible choice for anyone who is suffering from or trying to prevent mental and physical exhaustion.


So, understanding that, let?s look at some revitalizing foods that you can easily incorporate into your life to help you boost your energy all day. Remember that if you are on a special diet, you can just substitute the ideas so that they fit your way of eating. The important factor is to consider nutrients that give energy.










Adding these foods to your day can make all the difference in the world to your energy levels. When you feel better, you will automatically feel more energetic. In addition to adding these foods to your daily diet, eliminate all processed food. Some people also see good results from eliminating dairy from their diets as it can be a cause of congestion, skin issues, and stomach issues for many adults.



How to Rest If You?re an Insomniac

For many people, the main reason they are mentally and/or physically exhausted can all come down to issues with sleep. If you are an insomniac, there are steps that you can take to get rest and hopefully reverse your situation.


Seek Medical Assistance

The very first thing anyone with insomnia should do is make a doctor?s appointment to talk about the issues. It might help to track the situation using a device like a Fitbit so that you can show your doctor your records. But you can also just write things down, so you don?t forget what to talk about with your doctor.


Your doctor should take you seriously and not just automatically prescribe drugs to help you sleep. Even though that might be a short-term answer, it is not a long-term solution. Your doctor will do a complete blood work-up to ensure that you are doing well nutritionally. If you have low iron, B12, or D, these can cause anxiety and insomnia in some people.


Turn Your Bedroom into a Fortress

This is a great excuse to redo your bedroom. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary made for sleeping. Your bed should be the most comfortable that you can afford to buy, along with the sheets and blankets that you use on it.


You may need to test out a few mattresses, but you usually want something that is firmer than you might have thought but also giving. Many types of memory foam mattresses are great for this, as are some of the sleep number type beds.


You can buy good sheets less expensively than you might think if you know what type of sheets you like. Check on Overstock.com and Amazon to find good prices on well-made sheets. The higher thread count 100 percent cotton sheets are typically the best for most people, as they stay cool and are easy to care for. For blankets, choose layers of blankets instead of one heavy comforter. That way you can adjust as needed for the time of year.


Invest in blackout shades for your windows. You can get them made for your windows at places like Home Depot or Lowe's. They are well worth it. Even if you have a rule with your HOA that they should be white on the back, you can still get blackout shades that will enable you to sleep better at night.


Get a white noise maker too. You can also use a fan if you prefer. The inexpensive box fans make the right type of white noise. It?s better to use a white noise that is like a fan or static over sounds of animals or water dripping.


Keep your thermostat set properly. In the winter it should be set on 68 degrees F and in the summer 72. Having a fan to circulate the air is also helpful. If it?s nice outside, try opening your window about an hour before you go to bed, but close it if you can when you go to bed so outside noises don?t interfere (unless you?re lucky enough to live where it?s super-quiet or you have the sound of the ocean to lull you to sleep).


Additionally, invest in very comfortable sleeping attire or sleep naked to avoid anything getting in the way of your comfort. If you or your partner snore, consider using comfortable earplugs to help further block the sound. (Hint: parents of young children can take turns so every other night at least one parent gets a full night of sleep.)


Turn Off the Lights and Electronics

The darker you can make your room, the better. But, once the sun goes down outside, it?s important to make the house dimmer too. You want to turn off all electronics at least an hour or two before you go to bed, so that your body gets used to the idea that it's bedtime. That includes your TV, your computer, and your mobile device. This is probably the hardest one for insomniacs to deal with, but it?s very important for your health to disconnect.


If you?re nervous that something is going to happen to anyone if you?re not there immediately, understand that long before there were cell phones there were parents. Of course, you?re going to want to be available to your kids if they?re teenagers, but that?s what curfews are about and that?s why people have two parents. Ask for help and take turns. If you do not have children living at home, you really don?t need to be available 24/7 to anyone most of the time. Anyone who has something to say to you, even if something bad happens, can be dealt with in the morning.


Try it for at least 30 days. You?ll see after that time that you?re not in charge of the world, and no one needs to bother you about anything when you?re sleeping. If you have elderly parents, share the job with your siblings with each of you having assigned "on call" times or something like that so that everyone can get sleep. Remember, you cannot take care of others if you don?t take care of yourself first.


Start a Bedtime Ritual

A great way to ensure that you get more sleep is to create a bedtime ritual. Since you already need to turn electronics off and turn down the lights, think of something you can do that doesn?t require either. For example, soft slow stretches, meditation, a hot bath, taking care of your hygiene such as by brushing and flossing your teeth, doing a facial, applying lotion, and other activities.


Think about how babies go to sleep. Mom and Dad create a ritual around bedtime. They get a bath, a quiet story, cuddles, comfy clothing, and clean bed, and soft blankets. All of this starts well before bedtime and helps the child calm down, so that when you sit down in bed to read they usually fall asleep fast if not with the first book, then by the third. You should do the same thing for yourself.


Do the same things nightly to help you sleep such as stretching, bathing, applying lotion, dressing for bed, and reading something positive. Bedtime is not the time to read anything upsetting, scary, or even exciting. Use that time to read uplifting or thoughtful poetry, history, or something that keeps your heart rate low.


Finally, you really need to make time for sleep. Set a daily schedule for your life and stick to it. Sleep is one of the most important factors in your schedule. You should be able to get everything you need to do done daily and still sleep at least seven to eight hours a night. But, it may require you to learn to say no, because it?s that important to your health and your daily energy levels.



Colours and Scents That Add Pep to Your Step

One way to get more energy is to incorporate essential oils and colour therapy into your life. Studies show that certain colours provide energy, while others provide calmness, and some even make you hungry. Fast food restaurants use colour extensively to get you in and out fast, and movie theatres and malls often pump in the smell of popped corn or other food to get their customers to buy more food.


If it?s good enough for retail, it?s good enough for you. After all, they?ve spent the money on the studies and if it didn?t work, they would have stopped doing it already.


The Right Colours for the Right Moods

Try to find ways to incorporate the right colours for the right mood you want to elicit in yourself and others into the rooms and environment that you want them to feel that way in. For example, red and violet are known as energy colours, but they may also cause problems with concentration. If you work in a high energy place, red and violet can work, but if you want to make people feel happy and also productive, choose green and yellows.


Just because you want to be energetic doesn?t mean everything should be red, but it may mean that the wall in the exercise room should be red. It may also mean that any room you want to relax in should be a shade of blue. This is a great colour for a waiting room, for example. A soft blue that is almost white can be very soothing.


The Right Scents for the Right Moods

Scents can also make a huge difference in your energy levels. However, be cautious because some people are allergic to scents. If you?re using high-quality essential oils, you may have more luck with scents for energy.


Some scents that can provide energy are:



The best thing to do is to buy the best essential oils you can afford and then experiment. Give each new scent at least 21 days before you make a judgment, unless it causes sinus issues or allergic reactions. Since there are so many essential oil scents that can be mood lifters and energy boosters, you have a lot to choose from. Remember, if you want to be energetic tomorrow, use something calming at night. Only use the ones above during the time that you want to feel more energetic.



How to Improve Your Energy by Staying Hydrated

During this report, hydration has been mentioned several times but that is because it's so important. By some estimates, about 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated. So many people either drink too little water, or they drink other beverages for thirst instead of water.


This is not good, because water affects every organ and function in your body. Whether you get headaches, suffer from sinus problems, dry skin, brittle nails, frizzy hair or something else, it may all be traced to not drinking enough water. No matter what you?ve heard, nothing is better for hydration than drinking regular unadulterated filtered water.


But, since even mild dehydration can cause fatigue, here are some tips to ensure that you get enough water in every single day. If at any part of the day water tastes "funny" to you even though it?s fresh filtered water, try brushing your teeth because you?re likely just tasting your breath instead of your water. Yes, it?s true.








Like most things, enough is the best, but too much is not good. Be aware of people trying to tell you to drink too much water. To calculate your needs, simply take your weight in pounds, divide by two, and then drink that many ounces of water all throughout the day. Do not guzzle water or drink water too fast, as drinking too much too fast can be very dangerous and unhealthy. Instead, make water drinking part of your daily life to enjoy all throughout the day.



Conclusion

Recharging your body and overcoming fatigue so that you can get your life back is one of the most important ways you can improve the quality of your life. There is no reason you need to be exhausted and tired all the time. If it?s not a medical condition (and even if it is), you have a lot more control over how you feel each day than you think. It might be as simple as getting enough sleep and drinking enough water. You are the one with the power to figure it out.


Don?t delay, so that you can get your life back and do wonderful things.