Constant Fatigue: 10 Reasons You’re Always Tired

Constant fatigue is a burden in everyday life and causes noticeable restrictions to our quality of life. The lack of energy causes sufferers to perform less well at work, to be less active in their leisure activities, and even to put themselves in danger when, for example, fatigue sets in while driving.

Anyone who suffers from constant fatigue should perceive this as an urgent warning signal from our body and a sign that something is wrong with our health.

In this article, you will learn what exactly causes fatigue and how to avoid it for the benefit of your health and fitness. With the included tips, you will feel more energy tomorrow.

10 Reasons For Constant Fatigue (And Tips For Solving It)

Here you will find an overview of the 10 most important reasons for constant fatigue. We have assigned special solutions and tips to each cause, which you can implement immediately.

Surely many of the causes will seem familiar to you since you have already found them in some guidebooks. But do you actually implement them? Be honest with yourself!

What is the best way to implement them? My recommendation is that you pick out exactly the tips that seem most promising to you and then implement them directly!

So take a notebook or a piece of paper and write down your most important findings while reading the article.

1. A Lack of Sleep

As obvious and simple as it may sound, lack of sleep is the main reason for constant tiredness and fatigue. And in the end, it’s not just about too little sleep, but also about problems falling asleep and staying asleep, as well as sleep disorders. Those who suffer from poor sleep will not only be tired during the day, but also less productive and less concentrated, and not infrequently also tense and nervous at the same time.

Disturbed night sleep, in turn, can result from many mental and physical causes. These include anxiety disorders and depression, as well as heart disease, sleep apnea syndrome, and metabolic problems.

However, overly agitated media consumption (television or smartphone) shortly before bedtime can also cause restless sleep. So there is not always a pathological cause behind sleep problems. A lot can be achieved with just a few changes!

Basically, you should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day. However, some people need one or two hours more, which is why you should find out your individual needs.

In the end, everyone should try it out for themselves and find out how much rest they need through healthy sleep in order not to feel tired during the day.

I myself have been able to make my sleep significantly more restful through a good evening routine:

• A nightcap of chamomile tea, apple cider vinegar, honey, and ginger.
  reflecting on the day and writing down positive experiences, as well as three things I am grateful for (this calms the mind)
• Ensure 100% darkness and quiet (with a sleep mask and earplugs if necessary)
• Magnesium, magnesium, magnesium – it’s not our rest mineral for nothing. It acts on the GABA receptors in our brain and helps us to switch off better in the evening. 250 to 500 mg work wonders!

2. Stress

Permanent stress also causes fatigue that just won’t go away. Because if body and mind are always under power, it is not possible to simply switch off in between. The body in particular then works at maximum level, which can rob you of the last of your strength;

Stress situations ensure that all-important processes in the body are prepared for a challenge. Stress hormones are released, the heart rate increases and blood pressure rises.

In addition, the mind is fully awake and tries to concentrate on a task. If this tension remains and the hormonal situation is shifted to this “extreme”, some bodily functions remain up for a long time, while others are throttled back. This sometimes results in concentration and memory problems, dizziness, malaise, dejection, increased irritability, and even paralyzing fatigue.

Tip: It is, therefore, important to regularly and purposefully rest, relax and switch off. Meditation helps, anyone, can learn to meditate!

You can easily test it right now. Just six deep and calm breaths will noticeably lower our stress level! The good thing about it is: You can use it consciously in every everyday situation.

3. Under Challenge

In fact, it’s not just stress that can cause chronic fatigue to set in – under challenge can also paralyze energies. If someone spends the whole day in front of the TV or sitting at a desk, this can have just as exhausting an effect as if someone works hard physically or does sports for several hours.

However, differences in the quality of fatigue can usually be observed: The person who is not challenged much and is perhaps bored often feels irritable, listless, fatigued, or even dully tired.

On the other hand, those who are or have been overtaxed are often tired, but at least often more satisfied. Then also more often conscious and necessary recovery times are built-in.

An effective tip is to regularly learn new things and acquire skills. This can be done quite easily with books.

4. Nutrient Deficiency

An unbalanced diet can lead to nutrient deficiencies. These include vitamins, minerals, and trace elements that give energy to the body and psyche. Those who lack vitamin D or B vitamins, for example, often suffer from problems with muscles and with the nervous system, which in turn affects performance and fitness and makes people tired.

Especially a deficiency of vitamin B12 is often the trigger for sudden and persistent fatigue. It is not uncommon for this deficiency to occur in vegetarians and especially in vegans since vitamin B12 is found exclusively in animal proteins as well as in algae. So anyone who avoids animal products should have themselves regularly checked for a potential B12 deficiency and supplement if necessary.

A potassium or magnesium deficiency, such as occurs with chronic vomiting or diarrhea, can also lead to constant fatigue. Therefore, attention should always be paid to a varied diet that can prevent deficiency symptoms as much as possible.

In fact, nearly 90% of the population suffers from various nutrient deficiencies. The consequences go far beyond fatigue to weight gain, depression, or the development of deficiency diseases.

Addressing nutrient deficiencies is one of the best tips for eliminating chronic fatigue!

5. Lack of Liquid

About two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered with water, and about two-thirds of the body is also made up of water. This is found outside and inside the cells in the bloodstream. To keep the body’s water balance balanced, a sufficient amount of fluid must be supplied daily.

If you excrete more fluid than you consume, you damage your health: the body’s cells can no longer perform a large number of necessary functions, and essential salts and nutritional building blocks are lost. The blood becomes more viscous and blood circulation deteriorates. Furthermore, blood pressure drops, which means that the brain receives too little oxygen.

The consequences are not only enormous tiredness but also:

• Concentration problems.
• Headache.
• Memory problems.
• Dizziness.
• A dry and “wrinkled” skin.

It is recommended that healthy people and those who want to increase their concentration drink at least 1.5 liters of water per day. However, the optimal amount to drink varies from person to person.

Of course, because athletes lose more fluid, for example, they should drink more fluid. Mineral water, juice spritzers, coffee (in moderation), and herbal tea are considered the healthiest beverages. Those who suffer from heart problems or kidney disease should discuss with their doctor how much they can and must drink daily.

Tip: In the morning, fill a large water bottle or carafe with one to two liters of water (optionally with tasty ingredients such as lemon, ginger, or mint) and make it a point to empty it by 8 pm.

6. Overweight

If you weigh too much, several factors cause sleepiness and exhaustion to occur even with little effort. In addition, it is not uncommon for shortness of breath and increased sweating to occur. Furthermore, being significantly overweight puts a strain on the cardiovascular system, the joints, the vessels, the blood composition, and the metabolic and hormonal systems.

Long-term consequences such as high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, joint diseases, and psychological problems can be added and in turn, further aggravate the symptom of fatigue.

Anyone suffering from obesity should first be clear (possibly together with a doctor) about the causes of the problem. It is often enough to change eating habits and to exercise more frequently and regularly. Also with the topics diets, chamfering & CO. should concern themselves to argue.

There are various lesser-known and ambitious methods, such as Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), which can be used to try to combat excess weight in a relatively short time. Such methods are suitable for all those who do not get along with conventional reduction diets and want to try different methods.

7. Underweight

Just like being overweight, being underweight can lead to constant fatigue. Those who take in too little food gradually lose mental and physical energy. If, for example, healthy diets turn into radical slimming diets and losing weight becomes an addiction, some people slip from one extreme to the other and are unable to find a healthy middle ground.

However, it is often not easy to recognize for oneself when eating little becomes a mania that threatens to dominate one’s life. This is because it is not only a physical illness but also a psychological one. In the final analysis, anorexia and bulimia can even lead to life-threatening deficiency states – creeping exhaustion and fatigue are just one sign of this. Those affected usually only find help when they are approached several times from outside about their lifestyle and are willing to get help.

8. Lack of Exercise

Exercise can also make you tired – but in the long run, physical activity boosts your energy metabolism!

Under-exercise has already been mentioned, as well as overweight. Lack of exercise, however, is another important topic of its own. Because too little exercise can be the main cause not only of constant fatigue but of a variety of different ailments.

If the circulation, blood flow, and metabolism are not stimulated and joints and muscles are not challenged, numerous bodily functions can become slack.

The greatest danger of the many interlocking disorders that can lead to increased fatigue in the absence of exercise is then also a certain vicious circle: the insight “I’m too tired” suddenly becomes an excuse to move even less. As a result, the problems increase.

It is therefore important to exercise regularly. For healthy people as well as for sick people, this is a basic requirement for successfully coping with everyday life.

Tip: To start with, it can be enough to increase your daily activity by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, going shopping on foot, or riding your bike to work. Even simple things can break the vicious circle!

9. Weather Influences

Weather and temperatures also affect wakefulness, fatigue, and sleep. For example, body temperature is an independent clock:

As soon as it’s time to sleep, it drops in the evening, making you tired. In the morning, on the other hand, it rises so that you wake up. On dark and gray days, the need for sleep increases for many people. If this need is not met, it sometimes leads to constant fatigue.

Excessively high temperatures also affect fitness: they slow down the pace and cause sweating, which causes the body to lose fluid.

This also weakens the body and makes it tired. So-called weather sensitivity can even cause some sufferers to feel unable to work. As measures against this, many doctors advise even more outdoor exercise even on supposedly “bad” days.

Tip: It is especially difficult to wake up quickly during the dark season. During this time, a daylight lamp* is worth its weight in gold, as it boosts our hormone systems and helps us wake up naturally.

10. Other Environmental Influences

• Fresh air is important when it comes to staying healthy and alert. In closed rooms, however, it is not a lack of oxygen that causes fatigue, but an excess of carbon dioxide in the air. Humans breathe this out as the end product of oxygen exchange. In unventilated rooms, this naturally accumulates to a greater extent and can lead to persistent exhaustion and fatigue in the people who spend time in these rooms.
• Humidity is also important to staying vital. Air that is too dry can cause the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs to dry out, making it impossible to effectively keep out pathogens. Such weakened defenses in the body make it more tired and can lead to infections.
• In the home and in many workplaces, some people who work with strong cleaning agents and solvents do not infrequently come into contact with toxic hydrocarbons. If solvent vapors are inhaled, for example, they can cause headaches, dizziness, and lightheadedness, as well as severe fatigue.
• Just like a too little exercise, too much exercise can also put a strain on the body, as the body does not get enough time to regenerate before the next exercise session starts.

What is Fatigue?

Tiredness is first of all a completely normal biological need. So being tired is something quite normal. Often, fatigue is even perceived as pleasant – for example, after prolonged physical exertion, after an extended hike, or even after concentrated, successful work. Body and mind are then exhausted, but a calming satisfaction spreads. If you get enough sleep and take the necessary rest, you will feel awake, fit, and powerful again.

Sometimes, however, fatigue also indicates that our body is defending itself against something – for example, against an emerging infection – and is therefore mobilizing its defenses to a greater extent. This makes us tired.

Conclusion: Tiredness is therefore initially only an indication that we are lacking something: sleep.

The Almost Normal Everyday Stress

Tiredness and fatigue often result from normal everyday stress. Normally, such phases of tiredness, which are often perceived as unpleasant, can be quickly remedied. An open window or a short walk in the fresh air and the associated exercise quickly bring more oxygen into our cells. Often, even a glass of water or a short break can help to dispel these little slumps.

Situational stress is not a bad thing. It makes you wide awake, fully concentrated, and ready for action. Stress hormones are released, which activate our cardiovascular system. The heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, breathing rate, and muscle tension are increased. This makes perfect sense for a limited time.

Normally, even just resting at night balances out our everyday stress. The amount of stress we accumulate during the day is relieved by restful sleep at night.

Conclusion: Stress build-up during the day and stress reduction at night should balance each other out as much as possible.

Permanent Stress

We only get a problem when our life is in an imbalance. If the stress is permanently too high and we permanently load more stress on us during the day than is relieved at night, the first symptoms appear. We have less energy, can no longer think clearly, can no longer relax properly, and come to rest. We are less happy.

Stress only becomes dangerous when the stress hormones are not sufficiently reduced again. No matter what everyday life demands of you. You deliver. Reliably. So if stress becomes a permanent condition, our body is in a permanent state of tension and activation, which has a negative effect on the psyche and body. The whole thing then leads to physical and also mental exhaustion, up to a chronic exhaustion syndrome or burnout. One is constantly tired and exhausted, irritable, unfocused, and depressed. Body and soul now urgently need a longer phase of relaxation.

Right Micronutrients for Vitality and Performance

Today we know that individual micronutrients intervene very specifically in brain and energy metabolism as well as in the psyche and nervous system. Their functions are medically and scientifically well proven and recognized by the relevant societies and regulatory bodies.

You should pay special attention to this in case of symptoms such as tiredness and fatigue:

• Vitamins C, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, magnesium, iron, and folic acid reduce tiredness and fatigue and provide more performance.
• Calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, iodine, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, and biotin support energy metabolism.
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) supports psychological and mental performance.
• Vitamin C, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, biotin, copper, magnesium, and iodine support the functions of the nervous system.

Conclusion: Constantly tired, listless, and exhausted: a sensible combination of vitamins C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12 folic acid and biotin, as well as the minerals magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and iodine can demonstrably help you.

Now that you have learned about the causes of constant fatigue, you should immediately take to heart the tip that seems most effective to you!

• What can bring your energy back?
• A better evening routine for better sleep?
• Meditation for stress reduction?
• Fixing nutrient deficiencies for good energy metabolism?
• More activity in your daily routine?
• Or smaller hacks like daylight bulbs, cold showers, or fasting?

My observation is that many of us have multiple building sites, especially when fatigue becomes a vicious cycle, and we lack the motivation to find a way out.