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[Kebooo]

Anyone have any tips for increasing energy?  I usually get about 7.5-8 hours of sleep each night and follow a fairly consistent sleep schedule.  I exercise and lift weights a few times a week.  Yet for the last 4-5 years of my life, I have felt drained.  It's a struggle not to lay down and take a nap (which always recharge me, but make it so much, much harder to get to sleep at night).  I probably take two or three 1-2 hour naps a week, usually on the weekend.  I feel like after I get home from work, I have to fight the feeling of being tired.  It's always strongest from 6-10 PM it seems.  Then suddenly it's as if I'm magically recharged again.

I remember back in high school and the first half of college I felt tired because I deprived myself of sleep, usually getting 4-6 hours.  Now I get plenty and feel more tired than I did back then.  I don't drink any caffeine and I'm not sure whether I want to become dependent on it again (back in middle school I was pretty addicted).  Any tips on things I could eat or do that are good ways to recharge energy and feel energetic?  I want to feel five years old and run around in circles.

[Virex]

Might be mentaly. What kind of job do you have? Do you often have to leave work unfinished for someone else? Do you get overloaded with work? Having to cope with stress? All these factors could contribute. Other factors could be a taxing family life or social problems, but that's less likely since it apparently occures in conjunction with you finishing work. Do you often feel a mental discharge when finishing work? Do you look forward to the end of the working day?

Also, take a look at your eating habits. If yo're drained from 6-10 PM that's right after dinner usualy, meaning it could just be that your body is rerouting energy to processing food. I'm no doctor, so I can't say if it's related, but perhaps a low blood pressure could cause these effects, because too much blood is diverted to the intestines, leaving little for muscels and the brain.

Alternatively, it could be that you expend most of your lunch during the hours just past noon, meaning you're out of energy around 5-6 PM. At that point your body starts reducing activity to save energy. Would hit even harder if your diet is low in sugar or calories in general.

[Il Palazzo]

I've got the same problem. All I can say, is that becoming a caffeine junkie doesn't help.

[Kebooo]

I have an IT job repairing computers/working on software.  I'm perfectly happy with it, it's more stress free than school was.  And I don't, at least not that I'm consciously aware of, feel stressed.  I do notice that if I eat a big meal I often will get tired, but this drain seems different than that, like my brain itself is drained as opposed to my body.  Eating dinner usually temporarily lifts it.  I can lift weights during it, as well, so it's not so much my body feeling tired as my mind and I resent more than anything having a tired feeling mind.

Are there any effective ways to know how allergies might be affecting me?  I live in a pretty dusty area (actually, it may be just my own conjured up illusion/paranoia, but it seems dustier than normal).  My father loves to complain about allergies making him feel this or that.  So maybe I've developed more severe allergies than before, and hence why things seem different now than in my youth.  Do allergies even get worse with age?  I also tend to notice I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, then fall back to sleep.  I seem to remember big chunks of my dreams, every night, maybe I'm falling in and out of sleep repeatedly.  If I sleep for 10-11 hours I usually don't feel tired through the day.  But I don't intend to go through life sleeping for 10 to 11 hours.

[Muz]

It's most likely because you need that nap. Too many factors why. See your local pharmacist, he most likely has a more educated opinion than any of us here.

Also, don't have sex. Sex burns up a lot of energy. 1 hour eats up like 4 hours of energy. Not calories, unfortunately. It could be because you're lifting weights too... having lots of muscle would burn more energy than not. Which is why we don't naturally grow into bulky muscle bound people when we grow up - it's as much of an energy drain as being fat, but you should feel it by being hungrier.

There's nothing really wrong with sleeping a lot. Sleep is good for you. Also, according to some Reader's Digest article I read a long time ago, sleep deprivation is like a debt. After you get enough sleep, you can go happily go around with just 6 hours of sleep and such.

[The Architect]

"7.5 to 8 hours" is not always enough for some people. However, the biggest factor in feeling well rested or not is diet. If your metabolism is in order and you are getting regular vitamins and caloric intake, you most likely won't have these problems. Even many allergies are alleviated or eliminated by proper diet. Not things like food allergies, but things like hayfever that tend to cause the symptoms you're describing.

It's also quite true that you can sleep 14 hours one day and 6 hours for the next three, while feeling relatively well. It's not recommended if you want to have control of your own sleep cycle and lead a relatively normal life. We have commitments that don't let us live that way, and it's not particularly healthy.

Your best bet is seeking professional medical help. If you didn't grow up on a healthy diet, it's unlikely that you will be able to come up with and maintain one on your own.

So, TLDR: It's probably due to your dietary habits, and you need to seek professional help in fixing them.

[Master Catfish]

Personally, I try to get about 10 hours of sleep a night.  Caffiene might help, but only temporarily.  Like everyone else says, eating healthily is probably one of the largest factors.  Also, you might try going to sleep at around 8:30 or 9:00 instead of 10:00. 

[Jookia]

My diet consists of eating two plates of food a day and no soft drinks or caffine or energy drinks.

I feel great.

[piecewise]

Also, don't have sex. Sex burns up a lot of energy. 1 hour eats up like 4 hours of energy.

Who the heck actually has continuous sex for an hour? After that long things are going to start chafing.


Anyways, back on topic. You may want to see if you have a thyroid infection or some sort of imbalance because that can cause excessive tiredness.

And the best way (fastest) way to increase energy is Amphetamines

[Djohaal]

But amphetamines have rebound effect and cause addiction. Not to mention heart issues. Not a good idea at all.

Anyway some things you should assess (Not necessarially a priority order).

1: Thyroid. Do a TSH blood test, it should determine if it is working properly. Anemia also should be a consideration, so do an hemogram while you are at it.

2: Diet. Not quantity of food, quality. Specially some key vitamins (B complex mainly) and minerals like calcium and magnesium. Magnesium reposition seems to do wonders to some people. I heard watermelon juice also seems to be quite beneficial to fatigue (getting watermelons to make the juice might be a problem though, depending where you live. No industrialized shit please).

3: Sleep quality, which involves many factors and causes. Sleep apnea or oral breathing are some examples. A common signal of bad breathing while you sleep is excessive groggyness when you wake up in the morning that can go away if you take a hot shower. (Sleep apnea or oral breathing induces an excess of CO2 in the blood, which imbalances the whole neurochemstry of the brain, and the moisture of a hot shower eases up the elimination of such CO2 in the morning.)

4: Depression? Of course you'd need to see a therapist or a psychiatrist, what costs monies. But if you think that might be the problem it is worth a shot.

[Blargityblarg]

My sister felt tired for a long time, and she gave up gluten, and she felt much better. Not saying this is what you've got, but maybe. Try avoiding it for a week, or even just cutting it down. Or don't- your body.

[zxcvmnb]

If it's a significant change and you've tried getting more daylight, diet, naps etc. you might want to see a doctor, though there are groups of often mild symptoms with no apparrent cause or cure such as CFS or fibromyalgia, which I think often start after 'flu'-like illness/stress/depression.  You could look up Pacing which basically consists of regulating the amount of stuff that you try to do and gradually building back up.

[eerr]

If your brain is tired 'normally', then 'normally' you aren't using it much.

You sound pretty dam bored.

[piecewise]

If your brain is tired 'normally', then 'normally' you aren't using it much.

You sound pretty dam bored.

Sorry,I had to.

[Kebooo]

If your brain is tired 'normally', then 'normally' you aren't using it much.

You sound pretty dam bored.

I'd say it's the opposite of this.  The most tired and exhausted I felt was during the final push of my thesis during college, back in 2007.  I study C++ during a lot of my free time, but I always make sure to just have relaxation time.  I wish there were more hours in the day so I could do everything I want.  But I'd also wish to have more energy during that time.

Djohaal, as for sleep apnea, is it possible or common for a young, in shape male to have that?  Also, what specific food would you recommend for magnesium?