I'm sure this may sound like a really dumb question to some people...but it's a major issue to me....

Lately (like the past 3 months or so) i've been feeling totally exhausted all the time. It's not like I don't get enough sleep I average about 8-9 hours each night so I should feel refreshed and wide awake. But I don't. I thought maybe I was drinking too much caffeine as I usually drink a pot of coffee when I wake up, iced tea, then soda when I go to work. Well I've cut down on the caffeine and have been drinking a lot of water lately but it still isn't helping. I still feel like I could sleep all day and night long. I've been putting in a lot of overtime at work, usually 10 hour days and working saturdays too but that doesn't interfere with my regular sleep schedule. When I do get an entire weekend off work it seems all I do is sleep and then don't have any time to do the things I want to do on my days off. I was wondering if anyone knew of some herbs or vitamins that may help??? I don't want to take the ephedrine crap that is dangerous but something that wouldn't hurt me to take and that would help me gain back the energy that I don't seem to have any more. Thanks!!!!

I'm gonna sound like some kind of stinking hippie here, but energy feeds on energy.

find time to tak a walk (which will be hard to put into your schedule, but do it)

have some solo time to recharge .... I go to the beach...

Vitamins are always good, but if you are getting enough more doesn't do much.

Also, you sleep a lot!

Maybe an hour less a night? Circadian rhythm (that is so spelled wrong even though it is correct) are weird and you may just need to adjust yours...

Try cutting back to 6.5-7 hours of sleep a night. Not everybody needs 8 and sleeping more than what you need will make you feel drowsy all the time.
Another idea would be to squeeze a regular good workout into your schedule (assuming you're not). There's nothing like frequent exercise to increase energy. Don't smoke any herbs unless you need more sleep, but a multivitamin couldn't hurt.

Didn't mean to repeat charles's advice. It's late and I type slow.

Moderation; the universal rule.

Moderation of wake comes in sleep,
and moderation of sleep comes in wake.

An imbalance in one naturally leads to an
imbalance in the other.

Find the amount of time you normally sleep
for when you can, uninterrupted.

Cut it by 1/5 to 1/4 via artifical waking stimulus.

This will help to interrupt your body's natural
tendencies toward waking lethergy.

Include a variety of fruit in your lunch.
A fresh salad with *light* dressing dosen't hurt either.

Also, don't hit the coffee first thing when you wake up,
wait 5-10 minutes before consuming liquids.

You first drink should be some water; even if only a little bit.

Try some nice cold water splashed on the face first,
it's refreshing and invigorating.

I'm sure you'll find all of the above helpful.
:) Enjoy your waking hours.

-Maxim

I had the same a year or so ago. I slept 10 hours every day yet I was still constantly tired. I was knocking back 2-3 redbulls every day in the end just to get a slight rise in energy.

It was because I wasn't living daytime hours tho :P

The only thing that fixed it was changing my job to a much more stimulating one. My old job had me stood around not doing much, always in a cold draughty place.

My new job is nice and warm and I work really hard in a wide open space and since I've had this job I'm practically never tired at work with 8 hours sleep a day.

Get your thiroid levels measured

I've been having a similar sort of problem these past couple of months, however, I'm pretty much following all the advice listed above, 'cept the thyroid thing. :D

I get a fairly regular 7 hours sleep per day through the week, at weekend days I could have anything from 2 to 9 hours sleep though.

I'm eating healthy, plenty of varied fruit, pastas, salad, poultry and fish in my diet.

I get plenty of regular exercise.

constantly tiredness can also be a sign of diabetes. To be fair i think the tiredness could be more to do with too much sleep. However, if sleeping less doesnt cure it, get yourself down to your doctor.

I'm not exactly sleepy tired as much as lathargic and unmotivated... unless I'm skating.

I think my problem is a combination of this weather and a dire need to take some time off work.

you could be slightly aneamic, get your Dr to check for you.

maybe you have MONO!!!

Sounds like mono to me i had the same symtoms as you and went for a blood test thinking i might be aneamic, turns out i had glandular fever. You should go get a blood test done it will only takes a few minutes!

I've had my thyroid checked like 3 or 4 years ago when my ex and i were going through all the fertility treatments we went through and that all came back normal. I know i don't eat healthy...i only eat once a day and that is at 11 pm when i get off work....so i'm gonna try to cut back on some of my sleep...started last night only got 7 hours of sleep instead of the usual 8-9 hours, and thinking maybe i should start eating something before i go to work each day....even if it's just a fast snack. If this doesn't help i will get an appt. with my doctor to see if anything is wrong. Thanks everyone for the advice!!!

I'd stop working saturdays too, Which is more important, your health or the companys profits?

Having recently had a virus that completely left me feeling wiped out for last 3 weeks id say get a check up as well as everything else the others have said :)

It does sound somewhat like mono. I had it as a teen, and was warned that the disease can be harbored for years, and turn to Epstien-Barr syndrome, which brings chronic fatigue.

Lots of good advice here, blueeyes. Please do talk to your doctor though. :)

Perhaps it's just age. ( calm down, calm down, only joking )

Not working on saturdays sounds great to me....however if i didn't go to work on saturdays and the few sundays that we've worked then i wouldn't have a job there any longer. When you work for a corporation then their profit is more important to them than my health is....that's just the way corporate America works...they don't care and to them i'm easily replaceable.
Got sick at work tonight....think i'm getting a cold so that may be part of it...gonna get up in the morning and make an appointment with my doctor and may end up calling in sick tomorrow...just have to see how i'm feeling i guess.
And Daidavies.......I'M ONLY 27!!!!! so it has nothing to do with my age!!!!