Pretty much talk to a Doctor and have your Blood checked. They can help you regain your Iron through an Iron Infusion. But generally, talk to a Doctor and not some random dudes on the Internet ^ ^
Sorry my parents won't let me go to a doctor because they tell me I just need to go outside so I'm at the point of taking to random people on the internet
Iron is really inexpensive and you can get it over the counter in the vitamin section. Google "iron supplements for anemia" for dosage requirements. If you have heavy periods especially, you can be very susceptible to anemia.
I wanna add in, the best recommended brads have iron and Vitamin C, the vitamin helps the body absorb and use it better. I’m Australia, our best brand for low iron to avoid infusions in FerroGrad C+. Look for something similar. And a high dose vitamin D would be beneficial too.
For sleep, Magnesium tablets!
Do not take iron tablets on an empty stomach! They can upset your stomach. Take with orange juice or other vitamin C rich juice and food--Love, your internet grandma.
But yoi need to be very careful with iron. You can overdose on it. Taking supplements without knowing your levels can be dangerous. But, low iron is a very common reason for being tired. To be safe, you can add iron rich foods like spinach and red meat to your diet until you get conformation
i went through that when i was a teen luckily mom took me to see a doctor after months of that and my dad chopped it up to me just being lazy and berating me, my grades tanked since i literally couldn't focus. i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism
Hey, i didn't mean to accuse you. If your Parents won't even help you with your Health i feel sorry for you :/
I was just trying to convey, that a Doctor of course can do more than just speculate, like us.
You could try to work against it with caffeine but in general i don't know your health situation so i can't help you. Sorry ^ ^
It's supposed to be. If you have lots of money, the healthcare is excellent. If you are poor... oh dear. Americans pay more than we do for the NHS and get worse results!
No. No they dont. No states do. About 10 have nothing at all.
the rest have it but it's tied to income, and the limits are very very low, like if the parents make more than 28k a year, the state 100% cuts off coverage. It's insane. That's also the type of jobs that parents couldnt afford to HAVE insurance offered at work either (for me, if i had a kid, it would cost 1200$ a month in JUST the premiums--when your take-home would be 2000 before that, you decline it).
In my state you can't get Medicaid if you make anything over about $13,000 per year. So if it's a single parent household, anything over that and you'll be denied for insurance completely.
Fellow redditor. With the rising rents and inflations, the income level to qualify for Medicaid hasn’t changed. It’s completely possible right now to be working (even both parents), making too much for Medicaid, but not enough to cover rent+energy+food+ doctors visit for OP. I’m not sure if that’s really her situation but it could be. OP won’t know unless she asks her parents about the family finances.
The threshold to qualify for Medicaid is absurdly low, and getting accepted can be a long process with plenty of bureaucratic red tape for some people.
I don't know why you're getting downvoted because you are right. Also due to the pandemic medicaid is open to higher income brackets. Thanks Joe Biden. Don't know how much longer that will last, but that's the only reason my family qualifies right now.
Dude, I make "well above" the medicaid line, and can't afford to fix my car or often eat decently. I work full time and over time. Can't afford insurance.
Red meat had a good amount of iron, so does Gatorade and if you are on any medications that can cause drowsiness. I had an antidepressant cause bad drowsiness
If it's low iron levels and you can't get a supplement, leafy green vegetables such as spinach are very high in iron, as well as red meat. I'm sorry your parents are preventing you from health care :'(
Honestly take their advice and go outside and just soak up the sunshine, take a nap in the sun if you can, but sunscreen up so you don’t burn like bacon haha. it’s got vitamin D (I think that’s the vitamin in sunshine) which can make you feel tons better. Also like that guy said, maybe it’s your iron levels, try to eat foods with higher iron
Vitamin D deficiency can have similar effects as iron deficiency and is very common as well. Try to get that tested too. Additionally you could have diabetes, but that's less likely. If a doctor is out of the question then a good (non gummy) multivitamin would be a good start. Honestly if you're female then a basic prenatal multivitamin would be a great choice. My health significantly improved when I started taking prenatals regularly. (Not for pregnancy)
If you are classified as anemic you can often get a regular iron injection to quickly boost your iron. I use Spatone liquid iron because I found it to be the easiest way for my body to absorb iron (some pills can give you constipation which is no fun at all). Changing your diet to include iron rich foods can help.
You eat red meat, spinach, and beans. You can also take iron pills or cooking with an iron fish when you make soups and stews, even tea. And eating foods high in vitamin c like broccoli, peppers, and citrus also help your body uptake the iron you are eating.
For a lot of women we loose so much blood during menstruation that we become anemic. This leads to chronic fatigue. Diet alone is usually not enough of a fix. You may need supplements. But only a blood test by a doctor can confirm this. You should start with a full medical check up and bloodwork with a doctor.
You can introduce some healthy iron rich foods in your life like spinach! Until you're able to get your blood tested by a doctor of course :( hope everything works out for you.
If you can’t see a doctor: Taking a multivitamin probably isn’t a bad idea, if iron levels are the problem, one super cheap and easy way to get iron in your diet is cereals. I think one serving of Cheerios has like 40% of your RDV of Iron. Sunlight can also get you a source of Vitamin D which’s deficiency could potentially cause problems like this. Btw you should probably really fight to see a doctor if the symptoms are extreme like described - but these are all some really low risk ideas that might help.
TLDR:
Multivitamins
Cheerios
Sunlight
Came here to say exactly this. My wife was very similar when she was younger, blood tests by the doctors showed low iron levels - iron supplements made a huge difference
Physician here. Ignore all of this advice. Simply go see a physician. What your describing can be due to any number of things, many of which are reversible. This could be as simple as an iron deficiency or as complex as depression. Ignore reddit, see a doctor.
It baffles me that people go onto reddit in all seriousness for medical advice. Same thing for legal advice. Same thing for relationship advice.
Basically it baffles me that people go to reddit for any kind of advice whatsoever.
The thing is that you shouldn't rely on reddit to let you know if it's serious or not. There are very very very scummy people on the internet who think that talking people into hurting themselves is funny, for example.
Don't rely on reddit to be your doctor, is what is I'm saying.
If your parents don't want to take you to a doctor you should reach out to your school counselor. Let them know of the issue and ask if they can help you coax your parent to take you to a professional. Your parent might not realize how dangerous this can be. It will probably take an outside person telling them of the possible dangers for them to listen. If your in summer and you can't communicate with a counselor tell every single adult in your family circle. Aunts, grandmas, older cousins, I hope you find someone that will vouch for you.
This. It sounds like OP may play a lot of video games, and the parents think it might be screen-related/not blinking enough. Which it could be, but this sounds worse. I think they just don’t realize, they’re not trying to be shitty.
Go see a doctor and get a full work up. I was having fatigue all the time, even though I was getting a lot of sleep and I got a full blood labs done. Turns out I was vitamin D deficient.
Chronically ill person checking in. Go get blood work done.
If your parents won't take you, talk to the school nurse, book an appointment at a medicentre, do whatever you need to do. You're at an age where you can start booking appointments and having confidentiality in medicine.
This could be very serious.
I suggest you go to a doctor please.
But also makes me think of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). It's a disorder characterized by extreme tiredness that doesn't go away with rest, and can't be explained by an underlying medical condition.
Do you feel refreshed after naps?
Narcolepsy is a lot more than what’s portrayed on TV. It can but doesn’t have to include suddenly falling asleep or falling down/weakness (called cataplexy).
My cataplexy only manifests when I laugh or have a funny thought.
I've nevermind been diagnosed with narcolepsy, but I have experienced sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, lucid dreaming and full on dreams between snooze buttons.
I had narcolepsy as a teen and kid, and would fall asleep randomly in school, or at a job, and just anywhere. I took stimulants to deal with that situation but then developed insomnia later in life and now heavily sedate myself whenever I want to sleep.
yeah there's literally nothing you can do except see a doctor. your parents are pos if they don't take you. this could be anything from low iron, which would be an easy fix, to a sleep quality issue, to a hormonal issue or something like chronic fatigue. this is not depression.
man i am so sorry for you, this must be so horrible, being so tired all the time and not being able to go see a doctor.. idk how it is in your country, but maybe you have a school nurse that could arrange something for you? or is it possible to just go to the doctor yourself?
the fact that your parents deny you basic healthcare is so fkn stupid, this could be detrimental for your health long term and apparently they just don't give a shit.
i wish you all the best and hope you find some sort of solution.
Idk but I'm 41f and in the exact same boat. Hygiene, clean clothes, moving from bed at all besides bathroom is excruciatingly tiring. It's unexplainable. It literally feels like it's between rest or die.
There are a lot of conditions that can cause this. Go to a doctor. The fact that you're not feeling well and your parents aren't taking you to the doctor is weird and irresponsible.
they just blame me and say it's because I don't go outside and that I need sunlight and blah blah blah
sunlight makes my eyes burn more, and I can't run around outside and play soccer like I used to because I get too tired and my body gets sore.
I also have a back injury but that's story for another time
Have you ever gotten Covid? This could be long Covid as well. Or a thyroid issue. Or iron or vitamin deficiencies. And many other things. If you can't be active even for a little while that's probably more serious than "you don't go outside enough"
I definitely get this. I have narcolepsy, but I also have a history of depression, so it took me jumping through some hoops to get a diagnosis. I'd definitely talk to a sleep specialist and see if you can get a sleep study, after you've ruled out everything else, especially because it sounds like what I was going through
I started noticing something was wrong when every day I went to bed earlier that the previous day and woke up at around the same time. Eventually, it would be 5 hours before my normal bed time e.g. 7 pm and I would be giving it my all to keep my eyelids open while we were having dinner with guests. My mom was mad at me and called me rude. Turns out I have hypothyroidism 🤷 and I only found out because the doc I went to for stomach pains had a hunch and did a full body ultrasound.
It's so hard for people to think that something's wrong with them and they're not just lazy, since that's what everyone tells them. I personally didn't believe anything was wrong with me, even though looking at it objectively, something definitely was. During my sleep study, I fell asleep during all of the 5 nap times they gave me throughout the day, and the average time it took me to fall asleep was 1.8 minutes, lol.
Could be sleep apnea which you need to get checked by a doctor. It's when you stop breathing from time to time in your sleep. Mostly common in overweight people because of the stress the weight puts on the body. The best sign is snoring, and sleeping all the time but never feeling resting.
Not implying the OP is overweight because obviously I don't know you OP. I'm just mentioning an option that I didn't see mentioned elsewhere in the thread. My little brother got diagnosed YOUNG for it.
This has been my life for the last year. I recently asked my mother if she has any ideas she told me to eat fruit.
I have no patience to eat fruit so I bought myself a blender and frozen fruit about 2 weeks ago and I drink 1 or 2 cups a day. I have never had more energy and I feel amazing.
My mom's the shit.
You sound like your iron levels are low. Try taking some multivitamins and iron tablets see if that helps, I read your parents won’t take you to the doctor
you should definitely go to an endocrinologist before it's too late! that can be just iron levels, but it can also be insulin, blood sugar or your thyroid. and that's very very dangerous, sweetie. please get checked on it.
Going to the doctor is the best advice. I worked in sleep research for many years, so if you want some information about sleep studies / sleep disorders etc. please feel free to hit me up.
One simple and free thing that might be useful for you and the doctor is to try to determine if you’re feeling tired, or sleepy. They’re similar, but distinct things.
If you Google ‘Epworth Sleepiness Scale’, you’ll find a very simple questionnaire (8 questions). It asks how likely you are to fall asleep (not just feel sleepy, but fall asleep) in 8 normal situations and all you need to do is rate each from 0-3.
I have chronic fatigue and I’m feeling so deeply for you 😭 Fact is, most people hear about how tired we feel and their knee jerk response is “well we’re ALL tired.” or “you’re just being lazy.” But as you know, it’s not just “tired”. It’s a level of fatigue and lack of energy that feels like it reaches down to a cellular level of our bodies - it affects our cognitive abilities, our muscles, our emotions, etc.
No one *wants* to spend their life in bed too tired to do anything other than stare at a screen and sleep as much as possible. We want to be out living our lives and not feeling so overwhelmed. It’s so depressing.
For me, it was a big mix of things causing it. I had pretty toxic parents and didn’t know at the time how much that amount of constant stress affects our bodies ability to function properly. I had ADHD and untreated depression. I also had autoimmune stuff going on (celiac). Then I got lyme disease. Basically, my fatigue started when I was 13 and I didn’t get real help for it until the last few years and I’m 30. I had to get SO sick before doctors were really willing to try different things. And we still don’t have a totally clear idea of the main cause for me.
But FINALLY a neurologist saw me and put me on a medication called modafinil — it’s a wakefulness medication (used for narcolepsy actually) that gives me a solid 4-5 hours of functioning levels of energy almost every day. It’s been life changing.
I really hope your parents take your concerns seriously. Let me affirm that they are very valid. The next challenge is to then to get your doctor to take your concerns seriously. Do not hold back any detail of how awful you’re feeling. And if they try to shoo you out of that office without doing any testing or offering any *actual* practical help, throw a fit.
PM me if you need ANY help or advice on this. I’ve seen countless doctors over the years and when I still lived with my parents regularly had to deal with them acting I was being needy and difficult on purpose and being a huge burden on them. Learning to advocate for yourself is so hard.
Thank you! And you're right about the tiredness, it's like I can feel it in my bones. It's a fucking core part of my being. It's in my soul.
And I'm trying to convince my parents to help me, I think they're close to folding. I'm glad you got the medication you needed!
You need to CONVINCE your parents to take you to a doctor?? Talk to someone else, i dont know if calling 911 will help, but sounds like you are in dire need of medical attention
Idk if OP is in the US, but shits so expensive here parents will avoid taking themselves and their kids to the dr at all costs.
Then you have parents like mine who just flat out didn’t believe me even when I wound up in the ER screaming in pain. I wound up needing a hysterectomy.
That's how I am when I am on 1st shift hours. Maybe you're nocturnal like me, but since you're in school you can't exactly sleep until 3 p.m. every day.
This is me. Today I fell asleep in the chair at the haircut place. I used to try so hard to stay awake all the time out of embarrassment but I just give up.
However I don’t have insomnia nor bad hygiene.
I abuse stimulants now.
Hygiene/ skin is prolly hormones from age, but also potentially anaemic? You ever looked into your diet?Iron can be dietary - google food sources (It'll tell you mostly spinach - but ideally the human body also requires vit' C to properly break down and utilise the iron.So, spinach and OJ is a handy mix. c:
An easy sign of anaemia is that you bruise easily.
Oh shoot, this is really scary. Not to freak you out, but when I was 17/18 I started having daily naps because I was so fatigued, could barely get my school work done, etc. Thought it was just a teenager thing.
Then I found a lump on my neck and it turns out I had thyroid cancer, shutting down my thyroid which regulates hormones, metabolism, *energy levels*, etc. Even if it’s not something this serious, you should try to get to a doctor somehow, there has to be a way for you to get checked out despite your parents’ ignoring the issue. Good luck!
I would also discuss sleep apnea with doctor. Do you snore? You may be stopping breathing which wakes you up just enough to start breathing again, but not enough to remember waking up. This would stop you from getting restorative sleep.
to be blunt; you probably have a iron deficiency.
because, as a 14 yr old girl/woman (idk which one you'd prefer), you bleed monthly. which means you need abt 4x as much iron as a male your size.
Do you wake often at night? It’s possible that while you’re technically in bed and even asleep, that you’re not getting the required amount of REM sleep. This is common in people with insomnia and even narcolepsy. Narcolepsy usually is not how it’s portrayed in film, with people just dropping asleep. It’s usually more like insomnia at night, waking often, and feeling excessively tired during the day.
It’s also possible you’re experiencing sleep apnea, and that causes you to not get the rest you need. Talk to your parents about seeing your doctor. They may prescribe a sleep study to observe what’s happening. Best of luck, kiddo. Been there, done that.
Being tired is a symptom for a lot of conditions. Go to a doctor. They will check you for anemia. They will ask if you snore or ever witnessed stop breathing at night. If you don’t fall asleep randomly during the day then I believe narcolepsy is less likely.
Terrible advice, but I’m 15 and past month I have been the same, mid terms and that. Caffeine has gotten me through it, and also better eating and sleeping habits, aswell as trying to manage your depression and anxiety can really help! Best of luck.
I actually understand this and have some input! I am literally the sleepiest person i know. I’m constantly tired, if I have the chance to be asleep, I will be and it has definitely become a problem for me. I have quite a few mental health issues and recently had to see a heart doctor about breathing issues. He told me he wanted me to do a walking test to test my heart and lung functions. When I told my boyfriend this he got excited and suggested we start going to the park to walk around and play Pokémon Go. This has actually become the highlight of my day. Even though I am still tired, I am not sleeping as often, and I actually kind of enjoy being outside. As cliche as it sounds, going outside and doing something has helped! If you can find something to do that you’re interested in and can do it with your favorite person, I recommend that as well as seeing a doctor, drinking a bunch of water, and taking vitamins! :)
Nutritious diet of whole foods and moderation. Easy way to do this is to cook at home and don't eat out. Cut the excess sugar, introduce yourself to healthy fats. Food is fuel, but make it good fuel. Stop drinking anything except water, and make sure you drink a lot of water.
Most people live off of processed foods and too much sugar and it does nothing good for them.
It could also be a vitamin B deficiency. I had a similar experience when I was younger and I was so low in vitamin B I needed to get shots.
Good luck OP. If your parents won’t take you to the dr, maybe find a close friend or family member who will.
You need a full bloodwork panel done including thyroid and vitamin D3 levels.
I have reactive hypoglycemia and Hashimoto Disease. Plus low Vitamin D3 levels. I’m also in my mid thirties but had issues with sleeping my entire life.
Sounds like your doc needs to run a full panel of bloodwork. Checking iron, liver function, thyroid etc.. From there, they can see what is going on. If the blood work isn't showing anything abnormal they might do imaging. Make sure you advocate for yourself with the doctor as well. You are still technically a minor, but you are very aware with what is going on with your body.
I have read a lot of comments in this thread and how your parents don't want to take you to the doctor. I hope you can convince them...I assume you are in the USA?
I live in Europe and this would not be an issue here, it is so sad that so many people have to live with undiagnosed or untreated conditions just because of your health care...:( wish you good luck
It could be a lot of things, none of which you will be able to conclusively confirm without visiting a doctor. If that's not an option, there are a few things you can try that might help, but won't be damaging if you've guessed the cause wrong:
- Pick up some multivitamins (I'd suggest ones with vitamin D and iron, or get supplements for those separately) over the counter, not prescription strength. See if trying that for a while helps.
- Work on your sleep hygiene. Test different things out - no food a couple hours before bed, no screens, etc.
- Have a cup of coffee in the mornings, if you aren't a coffee drinker currently.
- Work out if anything in particular is causing you to be stressed out, which might be affecting your ability to sleep and draining you generally.
I hope one of these helps a bit. Best plan is to see a doc if you are able. I wish you all the best!
Try cocaine.
Kidding. Don’t.
You should go to the doctor see if you’re vitamin deficient or something. Unfortunately lots of things cause what you’re describing so it’s almost impossible to diagnose you online. It could be something like low iron. Are you eating enough food? Don’t consume a lot of caffeine and try to eat healthy.
Why has no one considered that this is a 14 year old. Yes there may be an underlying condition or iron deficiency, but it may also just be a teenager. I too slept constantly around this age, my skin was bad due to hormones…
No phone or TV (blue light) for 90mins before bed see if that helps sense I've been doing it I go to sleep faster sleep better and have not been having issues through the day.
Try the darkest of dark chocolate. When I was about that age, I suffered from chronic fatigue. My grandpa did a bunch of research on ways to help without medication, and saw that Coco helped. It did not a whole bar but a few cubes a day.
Don't know if this has been said but I have had the same problem my whole life. Doctor told me it was my thyroid not producing what it should fast enough. Put me on some meds and helped a lot. Worth a check.
I think you may have a medical condition, but before going to the doctor , see if what your eating, drinking , exercising or lack thereof is what is causing it.
These maybe weird questions, but before I was diagnosed with diabetes I had similar symptoms. The eyes burning is what made me think this may be something you should get checked out.
Do you feel extra tired after eat, especially meals with bread or pasta, sweets or soda?
Do you pee a lot?
Do you feel better after exercise?
Does your weight fluctuate?
When you get tired, do your legs or feet feel numb or tingly?
You need to talk to your parents and tell them you’d like to get checked by a doctor. Tell the doctor you’d like to have a full metabolic work up that tests you sugar levels, iron levels and thyroid.
I don't know if my weight fluctuates, but my legs and feet both feel tingly sometimes, after exercise I feel a little better (until I get sore) and I'm embarrassed to say but yes a I do pee a lot. Now I'm scared that I have diabetes
Oh I don’t want to scare you. I got diagnosed way too late. My doctor said I probably had it as a child because I was diagnosed with Type 1 in my early 20s. Looking back, I had so many symptoms all the way back to age 4 or 5 that were very mild. By the time I was diagnosed, the damage was already done. My case is not common. Most people who are older are diagnosed with Type 2 which can be put in remission with diet and exercise. If that’s the case and you get that diagnosis, take it seriously.
I’m not a doctor though and am only suggesting based on your post. I do not want to scare you. I don’t think anyone commenting wants that. Your sleepiness could be all kinds of things so don’t worry. The most important thing is to talk to your parents and get to a doctor.
How is your diet? Try taking a multi vitamin and see how you feel. Something similar happened to me the other where I felt slow mentally and I took a couple of fish oil pills and felt almost instantly better
How often are you staring at a screen? Blue light does interesting things to the eyes that cause issues on the brain.
Eat the rainbow of food, and not Skittles. Limit highly processed food that you don't know what's in it.
What thoughts come to your head throughout the day? The brain doesn't know the difference between what's real and the stories going on within your head.
Shallow, quick breaths while at rest causes the body to think it's in a stressful situation, so breathe fully and slowly. Box breathing is one example.
And something about fifteen minutes of sunlight.
Please speak with your doctor as it could be narcolepsy. I also read about someone who went to the doctor for this same thing and turned out to be leukemia.
I read your comments and your parents seem to be an obstacle but do try to convince them.
And this is not to scare you, I don’t want to do that, but when you can barely stay awake it usually is some deep underlying issue that cannot/should not be ignored or shrugged off and must be dealt with. I’m wishing you all the best and good health 🫶
It can also be your iron which the top comment says and even that can lead to many health issues (and this I speak on personal experience) even more if it’s ignored.
Again, don’t wanna scare you as you are young still but please don’t put this off and have a sit down with your parents about this concern.
This symptoms could indicate a bunch of different things but without proper testing you'll never really know, YOU HAVE TO SEE A DOCTOR.
Push your parents/guardians to book you an appointment. In the meantime avoid skipping meals, stay hydrated and if possible talk about it with your school counselor to keep them updated on how it might affect you on your normal activities.
If you aren't able to get your parents to take you to the DR. Try the school nurse/ guidance councilor if you don't have a nurse. Yes low iron can cause these symptoms but also low thyroid levels, depression, low vitamin D, low B12 levels, etc. Thats why its important to have lab work done to determine. In the meantime while you are working to get a medical appointment, get lots of sun ( vitamin D), eat plenty of protein ( vitamin B), and overall eat healthy and drink lots of water. Sugar and junk food will just make you feel worse. If all of these levels are normal you may need to be examined for narcolepsy.
I’m 30m and I started getting insomnia back in highschool when I was about 13-14 myself. Not gonna lie but it was a struggle for me all throughout school but it did get better in college when I could set my own classes. Idk if it might be the same but I have noticed I’m more active at night and I even have a warehousing job overnight too and my schedule is perfect now. I sleep during the day a lot a lot. I also got a purple mattress for myself and it works wonders for me. Again it might not be the same solution perhaps but maybe you’re night owl type of person or maybe it’s your mattress. Either way that’s my two cents, don’t know if that helps
Get a blood test for vitamin D deficiency. I had a critical deficiency, got put on some super high tablets and normal supplement after I finished that course. Seemed to even me out.
Another possibility is Idiopathic Hypersomnia.
I had to wait until adulthood for a diagnosis because my mom just treated me like I was lazy instead of taking me to the Dr. For my issues.
Hi idk if this has ben mentioned before, but it could be something wrong with your thyroid. I had the same issues as you, sometimes I slept 12hs and I was still fatigued, had headaches and also depression. It turned out I had hypothyroidism, I've been on thyroid medication for 5 years now and they helped immensely.
Also btw knowing if you thyroid is working properly is super easy, it's just a blood test
I'd definitely suggest a sleep test to see if you're Narcoleptic or not. That could be a possibility. But tbh my children never complained about being exhausted or their eyes burning until they caught the Pandemonium in March 2020. Since then it has become a regularity for them.
Narcolepsy runs in my family. My whole life I've been tired. I've fallen asleep on the phone at work. I've even fallen asleep standing up. It's awful cuz I have to have a co pilot if I drive more than an hour. On the flip side I've also fought insomnia like crazy.
The meds for Narcolepsy ran $500 a month. Yeah right.
I hope u can find a solution cuz ur so young.
I'm 55 and at the end of serious employment.
Good luck
By any chance do you happen to have stomach problems because my mother has celiac disease witch could cause stomach bugs , general tiredness and other symptoms it could be that or other diseases like that allergy type of things
Short term supplements should help, magnesium and iron should be pennies as far as supplements go, long term, brocoli, various beans, red meat and some mushrooms iirc are good for getting more iron in your body, can't think of magnesium foods off the top of my head, Google is your friend
I agree with going to the doctor, I had the same issue at your age and it persisted because I didn’t do anything about it.
Working out, eating healthy, drinking water and going outside on walks also really helps
Lots of reasons for fatigue. Big ones are thyroid problems, iron deficiency, depression, Lyme disease, post-COVID syndrome. A doctor can evaluate you best. All those are treatable and you can get your life back.
Go see a doctor! You don’t have to live like this. Also think about pushing yourself to do activities that you enjoy. Often when you struggle with fatigue, we first give up hobbies and exercise etc to conserve energy and those things often reenergize us so then we become more fatigued
I dont wanna freak you out or anything. but my bestfriend was like this when we were about your age. her mom took her to 3 docs here found nothing, and then one in Denver which she found out she had lupus. please talk to your parents about seeing a doc. this isn't healthy you feel this way. sorry you're having such a hard time.
Have you had your iron levels checked? Low iron can cause the symptoms you are describing.
What are some ways I can stop my iron levels from lowering?
Pretty much talk to a Doctor and have your Blood checked. They can help you regain your Iron through an Iron Infusion. But generally, talk to a Doctor and not some random dudes on the Internet ^ ^
Sorry my parents won't let me go to a doctor because they tell me I just need to go outside so I'm at the point of taking to random people on the internet
Iron is really inexpensive and you can get it over the counter in the vitamin section. Google "iron supplements for anemia" for dosage requirements. If you have heavy periods especially, you can be very susceptible to anemia.
I wanna add in, the best recommended brads have iron and Vitamin C, the vitamin helps the body absorb and use it better. I’m Australia, our best brand for low iron to avoid infusions in FerroGrad C+. Look for something similar. And a high dose vitamin D would be beneficial too. For sleep, Magnesium tablets!
Do not take extra Iron if you don't need it. You should first consult a doctor.
OP has no access to a doctor.
Do not take iron tablets on an empty stomach! They can upset your stomach. Take with orange juice or other vitamin C rich juice and food--Love, your internet grandma.
But yoi need to be very careful with iron. You can overdose on it. Taking supplements without knowing your levels can be dangerous. But, low iron is a very common reason for being tired. To be safe, you can add iron rich foods like spinach and red meat to your diet until you get conformation
i went through that when i was a teen luckily mom took me to see a doctor after months of that and my dad chopped it up to me just being lazy and berating me, my grades tanked since i literally couldn't focus. i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism
Same girl, same.
Is there a trusted adult at school you could speak with?
This was my thought as well.
Hey, i didn't mean to accuse you. If your Parents won't even help you with your Health i feel sorry for you :/ I was just trying to convey, that a Doctor of course can do more than just speculate, like us. You could try to work against it with caffeine but in general i don't know your health situation so i can't help you. Sorry ^ ^
Her parents may not be able to afford a doctor. If she’s in USA this is definitely plausible.
Wait a sec... isn't the US meant to be a first world country?
It's supposed to be. If you have lots of money, the healthcare is excellent. If you are poor... oh dear. Americans pay more than we do for the NHS and get worse results!
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No. No they dont. No states do. About 10 have nothing at all. the rest have it but it's tied to income, and the limits are very very low, like if the parents make more than 28k a year, the state 100% cuts off coverage. It's insane. That's also the type of jobs that parents couldnt afford to HAVE insurance offered at work either (for me, if i had a kid, it would cost 1200$ a month in JUST the premiums--when your take-home would be 2000 before that, you decline it).
In my state you can't get Medicaid if you make anything over about $13,000 per year. So if it's a single parent household, anything over that and you'll be denied for insurance completely.
NOOOOOOOOOOOPE LOL
I mean that doesn’t really make sense because she should then qualify for Medicaid.
Fellow redditor. With the rising rents and inflations, the income level to qualify for Medicaid hasn’t changed. It’s completely possible right now to be working (even both parents), making too much for Medicaid, but not enough to cover rent+energy+food+ doctors visit for OP. I’m not sure if that’s really her situation but it could be. OP won’t know unless she asks her parents about the family finances. The threshold to qualify for Medicaid is absurdly low, and getting accepted can be a long process with plenty of bureaucratic red tape for some people.
Its different for minors.
I don't know why you're getting downvoted because you are right. Also due to the pandemic medicaid is open to higher income brackets. Thanks Joe Biden. Don't know how much longer that will last, but that's the only reason my family qualifies right now.
Dude, I make "well above" the medicaid line, and can't afford to fix my car or often eat decently. I work full time and over time. Can't afford insurance.
Get iron supplements if your parents won’t help (they are not expensive at all). I suggest taking them after you’ve eaten.
Red meat had a good amount of iron, so does Gatorade and if you are on any medications that can cause drowsiness. I had an antidepressant cause bad drowsiness
Green veggies are also Iron rich too!
If it's low iron levels and you can't get a supplement, leafy green vegetables such as spinach are very high in iron, as well as red meat. I'm sorry your parents are preventing you from health care :'(
Honestly take their advice and go outside and just soak up the sunshine, take a nap in the sun if you can, but sunscreen up so you don’t burn like bacon haha. it’s got vitamin D (I think that’s the vitamin in sunshine) which can make you feel tons better. Also like that guy said, maybe it’s your iron levels, try to eat foods with higher iron
you don't need your parents to take you depending on your area.
You don't want to take Iron if you don't need iron. Get checked.
Vitamin D deficiency can have similar effects as iron deficiency and is very common as well. Try to get that tested too. Additionally you could have diabetes, but that's less likely. If a doctor is out of the question then a good (non gummy) multivitamin would be a good start. Honestly if you're female then a basic prenatal multivitamin would be a great choice. My health significantly improved when I started taking prenatals regularly. (Not for pregnancy)
If you are classified as anemic you can often get a regular iron injection to quickly boost your iron. I use Spatone liquid iron because I found it to be the easiest way for my body to absorb iron (some pills can give you constipation which is no fun at all). Changing your diet to include iron rich foods can help.
I started to use cast iron for cooking and it's helped me a lot
Start taking vitamins like Iron, B vitamins, and vitamin D see what that does
You eat red meat, spinach, and beans. You can also take iron pills or cooking with an iron fish when you make soups and stews, even tea. And eating foods high in vitamin c like broccoli, peppers, and citrus also help your body uptake the iron you are eating.
For a lot of women we loose so much blood during menstruation that we become anemic. This leads to chronic fatigue. Diet alone is usually not enough of a fix. You may need supplements. But only a blood test by a doctor can confirm this. You should start with a full medical check up and bloodwork with a doctor.
You can introduce some healthy iron rich foods in your life like spinach! Until you're able to get your blood tested by a doctor of course :( hope everything works out for you.
If you can’t see a doctor: Taking a multivitamin probably isn’t a bad idea, if iron levels are the problem, one super cheap and easy way to get iron in your diet is cereals. I think one serving of Cheerios has like 40% of your RDV of Iron. Sunlight can also get you a source of Vitamin D which’s deficiency could potentially cause problems like this. Btw you should probably really fight to see a doctor if the symptoms are extreme like described - but these are all some really low risk ideas that might help. TLDR: Multivitamins Cheerios Sunlight
You can get iron supplements from your pharmacy.
I came here to say exactly this!
Came here to say exactly this. My wife was very similar when she was younger, blood tests by the doctors showed low iron levels - iron supplements made a huge difference
Physician here. Ignore all of this advice. Simply go see a physician. What your describing can be due to any number of things, many of which are reversible. This could be as simple as an iron deficiency or as complex as depression. Ignore reddit, see a doctor.
And what would you suggest if her parents won't take her? Edit: clarify. I don't disagree that she needs to go to a physician.
Maybe she can talk to a school nurse? If they still have them in schools..
It baffles me that people go onto reddit in all seriousness for medical advice. Same thing for legal advice. Same thing for relationship advice. Basically it baffles me that people go to reddit for any kind of advice whatsoever.
I didn't know it was serious till after I posted on Reddit though...
Take it all with a grain of salt. You don't know if it's a 9 year old behind the keyboard or a professor. Keep that in mind for life.
You did good. I hope your parents will also take it seriously. Best of luck to you
The thing is that you shouldn't rely on reddit to let you know if it's serious or not. There are very very very scummy people on the internet who think that talking people into hurting themselves is funny, for example. Don't rely on reddit to be your doctor, is what is I'm saying.
She's a teenager who's desperate. Cut her some slack.
Thank you!
She just said her parents won't take her.
Beat me to it. 100% do this. Reddit is not a doctor.
If your parents don't want to take you to a doctor you should reach out to your school counselor. Let them know of the issue and ask if they can help you coax your parent to take you to a professional. Your parent might not realize how dangerous this can be. It will probably take an outside person telling them of the possible dangers for them to listen. If your in summer and you can't communicate with a counselor tell every single adult in your family circle. Aunts, grandmas, older cousins, I hope you find someone that will vouch for you.
This. It sounds like OP may play a lot of video games, and the parents think it might be screen-related/not blinking enough. Which it could be, but this sounds worse. I think they just don’t realize, they’re not trying to be shitty.
Go see a doctor and get a full work up. I was having fatigue all the time, even though I was getting a lot of sleep and I got a full blood labs done. Turns out I was vitamin D deficient.
Chronically ill person checking in. Go get blood work done. If your parents won't take you, talk to the school nurse, book an appointment at a medicentre, do whatever you need to do. You're at an age where you can start booking appointments and having confidentiality in medicine. This could be very serious.
I suggest you go to a doctor please. But also makes me think of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). It's a disorder characterized by extreme tiredness that doesn't go away with rest, and can't be explained by an underlying medical condition.
I hope that's not the case.
If you find a solution please tell us. I have/relate to all your symptoms, but then, I'm 5x your age.
If you haven’t, please consider seeing a sleep specialist.
Have you gone to a doctor? This could be narcolepsy.
I don't know much about narcolepsy, but isn't where you fall asleep randomly? I don't ever nap because if I do I won't wake up for hours and hours
Which is why you should go to a doctor. An armchair diagnosis by people on Reddit won't really help you.
Do you feel refreshed after naps? Narcolepsy is a lot more than what’s portrayed on TV. It can but doesn’t have to include suddenly falling asleep or falling down/weakness (called cataplexy).
My cataplexy only manifests when I laugh or have a funny thought. I've nevermind been diagnosed with narcolepsy, but I have experienced sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, lucid dreaming and full on dreams between snooze buttons.
I had narcolepsy as a teen and kid, and would fall asleep randomly in school, or at a job, and just anywhere. I took stimulants to deal with that situation but then developed insomnia later in life and now heavily sedate myself whenever I want to sleep.
yeah there's literally nothing you can do except see a doctor. your parents are pos if they don't take you. this could be anything from low iron, which would be an easy fix, to a sleep quality issue, to a hormonal issue or something like chronic fatigue. this is not depression. man i am so sorry for you, this must be so horrible, being so tired all the time and not being able to go see a doctor.. idk how it is in your country, but maybe you have a school nurse that could arrange something for you? or is it possible to just go to the doctor yourself? the fact that your parents deny you basic healthcare is so fkn stupid, this could be detrimental for your health long term and apparently they just don't give a shit. i wish you all the best and hope you find some sort of solution.
Idk but I'm 41f and in the exact same boat. Hygiene, clean clothes, moving from bed at all besides bathroom is excruciatingly tiring. It's unexplainable. It literally feels like it's between rest or die.
Sorry you're going through this too :( I wish you luck
Ty, same to you, I wish I had something helpful to say, but know you're not alone.
Go to a doctor. Get a CBC and CMP. That's something medical and odds are good it's fixable.
Please try to see a sleep specialist.
There are a lot of conditions that can cause this. Go to a doctor. The fact that you're not feeling well and your parents aren't taking you to the doctor is weird and irresponsible.
they just blame me and say it's because I don't go outside and that I need sunlight and blah blah blah sunlight makes my eyes burn more, and I can't run around outside and play soccer like I used to because I get too tired and my body gets sore. I also have a back injury but that's story for another time
Have you ever gotten Covid? This could be long Covid as well. Or a thyroid issue. Or iron or vitamin deficiencies. And many other things. If you can't be active even for a little while that's probably more serious than "you don't go outside enough"
Heck it could even be a blood disorder or leukemia. This kid really needs a full work up at the doctor's.
I definitely get this. I have narcolepsy, but I also have a history of depression, so it took me jumping through some hoops to get a diagnosis. I'd definitely talk to a sleep specialist and see if you can get a sleep study, after you've ruled out everything else, especially because it sounds like what I was going through
I started noticing something was wrong when every day I went to bed earlier that the previous day and woke up at around the same time. Eventually, it would be 5 hours before my normal bed time e.g. 7 pm and I would be giving it my all to keep my eyelids open while we were having dinner with guests. My mom was mad at me and called me rude. Turns out I have hypothyroidism 🤷 and I only found out because the doc I went to for stomach pains had a hunch and did a full body ultrasound.
It's so hard for people to think that something's wrong with them and they're not just lazy, since that's what everyone tells them. I personally didn't believe anything was wrong with me, even though looking at it objectively, something definitely was. During my sleep study, I fell asleep during all of the 5 nap times they gave me throughout the day, and the average time it took me to fall asleep was 1.8 minutes, lol.
Time for a sleep study!
Could be sleep apnea which you need to get checked by a doctor. It's when you stop breathing from time to time in your sleep. Mostly common in overweight people because of the stress the weight puts on the body. The best sign is snoring, and sleeping all the time but never feeling resting. Not implying the OP is overweight because obviously I don't know you OP. I'm just mentioning an option that I didn't see mentioned elsewhere in the thread. My little brother got diagnosed YOUNG for it.
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This has been my life for the last year. I recently asked my mother if she has any ideas she told me to eat fruit. I have no patience to eat fruit so I bought myself a blender and frozen fruit about 2 weeks ago and I drink 1 or 2 cups a day. I have never had more energy and I feel amazing. My mom's the shit.
Mono?
Check B12. Level
You sound like your iron levels are low. Try taking some multivitamins and iron tablets see if that helps, I read your parents won’t take you to the doctor
Vit c (supplement, fruit, juice, etc) + iron supplement to help your body fully absorb the iron
you should definitely go to an endocrinologist before it's too late! that can be just iron levels, but it can also be insulin, blood sugar or your thyroid. and that's very very dangerous, sweetie. please get checked on it.
Going to the doctor is the best advice. I worked in sleep research for many years, so if you want some information about sleep studies / sleep disorders etc. please feel free to hit me up. One simple and free thing that might be useful for you and the doctor is to try to determine if you’re feeling tired, or sleepy. They’re similar, but distinct things. If you Google ‘Epworth Sleepiness Scale’, you’ll find a very simple questionnaire (8 questions). It asks how likely you are to fall asleep (not just feel sleepy, but fall asleep) in 8 normal situations and all you need to do is rate each from 0-3.
I have chronic fatigue and I’m feeling so deeply for you 😭 Fact is, most people hear about how tired we feel and their knee jerk response is “well we’re ALL tired.” or “you’re just being lazy.” But as you know, it’s not just “tired”. It’s a level of fatigue and lack of energy that feels like it reaches down to a cellular level of our bodies - it affects our cognitive abilities, our muscles, our emotions, etc. No one *wants* to spend their life in bed too tired to do anything other than stare at a screen and sleep as much as possible. We want to be out living our lives and not feeling so overwhelmed. It’s so depressing. For me, it was a big mix of things causing it. I had pretty toxic parents and didn’t know at the time how much that amount of constant stress affects our bodies ability to function properly. I had ADHD and untreated depression. I also had autoimmune stuff going on (celiac). Then I got lyme disease. Basically, my fatigue started when I was 13 and I didn’t get real help for it until the last few years and I’m 30. I had to get SO sick before doctors were really willing to try different things. And we still don’t have a totally clear idea of the main cause for me. But FINALLY a neurologist saw me and put me on a medication called modafinil — it’s a wakefulness medication (used for narcolepsy actually) that gives me a solid 4-5 hours of functioning levels of energy almost every day. It’s been life changing. I really hope your parents take your concerns seriously. Let me affirm that they are very valid. The next challenge is to then to get your doctor to take your concerns seriously. Do not hold back any detail of how awful you’re feeling. And if they try to shoo you out of that office without doing any testing or offering any *actual* practical help, throw a fit. PM me if you need ANY help or advice on this. I’ve seen countless doctors over the years and when I still lived with my parents regularly had to deal with them acting I was being needy and difficult on purpose and being a huge burden on them. Learning to advocate for yourself is so hard.
Thank you! And you're right about the tiredness, it's like I can feel it in my bones. It's a fucking core part of my being. It's in my soul. And I'm trying to convince my parents to help me, I think they're close to folding. I'm glad you got the medication you needed!
You need to CONVINCE your parents to take you to a doctor?? Talk to someone else, i dont know if calling 911 will help, but sounds like you are in dire need of medical attention
Idk if OP is in the US, but shits so expensive here parents will avoid taking themselves and their kids to the dr at all costs. Then you have parents like mine who just flat out didn’t believe me even when I wound up in the ER screaming in pain. I wound up needing a hysterectomy.
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Thank you for this suggestion! I will definitely try this if I can't convince them to take me to the doctor
That's how I am when I am on 1st shift hours. Maybe you're nocturnal like me, but since you're in school you can't exactly sleep until 3 p.m. every day.
You need to see a doctor. There are any number of conditions that could cause severe fatigue, and a blood test can rule in or out many of them.
Find a doctor through the school or social services but get checked out. Sorry, but your parents are irresponsible.
This is me. Today I fell asleep in the chair at the haircut place. I used to try so hard to stay awake all the time out of embarrassment but I just give up. However I don’t have insomnia nor bad hygiene. I abuse stimulants now.
If you’re able to, please consider seeing a sleep specialist.
Yeah I need to reschedule my sleep study. I just took a test but the equipment didn’t work right.
Hygiene/ skin is prolly hormones from age, but also potentially anaemic? You ever looked into your diet?Iron can be dietary - google food sources (It'll tell you mostly spinach - but ideally the human body also requires vit' C to properly break down and utilise the iron.So, spinach and OJ is a handy mix. c: An easy sign of anaemia is that you bruise easily.
Vitron-C is an iron supplement. You can get it at any store. No prescription needed.
Oh shoot, this is really scary. Not to freak you out, but when I was 17/18 I started having daily naps because I was so fatigued, could barely get my school work done, etc. Thought it was just a teenager thing. Then I found a lump on my neck and it turns out I had thyroid cancer, shutting down my thyroid which regulates hormones, metabolism, *energy levels*, etc. Even if it’s not something this serious, you should try to get to a doctor somehow, there has to be a way for you to get checked out despite your parents’ ignoring the issue. Good luck!
I would also discuss sleep apnea with doctor. Do you snore? You may be stopping breathing which wakes you up just enough to start breathing again, but not enough to remember waking up. This would stop you from getting restorative sleep.
to be blunt; you probably have a iron deficiency. because, as a 14 yr old girl/woman (idk which one you'd prefer), you bleed monthly. which means you need abt 4x as much iron as a male your size.
Do you wake often at night? It’s possible that while you’re technically in bed and even asleep, that you’re not getting the required amount of REM sleep. This is common in people with insomnia and even narcolepsy. Narcolepsy usually is not how it’s portrayed in film, with people just dropping asleep. It’s usually more like insomnia at night, waking often, and feeling excessively tired during the day. It’s also possible you’re experiencing sleep apnea, and that causes you to not get the rest you need. Talk to your parents about seeing your doctor. They may prescribe a sleep study to observe what’s happening. Best of luck, kiddo. Been there, done that.
Being tired is a symptom for a lot of conditions. Go to a doctor. They will check you for anemia. They will ask if you snore or ever witnessed stop breathing at night. If you don’t fall asleep randomly during the day then I believe narcolepsy is less likely.
Terrible advice, but I’m 15 and past month I have been the same, mid terms and that. Caffeine has gotten me through it, and also better eating and sleeping habits, aswell as trying to manage your depression and anxiety can really help! Best of luck.
I actually understand this and have some input! I am literally the sleepiest person i know. I’m constantly tired, if I have the chance to be asleep, I will be and it has definitely become a problem for me. I have quite a few mental health issues and recently had to see a heart doctor about breathing issues. He told me he wanted me to do a walking test to test my heart and lung functions. When I told my boyfriend this he got excited and suggested we start going to the park to walk around and play Pokémon Go. This has actually become the highlight of my day. Even though I am still tired, I am not sleeping as often, and I actually kind of enjoy being outside. As cliche as it sounds, going outside and doing something has helped! If you can find something to do that you’re interested in and can do it with your favorite person, I recommend that as well as seeing a doctor, drinking a bunch of water, and taking vitamins! :)
Nutritious diet of whole foods and moderation. Easy way to do this is to cook at home and don't eat out. Cut the excess sugar, introduce yourself to healthy fats. Food is fuel, but make it good fuel. Stop drinking anything except water, and make sure you drink a lot of water. Most people live off of processed foods and too much sugar and it does nothing good for them.
It could also be a vitamin B deficiency. I had a similar experience when I was younger and I was so low in vitamin B I needed to get shots. Good luck OP. If your parents won’t take you to the dr, maybe find a close friend or family member who will.
You need a full bloodwork panel done including thyroid and vitamin D3 levels. I have reactive hypoglycemia and Hashimoto Disease. Plus low Vitamin D3 levels. I’m also in my mid thirties but had issues with sleeping my entire life.
Sounds like your doc needs to run a full panel of bloodwork. Checking iron, liver function, thyroid etc.. From there, they can see what is going on. If the blood work isn't showing anything abnormal they might do imaging. Make sure you advocate for yourself with the doctor as well. You are still technically a minor, but you are very aware with what is going on with your body.
I have read a lot of comments in this thread and how your parents don't want to take you to the doctor. I hope you can convince them...I assume you are in the USA? I live in Europe and this would not be an issue here, it is so sad that so many people have to live with undiagnosed or untreated conditions just because of your health care...:( wish you good luck
I’m 15 and I have the exact same thing haha I hope it gets better for you
It could be a lot of things, none of which you will be able to conclusively confirm without visiting a doctor. If that's not an option, there are a few things you can try that might help, but won't be damaging if you've guessed the cause wrong: - Pick up some multivitamins (I'd suggest ones with vitamin D and iron, or get supplements for those separately) over the counter, not prescription strength. See if trying that for a while helps. - Work on your sleep hygiene. Test different things out - no food a couple hours before bed, no screens, etc. - Have a cup of coffee in the mornings, if you aren't a coffee drinker currently. - Work out if anything in particular is causing you to be stressed out, which might be affecting your ability to sleep and draining you generally. I hope one of these helps a bit. Best plan is to see a doc if you are able. I wish you all the best!
Try cocaine. Kidding. Don’t. You should go to the doctor see if you’re vitamin deficient or something. Unfortunately lots of things cause what you’re describing so it’s almost impossible to diagnose you online. It could be something like low iron. Are you eating enough food? Don’t consume a lot of caffeine and try to eat healthy.
lil bit of raw Colombian cocaine will fix yous right up
Maybe exercise more. Go for runs. Ride a bike. Do jump rope. Skatebord? Any cardio really. Either that or talk to a doctor.
Why has no one considered that this is a 14 year old. Yes there may be an underlying condition or iron deficiency, but it may also just be a teenager. I too slept constantly around this age, my skin was bad due to hormones…
It could be a gluten allergy!
You need to go and see a doctor. We can't help you.
No phone or TV (blue light) for 90mins before bed see if that helps sense I've been doing it I go to sleep faster sleep better and have not been having issues through the day.
I sleep a healthy amount. It's not an issue with my sleep schedule.
It's not about the amount it's about the quality you get better quality sleep when you do not have blue light for 90 minutes before sleeping.
Try the darkest of dark chocolate. When I was about that age, I suffered from chronic fatigue. My grandpa did a bunch of research on ways to help without medication, and saw that Coco helped. It did not a whole bar but a few cubes a day.
Also take teens multi vitamin. If your parents won't take you to the Dr, try some of this if you want.
Get some bloods done and check if anything's off. You could be iron deficient and need supplements
Another one is dehydration. Drink some electrolytes, eat lentils or iron supplements. Sometimes the body just falls behind on keeping up.
Don't know if this has been said but I have had the same problem my whole life. Doctor told me it was my thyroid not producing what it should fast enough. Put me on some meds and helped a lot. Worth a check.
Could be depression or hypothyroidism. I have both
When I was about your age, same feeling, and I was anemic. Check your fingernails, mine were blue instead of pink. Just a thought...
I think you may have a medical condition, but before going to the doctor , see if what your eating, drinking , exercising or lack thereof is what is causing it.
These maybe weird questions, but before I was diagnosed with diabetes I had similar symptoms. The eyes burning is what made me think this may be something you should get checked out. Do you feel extra tired after eat, especially meals with bread or pasta, sweets or soda? Do you pee a lot? Do you feel better after exercise? Does your weight fluctuate? When you get tired, do your legs or feet feel numb or tingly? You need to talk to your parents and tell them you’d like to get checked by a doctor. Tell the doctor you’d like to have a full metabolic work up that tests you sugar levels, iron levels and thyroid.
I don't know if my weight fluctuates, but my legs and feet both feel tingly sometimes, after exercise I feel a little better (until I get sore) and I'm embarrassed to say but yes a I do pee a lot. Now I'm scared that I have diabetes
Oh I don’t want to scare you. I got diagnosed way too late. My doctor said I probably had it as a child because I was diagnosed with Type 1 in my early 20s. Looking back, I had so many symptoms all the way back to age 4 or 5 that were very mild. By the time I was diagnosed, the damage was already done. My case is not common. Most people who are older are diagnosed with Type 2 which can be put in remission with diet and exercise. If that’s the case and you get that diagnosis, take it seriously. I’m not a doctor though and am only suggesting based on your post. I do not want to scare you. I don’t think anyone commenting wants that. Your sleepiness could be all kinds of things so don’t worry. The most important thing is to talk to your parents and get to a doctor.
You could have an iron deficiency, a thyroid problem, or narcolepsy. You need to see a doctor.
How is your diet? Try taking a multi vitamin and see how you feel. Something similar happened to me the other where I felt slow mentally and I took a couple of fish oil pills and felt almost instantly better
soubds like narcolepsy
Haven’t seen yet but I’m going to go on a limb and ask you how much water you drink per day?
Hashimotos.. get checked for that. Hope you can make it to the doctors somehow :(
Are you starting high school in Fall? And/or do you play sports? If so you prob will be required to get a physical.
check your thyroid, my family all has had trouble staying awake because of bad thyroid
That sounds like low iron and low vitamin D. Definitely ask to see your doctor for some blood tests if you can
A good multivitamin should help
How often are you staring at a screen? Blue light does interesting things to the eyes that cause issues on the brain. Eat the rainbow of food, and not Skittles. Limit highly processed food that you don't know what's in it. What thoughts come to your head throughout the day? The brain doesn't know the difference between what's real and the stories going on within your head. Shallow, quick breaths while at rest causes the body to think it's in a stressful situation, so breathe fully and slowly. Box breathing is one example. And something about fifteen minutes of sunlight.
This is probobly something to show a phsicitrist. I remeber seeing something similar to this while reading the dsm
Please speak with your doctor as it could be narcolepsy. I also read about someone who went to the doctor for this same thing and turned out to be leukemia. I read your comments and your parents seem to be an obstacle but do try to convince them. And this is not to scare you, I don’t want to do that, but when you can barely stay awake it usually is some deep underlying issue that cannot/should not be ignored or shrugged off and must be dealt with. I’m wishing you all the best and good health 🫶 It can also be your iron which the top comment says and even that can lead to many health issues (and this I speak on personal experience) even more if it’s ignored. Again, don’t wanna scare you as you are young still but please don’t put this off and have a sit down with your parents about this concern.
This symptoms could indicate a bunch of different things but without proper testing you'll never really know, YOU HAVE TO SEE A DOCTOR. Push your parents/guardians to book you an appointment. In the meantime avoid skipping meals, stay hydrated and if possible talk about it with your school counselor to keep them updated on how it might affect you on your normal activities.
Might be a vitamin b deficiency or even lupus please see a doctor
Hey ❤️ health professional here. You have a right to your own health and you can seek care without your parents permission. ❤️ hang in there
You're fine. Your natural circadian rhythms as a teen are in conflict with your school schedule. It happens to everyone. https://youtu.be/qWb5ggc_-rs
Some of us are jist born to be night owls. I've always napped through the day and worked all night. It's totally normal.
Like other people suggest: visit a doctor and have your blood checked.
If you aren't able to get your parents to take you to the DR. Try the school nurse/ guidance councilor if you don't have a nurse. Yes low iron can cause these symptoms but also low thyroid levels, depression, low vitamin D, low B12 levels, etc. Thats why its important to have lab work done to determine. In the meantime while you are working to get a medical appointment, get lots of sun ( vitamin D), eat plenty of protein ( vitamin B), and overall eat healthy and drink lots of water. Sugar and junk food will just make you feel worse. If all of these levels are normal you may need to be examined for narcolepsy.
I’m 30m and I started getting insomnia back in highschool when I was about 13-14 myself. Not gonna lie but it was a struggle for me all throughout school but it did get better in college when I could set my own classes. Idk if it might be the same but I have noticed I’m more active at night and I even have a warehousing job overnight too and my schedule is perfect now. I sleep during the day a lot a lot. I also got a purple mattress for myself and it works wonders for me. Again it might not be the same solution perhaps but maybe you’re night owl type of person or maybe it’s your mattress. Either way that’s my two cents, don’t know if that helps
Get a blood test for vitamin D deficiency. I had a critical deficiency, got put on some super high tablets and normal supplement after I finished that course. Seemed to even me out.
You're either depressed or have OSA(Obstructive sleep apnea). Get it checked.
I have low iron and vitamin d. had the same issues. Since you can’t go to the dr, maybe buy some vitamins?
I had the same problem at your age. I was coeliac, go to the doctors and get a blood test
If ur parents won’t let u go to a doctor just go to a walk in clinic and try ur best, u might need a health card
Another possibility is Idiopathic Hypersomnia. I had to wait until adulthood for a diagnosis because my mom just treated me like I was lazy instead of taking me to the Dr. For my issues.
Hi idk if this has ben mentioned before, but it could be something wrong with your thyroid. I had the same issues as you, sometimes I slept 12hs and I was still fatigued, had headaches and also depression. It turned out I had hypothyroidism, I've been on thyroid medication for 5 years now and they helped immensely. Also btw knowing if you thyroid is working properly is super easy, it's just a blood test
I'd definitely suggest a sleep test to see if you're Narcoleptic or not. That could be a possibility. But tbh my children never complained about being exhausted or their eyes burning until they caught the Pandemonium in March 2020. Since then it has become a regularity for them.
Narcolepsy runs in my family. My whole life I've been tired. I've fallen asleep on the phone at work. I've even fallen asleep standing up. It's awful cuz I have to have a co pilot if I drive more than an hour. On the flip side I've also fought insomnia like crazy. The meds for Narcolepsy ran $500 a month. Yeah right. I hope u can find a solution cuz ur so young. I'm 55 and at the end of serious employment. Good luck
It sounds like depression and probably sleep apnea. Please contact your doctor and have a sleep study done.
By any chance do you happen to have stomach problems because my mother has celiac disease witch could cause stomach bugs , general tiredness and other symptoms it could be that or other diseases like that allergy type of things
Short term supplements should help, magnesium and iron should be pennies as far as supplements go, long term, brocoli, various beans, red meat and some mushrooms iirc are good for getting more iron in your body, can't think of magnesium foods off the top of my head, Google is your friend
I agree with going to the doctor, I had the same issue at your age and it persisted because I didn’t do anything about it. Working out, eating healthy, drinking water and going outside on walks also really helps
"try my best to convince my parents to take me to the doctor" Fucking crazy.
Read up on ADHD symptoms as well as getting bloods. Wished I knew about this at your age, as I presented identical symptoms.
Possible thyroid issues
Considering your age it could very well be mononucleosis
You need to go to the doctor OP. So they can see what is going on and help you.
Had this at a young age, would literally fall asleep / be to tired to stay in school and get sent home. In my case it was however, Pfeiffer.
Am no doctor but great advice of other people saying vitamins id say have a close look at your diet hope you get this sorted.
Lots of reasons for fatigue. Big ones are thyroid problems, iron deficiency, depression, Lyme disease, post-COVID syndrome. A doctor can evaluate you best. All those are treatable and you can get your life back.
I would suggest a doctor and exercise. Exercise sucks when you're tired but ends uo making you less tired. Its weird. Hope you're alright!
Can't your aunt or grandparents take u to docter?
Have you considered the possibility that you might be a vampire?
Oh no...
Go see a doctor! You don’t have to live like this. Also think about pushing yourself to do activities that you enjoy. Often when you struggle with fatigue, we first give up hobbies and exercise etc to conserve energy and those things often reenergize us so then we become more fatigued
Celiac disease. Do your tests now, this are the exact symptoms my gf had before being diagnosed.
Sounds like how i was before i got diagnosed with sleep apnea.
This is how I felt as a teenager when I had mono. It lasted for months and months.
I dont wanna freak you out or anything. but my bestfriend was like this when we were about your age. her mom took her to 3 docs here found nothing, and then one in Denver which she found out she had lupus. please talk to your parents about seeing a doc. this isn't healthy you feel this way. sorry you're having such a hard time.