We all feel tired from time to time.

Overworked, overbooked and overextended we constantly push ourselves to do more and more.

How many days this week have you slept less than 6 hours a night?  I’ve been running on 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night for the past four nights.  How about you?

Most of the time we take our tiredness as a rite of passage…as a necessary evil so that we can accomplish everything on our To-Do lists.  But sometimes, when you’re feeling excessively tired, that’s a sign that something more serious is going on with your body.

So how do you know if your tiredness is due to something more than just lack of sleep?

Ask yourself these series of questions to see if your excessive tiredness is associated with these common medical problems:

1.  Are you overweight?  Do you snore loudly?  Has anyone said you stop breathing for long periods of time when you’re sleeping?  Do you fall asleep while in conversation or many times throughout the day?

• If you answer yes to any of these questions, you could have OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA—a condition caused by excessive tissue around the neck which causes your windpipe to collapse when you sleep so you can’t breathe in enough oxygen.  If you suspect you have this condition, see your doctor about scheduling a sleep study to confirm the diagnosis.

2.  Are you taking prescription medications like pain medications, anti-anxiety pills or blood pressure medications?

• If your answer is yes, then ask your doctor if your excessive tiredness could be a side effect of your medications.

3.  Have you gained an excessive amount of weight?  If you’re a woman, do you have irregular menstrual cycles?  Do you feel cold all the time?  Are you troubled by chronic constipation? 

• If your answer is yes to any or all of these questions, you could have HYPOTHYROIDISM—a condition caused by an inactive thyroid gland.  Your doctor can order a simple blood test to check your thyroid function.

4.  Have you lost weight recently without even trying?  Are you hungry all the time?  Thirsty all the time?  Or urinating all the time?  Do you have frequently infections?

• If you answer yes, then you could have DIABETES—a simple blood test by your doctor can confirm this.

5.  Do you bleed easily?  Do you have excessive bleeding during your menstrual cycle?  Do you crave or eat ice all the time?

• If you answer yes to these questions, you could have ANEMIA—a blood count can confirm this diagnosis.

So you see feeling tired all the time can signal something more ominous.  If you answered YES to any of these questions, make an appointment to see your doctor and discuss your symptoms.  The more you know, the better you’ll be and feel.

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.