Tired of Being Tired? 7 Reasons Why You Are Always Exhausted

Tired of being tired? Here are 7 things you need to stop doing!

Do you find your boss snapping at you a little more often of late and you do the same, in turn, to your spouse, children or subordinates? You are very irritable and so is your boss? Look deeper into it. You will find that the actual cause is exhaustion.

Before going to the doctor, who is likely to do a thorough work up to exclude any underlying disease, just check out the more common but often overlooked causes of fatigue.

Over-AC-tivity

You’ve got it right. The ubiquitous AC. Have you ever wondered how many hours in a day you spend in an AC environment?

Don't be surprised if I tell you it is upwards of 18 to 20 hours in a day. No wonder when you leave your AC office, you are already feeling a general sense of malaise and at times mild headache. You might even have noticed that the symptoms abate or resolve once you leave the building and that is why it is sometimes termed “sick building syndrome”.

In a study published in the August 2004 issue of International Journal of Epidemiology, it was found that people working in office buildings with central air conditioning had more symptoms of illness than those who did not work in buildings with central air conditioning.

One reason for this is a cold shiver because of the usually low set temperature in these buildings. When you are shivering, your body works to produce heat and that consumes energy, says Marc Riedel, an assistant professor of Medicine at UCLA. The discomfort so caused also takes a toll on your concentration which saps the energy further and causes tiredness.

However, the usually low set temperature is not the only cause of tiredness.

It is also the stale air in several of these buildings which you are forced to breathe in day after day as there are no standards followed for air exchanges.

In most residential buildings and standalone shops and showrooms and even in several offices, the air conditioning is provided by the window ACs or split air conditioners where there is no provision of air exchange. This stale air is not only low in oxygen but also harbours a lot of disease causing organisms.

You will be astonished to see the difference it makes if you regularly take breaks and leave your office to an open space just outside, for only a few minutes.

To beat the dry heat of North India, it is best to have air cooler which is also environment-friendly in more ways than one. Reserve the air conditioning for the muggy weather of Indian monsoon.

Cold drinks to quench the thirst

It may sound counter intuitive, but reaching for a cold syrupy drink far too often may also give rise to tiredness. Drinks with high sugar content are likely to cause what is known as ‘dumping syndrome’ wherein the sugar in the drink draws out a lot of water from the body tissues to attain osmotic equilibrium, which in turn decreases the blood flow to the rest of the body causing dizziness and exertion.

The remedy is to dilute the very concentrated syrups and take some time to finish the drink rather than gulping in one go.

Another great idea to fight this kind of tiredness is to rehydrate yourself with fluids like nimbu pani and fresh nariyal pani. Tomatoes, blueberries and walnuts etc. may be good ingredients of a salad before lunch and give you much needed boost.

“Saare jahan ka dard hamare jigar mein hai”

Any kind of emotional upsurge or burden can sap you of energy. So, whether it is keeping someone’s secret or a breakup of someone close or, for that matter, an income tax notice that you are facing can all cause fatigue because of no apparent reasons. You are seething or even if there is an undercurrent of anger against someone, you are bound to feel tired. The reason is not hard to find.

Every thought is a result of a complex chemical reaction in the brain which requires energy. Such complex, recurring negative thoughts place a high demand on the energy stores.

So what do you do. Best way to get rid of tiredness caused by these useless thoughts, is to do physical exercise, yoga, pranayama and meditation.

Oh! These blaring horns

Another silent killer which itself is not very silent is the noise; be it the office chatter, traffic noise or listening to the music on earphones or headphones at high volumes in excess of 100 decibels. The remedy is too obvious to be stated.

I have had juice and tea. Do I still need to drink water?

You don't drink enough water. In a country whose summer is famous, even a slight dehydration can cause fatigue because the blood viscosity increases and the heart has to work much harder to push the nutrients to the tissues.

Thank God it’s Friday

You have had a drink too many and there you go. Alcohol in any concentration depresses the brain. While it helps you fall asleep, when it starts getting metabolised, a surge of energy is released which is likely to disturb your sleep and you get up feeling tired, commonly known as the hangover. Staying up late on weekends can cause you feeling lousy on Monday which may well extend to Tuesday.

Mobilephonitis

For heaven's sake don't check your phone at night. Just spending one minute extra on your phone may rob you of an hour of good sleep. As far as possible, keep it on a switched off mode. The glow of these electronic screens, be it phones, tablets or TV’s contribute in no small measure to the ambient light that percolates into your room from outside. The body typically follows rhythm based on the daylight. So when it perceives darkness to be less intense, it tends to wake up.

If you have actually ruled out this possible causes of your tiredness then it is high time you visit your doctor to exclude anemia, thyroid disorder, diabetes and Fibromyalgia to name a few.

(Dr Ashwini Setya is a Gastroenterologist and Programme Director in Delhi’s Max Super Speciality Hospital. His endeavor is to help people lead a healthy life without medication. He can be reached at [e-mail])

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