Strange tiredness: Help please!

[Butterbean]

Ok so I need to know if this is completely normal, or if I'm doing somethings wrong in terms of diet, etc.

 

I have a hectic job, lots of driving thinking, stress. I'll wake up from (normally 7-8 hours of) sleep, and go to work about an hour later.

 

Work from 8/8:30am to 3:30/4pm.

 

Don't usually have breakfast, as eating so early makes me feel slightly sick. Lunch is anything I find as I'm on the road all day.

 

Now here's the problem. As soon as I get home and relax, I'm hit with a horrible wave of sleep... Like, impossible to ignore unless I really do something very active. I can nap, and wake up completely energised.

 

Dinner usually follows. I don't have a huge amount of carbs, and do drink as much water as possible during the day.

 

Is this normal? Or should I get it checked out by a doc?

[Ham]

I had the same and found changing to 5 meals a day helped. Specially breakfast. Also helped the shed a few kgs.

[Guest DieBees]

First of all I think you need breakfast!! It will give you a nice kickstart. Then eat small regular low gi food portions. It will keep your energy levels stable.

 

Do not eat a big meal as in my case makes me lazy.

 

What I find is that I sit still for 10 mins, become extremely lazy, but just get up and continue. The tiredness soon dissapears.

 

 

[Helpmytrap]

Late afternoon energy slumps can be early signs of type 2 diabetes. But real emphasis on the early...

 

In your case it is most likely a case of not consuming enough calories throughout the day, if you had to count you'd probably find that you will have a huge shortfall especially if you are skipping breakfast. So in a nut shell it is your diet at fault.

[madmarc]

Also have your iron levels checked. People doing endurance sports need higher iron levels that what doctors consider normal in inactive people.

[Joe Low]

Sounds familiar and could just be a case of modern living. If its inconvenient to you, you will have to play around with diet, rest and stress management to get a better balance.

 

Talk to someone who knows - i'm just filling in time watching a dull football match.

 

 

 

[Maximis]

Breakfast is key. Exercising 45 mins before can also lift your resting metabolic rate, which if sustained with 4 other meals throughout the day, should get rid of that afternoon slump. Good luck

[Vetseun]

When in doubt, check it out.A checkup at the Doc is worth your while.

[shaper]

Breakfast say no more, you are running on empty for the whole morning. As others say, eat through the day too, fruit, nuts small meals. Speak to someone about an eating and diet plan

[HowellingWulf]

Same thing used to happen to me. What worked for me is to fight the urge to go lie down. Like you said - if you do something active you don't feel the need to have some shut eye. So, in stead of going home to relax - go the gym to unwind and work off some of the stress. Else take the dogs for a walk/mow the lawn/whatever - but don't go lie on the couch!

[Mr Winter]

How much water do you drink during the day? The afternoon exhaustion may be a sign of dehydration

[dre]

Bulletproof coffee. Thats all

 

www.bulletproofexec.com

 

Check out the coffee. It really works, out of personal experience

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Ok so I need to know if this is completely normal, or if I'm doing somethings wrong in terms of diet, etc.

 

I have a hectic job, lots of driving thinking, stress. I'll wake up from (normally 7-8 hours of) sleep, and go to work about an hour later.

 

Work from 8/8:30am to 3:30/4pm.

 

Don't usually have breakfast, as eating so early makes me feel slightly sick. Lunch is anything I find as I'm on the road all day.

 

Now here's the problem. As soon as I get home and relax, I'm hit with a horrible wave of sleep... Like, impossible to ignore unless I really do something very active. I can nap, and wake up completely energised.

 

Dinner usually follows. I don't have a huge amount of carbs, and do drink as much water as possible during the day.

 

Is this normal? Or should I get it checked out by a doc?

 

I am in the same boat as you, working on different sites all the timeand some days driving all day, etc. This doesn't need to be an excuse to not eat or eat unhealthily.

I pack lunch, fruit, nuts, water etc. I don't eat bread/grains due to my IBS problem but there are many alternatives for busy people. Cold chicken, avo, boiled sweet potatoe, these are all things you can eat cold and there are many more.

 

I agree with the other guys above, breakfast is vital.Even if its 3 or 4 tablespoons of oats, it's what kick starts everythiing after the 8 hours of dormancy. You have just gone 7-8hrs, if not more, with no fuel and now you're just making it worse by not eating. Read this out of interest: http://voices.yahoo.com/five-reasons-why-its-important-eat-breakfast-each-37308.html

Hope this helps buddy, my wife had similar issues but was diagmosed with a recurring glandular fever which really took ages to get over. If it persists go to a doctor!!

[Helpmytrap]

Breakfast say no more, you are running on empty for the whole morning. As others say, eat through the day too, fruit, nuts small meals. Speak to someone about an eating and diet plan

Studies have shown that there is no difference between eating 5 small meals vs 3 big ones. 3 meals a day makes sense and it is easier to do and maintain. Plus plus with some of those that ate 3 meals a day consumed less because the actually reached satiety where the 5 meal a day eaters didn't.

[mikethebike234]

Sounds like the OP needs to tune his diet. Late afternoon slump is usually something to do with your blood sugar. My advice would be to see a dietician or you can just start eating more carefully start eating eating breakfast again, just start eating something small when you get up even if its just a couple of spoons of something. maybe a smoothie will go down easier than food. Quite a few years ago my breakfast was coffee and a cigarette when I started eating breakfast again I had to start with really small serving cos it would make me feel ill otherwise. Now I love my breakfast and can't go without it. I like to have 3 good meals a day with some fruit in between. Typically I have oats in the morning an apple at around 10h30 or 11 then lunch at around 1ish. afternoon a naartjie or orange and then supper in the evening...

[SwissVan]

Ok so I need to know if this is completely normal, or if I'm doing somethings wrong in terms of diet, etc.

 

I have a hectic job, lots of driving thinking, stress. I'll wake up from (normally 7-8 hours of) sleep, and go to work about an hour later.

 

Work from 8/8:30am to 3:30/4pm.

 

Don't usually have breakfast, as eating so early makes me feel slightly sick. Lunch is anything I find as I'm on the road all day.

 

Now here's the problem. As soon as I get home and relax, I'm hit with a horrible wave of sleep... Like, impossible to ignore unless I really do something very active. I can nap, and wake up completely energized.

 

Dinner usually follows. I don't have a huge amount of carbs, and do drink as much water as possible during the day.

 

Is this normal? Or should I get it checked out by a doc?

 

IMHO your problem sounds pretty normal, if relaxing after work means doing nothing (watching TV, reading etc) then I would suggest as some others have already to avoid sitting / lying down when you get home, rather keep busy and stay on your feet.

 

How old are you, the "problem" apparently tends to increase as you age?