Are you exhausted? Top tips on reviving your va-va-voom 
 

Do you wake up groggy, rely on caffeine and sugar to get you through the day and feel like you’re running on empty? then help is at hand..

Are you repeatedly hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock, drinking coffee all morning, craving sugary treats all afternoon and feeling bloated and constantly shattered? If so, you’re not alone.
Dr Frank Lipman, autor of Revive: End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again, claims a whole generation of overworked women are suffering from ‘exhaustion epidemic’.
“Modern life is burning them out,” says Dr Lipman, who counts Gwyneth Paltrow amongst his clients.
As well as Hollywood stars, Dr Lipman sees many regular women in his New York clinic who are simply worn out by the demands of raising a family, holding down a job and running a home.
“They put everybody else first and their energy levels are paying the price,” he says.
“They grab processed food on the go, they don’t sleep properly, they rarely find time to relax, they have long to-do lists and they’re glued to their mobile phones or laptops.
"All of these things are draining them of energy.”
Here, he reveals why we’re so tired all the time and offers easy advice on becoming slimmer, happier and brimming with energy.

Are you exhausted?

● Do you wake up tired most days, regardless of how much sleep you’ve had?
● Do you need caffeine (i.e. tea or coffee) to get you going in the morning?
● Do you have trouble concentrating and often get distracted during tasks?
● Do you regularly crave something sweet after your meals and in the evening?
● Do you find it hard to unwind at the end of the day?
● Do you tend to suffer from bloating or constipation?
● Do you have trouble falling asleep at night, even though you’ve felt tired all day?
Under his definition, Dr Lipman says that you are exhausted if you answered ‘Yes’ to three or more of these questions.

Do you wake up tired most days?

Sort out your digestion

Before he gets started with new clients, Dr Lipman asks them about their digestion.
“Most of us don’t realise our digestive systems aren’t working properly,” he explains.
“We’ve become so used to mild indigestion, constipation, irritable bowels and bloating that we think it’s normal.
“But it really isn’t normal and if you sort out your digestion, other problems, such as tiredness and sluggishness, will sort themselves out.
“No matter how healthy your food is, if your digestive system isn’t working properly you won’t reap the rewards of all that healthy food, which can lead to a weakened immune system and more tiredness.”
Dr Lipman advises avoiding sugar and alcohol, as both can affect your digestion.
“Most of us eat too quickly and don’t take the time to properly chew our food, which leads to bad digestion and poorly digested food sitting in the gut, which causes bloating,” he says.
He also suggests clients take probiotic and ginseng supplements because both can help improve your digestion.
“You’ll be amazed at the improvement you’ll see in your energy levels when you improve your digestion,” he says.
Try Vitabiotics Ultra Ginkgo & Ginseng (available nationwide, £9.95 for 60 capsules) and Boots Pharmaceuticals Probiotic Multivitamin (£3.49 for 30 capsules).
And the most simple tip of all? “Sit up straight — it really helps your digestion,” he says.

Log off

Switch off your laptop well before bedtime

Dr Lipman believes people who over-use technology risk running out of steam. “In today’s world, many of us literally can’t switch off,” he says.
“We’re glued to our computers during the day, our phones on the way to and from work, and our laptops in the evening.
"Then there’s TV. All of these are stimulants and they can disturb your quality of sleep.”
Dr Lipman advises all his clients to switch off their laptops, TVs and mobile phones an hour — preferably two — before bed.
“Exposure to electromagnetic fields too close to bedtime stops the sleep hormone melatonin from being secreted as you fall asleep, which means you never reach the deep, restorative type of sleep we all need,” he says.
“This type of sleep leaves you feeling fully refreshed after seven or eight hours, plus it keeps your immune system strong.”
Dr Lipman suggests his patients wear an eye mask in bed: “Total darkness helps you fall into a deep restorative sleep.”
"Or invest in blackout blinds for their bedroom. Try a Moulded Blackout Eye Mask from M&S (£5).

Clean out your diet

Dr Lipman believes an overly-processed diet and too much sugar are two of the main culprits of exhaustion.
“You should get back to the most natural and pure foods,” he says.
“As well as avoiding processed foods such as junk food, tinned food and ready meals, don’t buy foods that contain trans fats — they can increase your risk of heart disease and they’re found in some margarines and baked goods like biscuits.”
Refined sugar is a no-no, so avoid cakes, sweets, fizzy drinks and seemingly healthy products like cereal bars, low-fat yoghurts and some sauces (check the label for the sugar content).
“Your body processes sugar rapidly, which is why it gives you an instant burst of energy,” says Dr Lipman.
“Then your blood sugar levels drop so the energy surge vanishes.
"This process causes the body to crave more sugar so you eat more to get another hit of energy. Then a vicious circle begins.”
Dr Lipman says overwhelming your body with sugar puts stress on it, wearing you out and leading to weight gain.
He advises clients to eat wholesome natural foods (such as chicken, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts, some wholemeal carbs such as brown pasta and rice).

Relax

Dr Lipman believes we must put aside some time to unwind. “Whether it’s breathing before bed or relaxing exercises, taking a bit of time out each day will help calm down a racing mind and leave you feeling  restored and relaxed,” he says.
Before bed, try the following: find a quiet space and sit down (in a chair or on the floor) in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and place your hands in your lap.
Spend five minutes inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your nose.
Or try this neck and shoulder release: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart.
Place two tennis balls at the top of your shoulder blades, side by side, in the area where you would have a shoulder massage.
Slowly lower your head and shoulders. Place a pillow behind your head if your neck is uncomfortable.
Lift your arms to the ceiling, then move them slowly toward your knees and then toward the wall behind you.

Feeling constantly tired? You're exhausted

Always tired? Feel like you're running on empty? Join the club - increasing numbers of us are suffering from constant fatigue. Jane Feinmann reveals how to tell if there's a medical cause - or if it's just modern life wearing you out 

If you're almost too exhausted to make it to your doctor for a check-up, be consoled: at least you're not alone. More people are tired today than ever before. On any day, one in five of us is feeling unusually fatigued, while one in 10 has persistent low energy, sufficient to undermine quality of life and day-to-day functioning.

It's an epidemic that worries sufferers and frustrates their doctors. "It's a very disabling condition, and it's perhaps not surprising that people come to see us desperately looking for a quick fix for a problem that is ruining their lives," says Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP in west London.

Yet being tired all the time has been adopted as a bitter shorthand by Britain's doctors, who use the term TATT to describe the condition that they most dread walking through their consulting-room door.

"Unfortunately, nine times out of 10 there's absolutely nothing we can do about it beyond ordering a batch of blood tests to eliminate the usual suspects," says Jarvis, a spokesperson for the Royal College of General Practitioners.

The vast majority of weary people suffer because of the way they choose to live, says Professor Fred Zijlstra of Surrey University. "People work ever-longer hours and then take files home or check their e-mails in the evening. New technology means they're on call 24/7. With double burden of being a working parent, there's a constant feeling of never getting things finished. It's this that can be so tiring."

Even so, fatigue is a symptom in a wide range of physical and psychological problems. If exhaustion is now a way of life, you could be one of the "lucky" ones with a "real", or at least treatable, condition. If not, it may be time to ask yourself some difficult questions.

ANAEMIA

Unusual tiredness is the main symptom of anaemia, a group of disorders in which insufficient red blood cells are produced to carry adequate supplies of oxygen throughout the body.

The most common type is iron deficiency anaemia, normally the result of losing blood faster than the body can make it. Around one in seven menstruating women suffers iron deficiency anaemia. It is also common during pregnancy when there is extra demand for iron.

Two other types are: vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia, which mostly affects vegetarians and vegans (B12 is only found in animal fats, meat, fish, eggs and milk); and folic acid deficiency anaemia, which occurs in pregnancy and as a result of high alcohol consumption or a poor diet, particularly in the elderly.

What to do

A blood test can diagnose anaemia, and doctors will normally recommend supplements along with dietary advice. If your blood count is at the low end of normal, but not anaemic, boosting your iron intake could make you feel better.

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

Overwhelming exhaustion, made worse by activity and not helped by rest, could be CFS (or ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis). One in 100 people, usually in their twenties or thirties, is affected, with three times as many women sufferers as men. CFS appears to be triggered by an infection, even a minor one. It can be worsened by stress. Symptoms include muscle pain, sore throat, an inability to start or sustain activity, and finding that any increase in activity requires a prolonged recovery time.

What to do

Take as much information about your symptoms to your GP as possible. Diagnosis is tricky, and frequently involves excluding other conditions. Training in the form of graded exercise can help mild CFS. Cognitive behavioural therapy, along with a supervised lifestyle management programme, is effective in severe cases.

COELIAC DISEASE

Extreme fatigue, with bowel symptoms such as diarrhoea and bloating, can indicate a flare-up of this lifelong inflammatory condition of the small gut in response to gluten, a substance found in wheat, barley and rye. Most commonly diagnosed in people aged 30 to 45, it can come out of the blue or occur in people with a history of stomach upsets. As many as one in 100 people are thought to be affected, and as many as nine out of 10 remain undiagnosed, on some estimates.

What to do

A blood test can pick up antibodies, and the diagnosis can be confirmed by an investigation of the lining of the small bowel, normally carried out at the endoscopy unit of the local hospital. A gluten-free diet can bring real improvement in less than a week.

DEPRESSION

Severe tiredness and loss of energy that persists for most of the day, nearly every day, for more than two weeks is one of the clearest signals of clinical depression. This is suffered by up to one in 10 of the population at any one time. A GP will suspect depression when fatigue is experienced with symptoms such as loss of confidence; inability to enjoy things that are usually pleasurable; a desire to avoid people, including friends; irritability; and feeling like a "waste of space".

What to do

Consult your GP with a list of symptoms and work with him or her to decide the best treatment. This can include psychotherapy or counselling, along with medication.

TYPE 2 DIABETES

Extreme tiredness that develops slowly, with constant thirst, a need to urinate and episodes of thrush, could be type 2 diabetes. People with the disease have problems converting food into energy because the insulin, a hormone that muscle, liver and fat cells use for this, becomes ineffective, often due to obesity. While these cells are starved of energy, blood glucose levels remain high, eventually damaging nerves and blood vessels and leading to serious complications. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in people over 40, although children as young as seven have been diagnosed. It is three times more common in Asians and West Indians.

What to do

A simple blood test will diagnose the disease and, if picked up at an early stage, changes such as weight loss, a healthy diet and exercise can prevent further deterioration.

GLANDULAR FEVER

Severe fatigue, accompanied by feverish symptoms such aching muscles, loss of appetite and swollen lymph glands in the groin, suggests the "kissing disease". The infection is most common in the teens and early twenties; by their late twenties, most people have developed immunity to the Epstein-Barr virus, which is spread in saliva via kisses, coughs or sneezes. The tiredness frequently persists for weeks or even months after the other symptoms have disappeared.

What to do

Diagnosis by symptoms can be confirmed by a blood test. Antibiotics will not help; rest is the best treatment.

LYME DISEASE

Flu-like symptoms including tiredness could be a sign of this relatively rare tick-borne infection, which can affect walkers and cyclists who fail to tuck their trousers into socks in long grass and heathland in parts of UK.

What to do

Ideally, take the tick with its identifiable bite-mark and surrounding rash to your GP. Otherwise, diagnosis is by exclusion or by a blood test around eight weeks after infection, which can be quickly cleared up with antibiotics.

SLEEP APNOEA

Severe daytime sleepiness is the most obvious symptom of sleep apnoea, where sleep is disrupted by snoring. The disorder, which actually halts breathing, sometimes hundreds of times a night, causes a brief awakening each time as the body senses what is happening and acts to prevent suffocation.

What to do

Diagnosis requires an overnight stay in hospital, although a home test is being developed. Wearing a gumshield and avoiding alcohol after 6pm can reduce snoring. Severe cases are best treated with a pump that blows air gently through the nose. It's cum- bersome, but most sufferers decide to use the machine at home every night, says the Sleep Apnoea Trust.

UNDERACTIVE THYROID (HYPOTHYROIDISM)

Tiredness and excess sleep, with symptoms including constipation, sensitivity to cold and weight gain, may be a sign of an underactive thyroid. This disorder, which is caused by the body failing to produce sufficient thyroxine hormone, thereby slowing the metabolism, is most common in older people, affecting one in 50 women and one in 1,000 men at some time in their lives.

What to do

A risk of developing the condition can be detected with a blood test to measure TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), which is raised when the thyroid gland is not producing sufficient thyroid hormone. A further test can then measure T4, the actual level of thyroxine. A condition known as sub-clinical hypothyroidism exists when levels of TSH are raised but thyroxine levels are normal. Some doctors decide to offer thyroxine treatment to see if it works: others prefer to wait and see whether the metabolism continues to slow.

Is your life too tiring?

Do you demand too much of yourself?

If yes: try to manage stress; learn to say no; set priorities; pace yourself. Take time each day to simply relax, perhaps using a tape or relaxation class. Consider whether there is a good balance of work and play in your life and what you can do about it. If necessary, you may want to reconsider what you want from life.

Have you been affected recently by a stressful event?

If yes: Be realistic, and be kind to yourself. Events such as moving house, having a baby, starting a new job, being bereaved or ending an important relationship can be exhausting, especially when you feel you have no control over what's happening. Don't expect to be back to your normal self overnight. Remember; all progress is good, however small or unimportant it may seem to you at the time.

Is regular exercise part of your daily life?

If no: Begin to change that. If you are unfit, start with 10 minutes of moderate physical activity each day and build up to at least 30 minutes. "It may seem counter-intuitive, but aerobic exercise is an excellent way to counter fatigue," says Dr Sarah Jarvis.

Is your diet healthy?

If no: try to begin the day with an energy-packed, low-fat, high-fibre breakfast. Reduce the amount of high-fat and high-sugar foods, which will to make you feel sluggish later on. If you are underweight, gradually increase your portion sizes and calorie intake. If you are overweight, focus on eating less (but don't crash-diet) and being more physically active. There's no good evidence that vitamins, minerals, stimulants or fortified wine will help to combat tiredness.

Are you drinking too much?

If yes: cut down on the booze. It acts as a sedative, and even small amounts can make you tired for hours.

Are you sleeping well?

If no: practice good sleep habits. Avoid eating, reading or watching television while in bed. Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet, and set the alarm to get up at the same time each day - a routine will help you to establish a regular schedule. Staying in bed all day will not help.

 

The Simplest Ways to Stop Feeling Exhausted

If you have ever told your self "I'm so exhausted, all I want to do is sleep" then you need to read this article. Chances are that when you do lie down to sleep you are unable to.

After a night of tossing and turning you face another day of feeling you will never get everything that needs to be done and life is not enjoyable anymore. Research tells us that we cannot "make up" sleep so planning to spend all day Sunday in bed is not going to do the trick.

Exhaustion is quite different than being tired. Being tired at the end of a long day is a normal function of the body. Exhaustion is a state in which your body has been dumping adrenaline and cortisol into your system, depleting your mental and physical resources.

If you do not already know the difference between exhaustion and simply being tired, here it is in a nutshell.
• Exhaustion feels like depression.
• Tired feels like being ready to sleep.

Some people suspect that they are depressed when they are really just exhausted. In this case, it is as if all the color and texture have left your life. Typically the exhausted person is emotionally "red-lining", or chronically worn out.

A person who has had a busy day or series of days but is able to settle comfortably into sleep and wake up feeling refreshed is experiencing being tired.

Simple Steps to Stop Feeling Exhausted
• Acknowledge that you feel overwhelmed
• Be patient with yourself
• Note, without judgment, the things in your life that cause you to feel overwhelmed
• Replace one thing that causes you to feel overwhelmed with one thing that replenishes your energy
• Note, again without judgment, how doing this one thing just for yourself makes you feel
• Set aside 15 minutes a day to simply be
• Create a simple mantra to repeat to yourself once or several times a day that affirms you in a positive way
It really does sound too simple to be true doesn't it? That is the point though; you have been allowing things and situations in your life to take on magnified proportions. It has gotten you to the point of exhaustion and now you must start the journey back.

You were meant to be a deep well full of emotional reserves but somehow it has gotten to the point that your well is close to empty. This is not emotionally healthy and so you feel exhausted instead of simply a normal tired.

Learning to replenish is learning to honor your own needs in order to keep that emotional well spring at optimal levels. Probably, if we were really honest with ourselves, we would acknowledge that part of our exhaustion is the fear of not being able to do for or be there for all the "others' in our lives.
Becoming more balanced, and less exhausted, is almost magical. By allowing for your own unique needs you will have more energy, less exhaustion and a more fulfilling life.

 

How To Wake Up And Not Be Exhausted

When it comes to being healthy and living a vibrant and energy filled life, sleep seems to be one of the most elusive aspects to conquer. Certainly we know that getting a good night’s sleep is important - crucial, even, to good health. But it’s not as simple as just deciding that you are now going to start sleeping better. At least that’s how it often seems.

Want to eat healthier or with more variety? All it takes is some planning and follow-through. Want to exercise more? It’s just a matter of making time for even 10 minutes a day, and scheduling it in.
But you want to sleep better? Well that’s another story, isn’t it? Isn't it time to say enough is enough?
Allow me to share with you the things that I have found to be most powerful when it comes to regaining your control over the night. The following points have worked wonders for me (certainly some more than others, or for different periods of time), and I trust they’ll be of benefit to you.

1. Increase your Vitamin D levels

I wanted to start with this point because I suspect it may be one of the less obvious techniques to resting easier. You’ve probably heard a lot about Vitamin D lately – a lack of it is being linked to an increasing number of health complaints, the reason for which is the fact that nearly every cell in your body has Vitamin D receptor sites. This means that it can affect every cell dysfunction in your body, as well as every hormone. One hormone that is crucial to good sleep is melatonin. Melatonin should be released as you wind down for bed – think of it like your body’s natural ‘off-ramp’. Well, with insufficient Vitamin D in your body, you make it virtually impossible to produce adequate melatonin. You can increase Vitamin D by exposing yourself to a little early morning sun ( bright light sparks melatonin production) each day, by eating foods high in it (although it’s tough to get enough through diet), or by discussing a supplement with your health practitioner.

2. Cut back on the stimulants

Common sense, right? And yet how often do we find ourselves reaching for the (extra) cup of coffee far later in the day than we know we should? Couple that with a little more sugar than would be considered ideal, or perhaps even something as potently disruptive as an energy drink, and you know you’re setting yourself up for another vicious cycle of poor sleep and a sluggish next-day start. It takes at least 4 hours for half of the caffeine in your system to be metabolized, another 4 for half of that, and so on. So you can see how drinking coffee late in the day can disrupt sleep. My recommendation is to cut the caffeine and stimulants after 2pm. Be strict on this, and it will pay off for you!

3. Have some tryptophan for dinner

                                                            

There are certain foods that will help to improve your chances of sleeping well. When your Mom told you to drink a glass of warm milk before bed, she was on the money – that works for many people (although not a good idea if you have dairy issues!). The reason dairy works is that it contains tryptophan – a natural sleep agent also found in oats, bananas, turkey, and almonds. Aside from foods high in tryptophan, many health experts advocate foods high in complex carbohydrates (oats, bananas, root veggies, wild or brown rice) as being helpful for sleep. The only catch is that this may not be a great idea if fat loss also a goal for you.

4. Avoid eating or drinking alcohol closer than 2 hours to bedtime

This is practical advice that a lot of us know makes sense – yet for some reason it can be a tough one to follow through on. Often we associate downtime (TV time!) with snacking, and this can go on right up until bedtime. Logically it makes sense that if your body is focused on digesting food or alcohol, it cannot simultaneously wind down and enter a state of deep sleep.

  The process of digestion may also inhibit the release of growth hormone, an important hormone for deep sleep as well as for building lean muscle and burning fat. Proteins and healthy carbohydrates (such as root vegetables, brown or wild rice) tend to leave the stomach faster than what fats will do.

5. Relax your senses

There’s nothing like bright lights and pumping noise to help you get a great night’s sleep, is there?! Not! It stands to reason that overloading your brain with ‘daytime images and noise’ is not really a great recipe for rest. Let me be clear – watching television and using the computer right up until bedtime is a sure-fire recipe for night-time twitching. If you must watch your shows, try to choose comedies over dramas or violence- those will excite your nervous system more. Ideally, turn off the technology an hour or so before bed and enjoy some conversation or reading.

6. Set the bedroom mood

Marta anna via Flickr

I’m not talking about any hanky panky, although if that gets you nodding off then by all means! What I meant though, was creating an environment for sound sleep. A pitch black room is optimal formelatonin production, and even that red light on your alarm clock can be disruptive without you realizing it. Either get technology out of the bedroom, or wear a sleep mask. I’d suggest doing both. It’s also important to consider the temperature of your room, and making sure you’re comfortable (if you hate your pillow, invest in a new one rather than ‘making do’). If noise is an issue you may need to use earplugs.

7. Still your mind

A busy mind may keep you focused and productive during the day, but you’re not doing anyone any favors by running your to-do list while in bed – not least yourself. 

  One of my favorite tricks for quieting the mind is to jot down 10 things I’m grateful for before bed. Another technique, which I also learned from my mentor Charles Poliquin, is to write down one thing you learned for the day, one kind thing you did for someone else, and another kind thing that somebody did for you. It’s very effective.

8. Drown out your thoughts

Try using a sleep or relaxation track like this free one over at pzizz.com. Pzizz offers a full system, but you can grab a free 15-minute sample of their sleep or energizing track and download it to your iPod. This worked very well for me for about a month steadily, and after that I continued to use it off and on. 

  There are many equally great sleep tracks out there on the internet, so do a search and try several of them – if writing your grateful list doesn’t work then listening to sleep audios may just drown out that busy mind!

9. Have a morning workout

                                                                 

We are designed to be at our most active and energized first thing in the morning. As a former insomniac I know how tough it can be to get motivated to get going after a horribly restless night. Your eyes feel like they’re full of sandpaper, and your head is pounding. Every muscle feels weak and exhausted. Oddly though, you seem to come alive by night-time. This is a classic sign of a reverse cortisol curve – your circadian rhythms are back to front! 

Rather than supporting the perpetuation of this situation (try saying that 3 times fast!) you can fight back by reminding your body when energy should be ‘up’. Try working out in the morning – even for 10 minutes – and your body will thank you for it. Creating an ideal circadian rhythm will help you to wind down naturally at night, and wake up feeling fresh in the morning.

10. If all else fails, seek professional help

If you’ve tried all of these steps and you still struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep, consider getting professional help. 

  To paraphrase sleep expert and author William Dement, “even 2 or more nights of poor quality sleep is a serious issue and demands treatment”! Don’t do what I did, and determinedly push through for weeks, months or years on end, thinking that you can manage or that you will get over it.

Final thought: Try a combo

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, remember that most people find that it’s the combination of several sleep techniques rather than just one thing which gets them through – so if there’s something on this list that you’ve never tried or perhaps forgotten about, then give it a go. It’s worth a try!