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Why am i always sleepy yet can't sleep?

So, i have my A2 exams coming up in 2 months and i really really need to get some revisions done, however, even if i get 6-8 hours sleep at night, sometimes less than 5, i always end up being tired through out the day, i am always sleepy even if i drink coffee, but when i decide to get some sleep, i cant sleep.
I am 18 y/o and have severe Vitamin D deficiency for which i was prescribed vitamin tablets on Dec 2015, which i stopped taking after a year. i go for a 30 min walk every morning and i am on keto diet.
Can anyone please help me with the constant sleepy/tired issue i 've been having? Anyway i can not feel tired all the time?
Original post by Anonymous
So, i have my A2 exams coming up in 2 months and i really really need to get some revisions done, however, even if i get 6-8 hours sleep at night, sometimes less than 5, i always end up being tired through out the day, i am always sleepy even if i drink coffee, but when i decide to get some sleep, i cant sleep.
I am 18 y/o and have severe Vitamin D deficiency for which i was prescribed vitamin tablets on Dec 2015, which i stopped taking after a year. i go for a 30 min walk every morning and i am on keto diet.
Can anyone please help me with the constant sleepy/tired issue i 've been having? Anyway i can not feel tired all the time?


Go to your doctor! Also, try settling into a regular routine. Try 8 hours of sleep a night, no less if you can help it, and practising better sleep hygeine. This means no screens for about an hour before bed if you can help it, going to sleep at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning, not eating right before sleeping, avoiding things like caffeine and nicotine (particularly in the evening), a bit of exercise in the few hours before bed (nothing intense right before trying to sleep though), getting your room to a comfortable temperature, and getting outdoors enough during sunlight hours
Hi, I'm an applied nutritional science student - just giving my opinion!

It sounds like you have adrenal insufficiency (famously known as "adrenal fatigue":wink:

Essentially, it's a condition whereby your cortisol is elevated and thus, knocks your circadian rhythm out of pattern. This is because cortisol is responsible for the maintanence of your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is what helps you sleep at night and wake in the mornings. If your circadian rhythm is normal, you will hae a spike of cortisol around 8am to wake you up (cortisol is a stimulant). Cortisol should also taper off when the sun goes down, in turn making you tired. When your circadian rhythm is out of balance: this doesn't happen, and your cortisol may stay elevated which will keep you awake or not allow you to enter deep sleep.

My advise is to order some cortisol tester kits and see where youre at. I can pm you the best one (personal opinion). Adrenal fatigue is caused by caffeine (as it puts your body in fight or flight mode, which releases cortisol aka the stress hormone) and it is also caused by stress be it mental or physical (bad diet = oxidative stress, too much tv etc).

Also, if your cortisol does come back high in the labs, I would advise you take some action to lower it:

- download "sleep cycle" app and look to optimise your sleep i.e. get deeper sleep

- try to sleep before 11pm, cortisol is released again at 11 which can give you a second wave of energy till 1

- cut out caffeine, it stimulates the HPA axis too much, you want to try calm it rather than stimulate

- meditate (extremely calming, multitude of benefits)

- rest, have a couple months off of gym/exercise; your body doesn't need anymore physical stress!

- have protein and fats for breakfast i.e. omelette, followed by balanced lunch and dinner (fats, proteins, carbs)

- do try eat every 3-4 hours, if your body is hungry it may disrupt your endocrine/hormone balance once more

- take a probiotics i.e. yoghurt for gut health

- take a multivitamin i.e. wellman, you want to get plenty of vitamin b and c, great for adrenal health

- take magnesium malate, great for methlyation which leads to more energy

- take vit d and fish oils, vit d is fantastic for mood and endocrine function while fish oils are antioxidants, thus give you more energy by hoovering up free radicals

- eat plenty of veg, and some fruit

- supplement with adaptogenic herbs such as ashwagandha, tulsi tea, ginseng, maca root... adaptogenics are scientifically proven to balance the neuroendocrine system and ashwagandha has been proven to lower cortisol by up to 40% over the course of 1-2 months!
(edited 6 years ago)

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