I sleep 10 hours a night but still need to nap constantly during the day. Even 400 mg of caffeine doesn’t buzz me, it just makes me feel 70% close to my normal, high energy 20s self. My daytime fatigue is so severe I’ve been mistaken for being drunk (even though I don’t drink), and I experience a dream like brain fog around friends unless I use caffeine pills to seem present.
I know this is part of normal aging for a woman in her 30s, but it’s frustrating to constantly need naps when I haven’t even done anything. Sometimes you just have to biohack. Still, I feel a bit jealous of how men age differently and seem to keep loads of energy.
Sounds like caffeine addiction
Not saying it will definitely help, but if you’re not even feeling it the caffeine dependency might actually be making you feel worse rather than better
I don’t have caffeine all the time. I only take it when I’m going to go out with friends or with my boyfriend so I’m fully lucid. I might end up switching to Adderall since I’ve heard that’s a lot stronger than caffeine is.
To go against the grain of the other commenters, I’m not a woman but I have similar issues with tiredness, and prescribed stimulants have dramatically improved my life over the past ~15 years.
None of them are risk free, if you have short term memory issues like me which seems plausible, it’s easy to forget if you took the afternoon adderall.
Vyvanse/Elvanse etc are wonderful because you can just take it once in the morning and no rollercoaster. The downside is for me at least, it’s hard on the stomach until you get acclimated.
I don’t seem prone to misusing it now that I have gotten a good routine but it’s definitely a risk and I know many people who used it to cure boredom or avoid sleeping. That is a bad path and you don’t see it until too late.
It can be a lifesaver if you use it correctly.
I think this is still in line with the other commenters, since the main point was to go through a doctor for it. The doctor could figure out if stimulants would help, as opposed to other underlying issues like anemia
I missed that detail, valid
As someone that takes adderall (prescribed ofc), I would recommend not taking it to stay awake. It’s not an over-the-counter medication for a reason.
Please, don’t. If you don’t have a direct doctor’s recommendation, any “I think I will start using drugs because I think I will feel better” is just wrong
Talk to a doctor: good. Taking random amphetamines because you’re tired: less good.
But if you’re going to ask for a med, go for modafinil. It’s more like what people want amphetamines to be, if they’re not looking for outright speed.
These replies have to be a rage bait thread! Surely!!
You need to talk to a doctor
I’ve talked to loads and my tests have returned normal!
Nah, your tests aren’t normal. You likely have messed up things with too much caffeine, too much stress, and very likley are overweight and have sleep apnea.
Get a sleep study done, exercise more and work on healthy sleep habits and you probably will fix things. Very few people need to chug 2+ energy drinks a day to feel ‘tired’.
My BMI is 20, I only have caffeine occasionally in the form of pills, I’m not stressed, and I don’t even snore.
Sleep apnea can happen even if you don’t snore loudly … or at all.
“Less than 50% of cases of obstructive sleep apnea present without audible snoring,” Dr. Kaur reports. “But it absolutely happens. You may have no snoring or just very light, intermittent snoring.”
OSA happens when the muscles and tissues in your throat relax too much during sleep, which partially or fully blocks your airway.
Dr. Kaur says common signs of silent sleep apnea may include:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Feeling unrested when you wake up
- Morning headaches
- Multiple nighttime awakenings
- Fatigue
I’ve wasted doctor’s time enough. And sleep apnea wouldn’t explain why this was gradual and started happening as I approached my thirties. Just like I’m getting old and aren’t that far off from being considered geriatric for a woman. (I’m 31, so a little under 4 years off) https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/geriatric-pregnancy
When I was in college, I could not sleep all night and still ace college from 8 till 5. And then do lots of stuff after I came home. And my BMI is still 20 so it’s not that I’ve gotten fat.
My wife is 41 and depressed and doesn’t have issues like you do. Please go see a doctor and don’t leave until they take you seriously. Blood tests are usually the most basic screening nothing more.
Just like I’m getting old and aren’t that far off from being considered geriatric for a woman. (I’m 31, so a little under 4 years off)
That’s for pregnancy, please be for real.
I hate to say it, but this post and all the comments from OP reads very much as a man pretending to be woman to poke fun at aging women and call us old in our 30s.
Like, it doesn’t make sense. Velma PLEASE MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!! 💚
It sounds more like all those doctors have wasted your time. Find one that actually cares enough to fix whatever is wrong with you because I promise, just like every other person on this post, what you are experiencing is not normal for the vast majority of women.
Recently had my wife do a sleep study. We’re vacillating between getting her into a CPAP machine and doing a weight loss program to help with the sleep apnea. She’s just the same, constantly at a lower level of energy and life quality, it has limited her in a lot of ways in recent years.
I don’t have sleep apnea, I don’t even snore (my boyfriend has watched me sleep). My BMI is 20. I’ve had every blood test. It’s all normal and just a thing I need to get on with that can be solved, at least temporarily, with enough stimulants.
Oh shit. Maybe caffeine is secretly the problem? Maybe it’s depression? Maybe you need iron? There are a lot of things it could be, I’m just listing things off the top of my head. Sorry though, I do know how much chronic fatigue sucks.
No depression, I only have caffeine occasionally when I need to be out and social with people, or productive. My iron levels are normal as they have been checked too. Everything’s normal! I’m just no spring chicken anymore.
Are you sedentary? Could be exercise I guess. I’m out of ideas otherwise, boo hiss
Might be worth looking at CFS or something. It’s more prevalent for AFAB people. Even if you don’t have CFS it could provide a useful framework for managing your fatigue. I personally found some supplements to be helpful. Epicatechin + coq10 did wonders for my energy while I was recovering from a related syndrome.
I’m male, but haven’t heard of this level of fatigue from my female friends / wife. It does sound like having a young child though (minus the part about getting >8h sleep).
Normal or not, sounds terrible, hope it improves!
I haven’t had children, though. I’ve had every blood test under the sun, too.
This thread is a shit show. Abandon ship!
I know this is part of normal aging for a woman in her 30s
Is it?? I’m not saying you don’t lose energy as you age, but what you’re describing sounds closer to a medical problem than the norm. If you’ve had conversations with your doctor and had bloodwork done then it might be normal for you, but if you haven’t checked for vitamin deficiencies you might want to. I felt similarly shit when my vitamin D was through the floor.
It’s normal! I’ve been checked up, I’m not overweight, all my bloods are fine.
I’ve been told I was normal… right up until they decided I was anemic and horribly vitamin D deficient. Now I’m on iron infusions and 50,000mg vit D pills once a week.
My iron and Vitamin D levels are fine. They were checked recently along with various other things.
Sounds to me like they haven’t found what’s wrong yet, not that there’s nothing wrong.
Have you had a sleep study? Sleep apnea can cause literally everything you’re saying. The way you’re feeling is not normal or healthy at all. I’m 30, my wife is 29. She’s chronically ill with a connective tissue disorder, is constantly in pain, and suffers from fatigue and brain fog and she doesn’t even feel like that every day, nor does she get so exhausted she seems drunk
Get a second opinion, please. Doctors will often not really believe women when we communicate our symptoms.
I’ve had a second, third, and fourth opinion. 3 of those doctors were women.
Women doctors also disbelieve women patients. It took 4 years and upwards of 20 different doctors for me to get my diganosis.
Being sleepy to the point of acting drunk is the most concerning that I read from your description. That’s really what made me reach out. Just concerned for you!
This was me. Turned out I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I literally passed out during meetings and when driving home. Literally dragging myself out of bed and through the day semi conscious, running on stimulants and grit
I just kept slowly going downhill until one day I had a severe neurological event that I never recovered from, but forced me to address the issue and get it properly looked at
Not saying this is what you have, there’s a bunch of things that can cause chronic exhaustion, but this is not normally. Please don’t ignore it
Drinking warm water in the morning might be a nice start to the day. Also, if you’re not consistent with your caffeine, you go through withdrawal symptoms that sound a lot like that.
Normal for you I guess, unfortunately, but no-one else.
This is far from normal… 10hrs sleep + naps? I saw your answers about having blood tests done and coming back good. Is there something psychological going on? Heart problems? Hormones? (I don’t need you to confirm or deny, just consider it)
No, and my hormones were tested too including estrogen, thyroid, etc. all are normal!
Autoimmune diseases don’t have specific tests, they’re diagnosed only from exhibiting symptoms. There’s other conditions that won’t show up in blood tests either.
You may wanna consider submitting to an actual sleep study.
If you sleep 10 hours a night and still wake up feeling fatigued you’re probably not getting the quality of sleep you think you are. It’s possible to have sleep apnea or other issues without even knowing it, and the only way to find out is by doing a sleep study.
I get very good sleep! All my tests are normal, my boyfriend has watched me sleep too. I don’t even snore. My brain’s just getting a little bit unfresh lol
You can have sleep apnea without snoring.
“Its just a flesh wound!”
I agree with literally everyone here that this is not normal aging and stimulants are not the solution.
How many 31 year olds do you know that had to start taking adderall to stay awake after sleeping 10 hours?
Male here, so might not be applicable: I felt like you described about a year ago. That was shortly before the big crash. I don’t like the word burnout, but two naps per day, three to five cups of coffee and loads of sugar just to function is a good indicator your tanks are empty and you are running on fumes and stress alone. Its been a year and slowly reducing sugar and getting off caffeine for a month let me feel the deep tiredness again. I’m slowly gaining back the ability to even sleep through the night. If you can, reduce stress, keep sleeping as much as you can and cut off caffeine slowly. I stopped cold Turkey and it gave me a migrante so hard I nearly called an ambulance. What you describe is not normal and please take care of you.
Also way back in reddit times, there was a poster that had somediseases they only found because he started to nap constantly. I don’t remember the details but I thought I might have that. 9 months of reduced work and stress and lots of sleep, I’m slowly coming back to my senses.
I agree with others, this sounds like a medical issue that you’re covering up with coffee. For me it was extremely low levels of D vitamin, which took months to recover, but by now I feel like 5 years younger. I’m 34. By now I only drink one or two cups, but I genuinely don’t feel the effects of coffee anymore
Get yourself to a doctor, sister.
Edit: after reading through your responses in this thread, you must be trolling.
First of all, there are not women here. So stop lying, dude. Second, in all of my life never have I heard any of the symptoms you have mentioned as something normal for a 30-something girl. And I’ve met my share of women. I’ve been married to a now 38 year old for almost 6 years now, and girl sleeps like a trunk. I know one is not the rule, but still.
You shouldn’t hear advices on the internet, but I suggest you get specialized help, dude. That, or try having “the sex” before going to bed untill exhaustion. Either way, you’ll win something, and make someone very happy.
See you around!
I’ve seen specialists, and I’ve had every blood test under the sun. I’m not overweight, my BMI is 20. Everything’s all normal, I’m just no spring chicken anymore, and that’s okay.
I hope you get the help you need and deserve. 30 years old is not old at all, so it’s not a reason to feel like you’re feeling. I hope you get better and have a wonderful life
I know people are trying to be more positive about ageing in women, but 35 or over is clinically considered geriatric in women: https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/geriatric-pregnancy
I’m not yet considered geriatric, but I’m absolutely not in my prime anymore.
It’s just something I need to get on with. I accept that I’m getting old for a woman. I’ve seen lots of doctors and had every hormone, vitamin, blood test etc under the sun and they’re all normal. I’m not going to waste their time anymore.
Stimulants are good.
35 or over is clinically considered geriatric in women
“geriatric” was an old, now antiquated term for just “if you’re past this age, you’re at a higher risk of complications with pregnancy”. It’s not used anymore. (as the article you linked states)
“geriatric” is a loose term with no defined age range, but I can assure you 99.99% of people would not call you even remotely close to geriatric because you’re in your 30’s.
I’ve seen lots of doctors and had every hormone, vitamin, blood test etc under the sun and they’re all normal.
Then that should probably indicate to you that something else is the problem. For example, those tests don’t indicate if you’re getting enough physical activity, if you’re eating too many ‘processed’ ingredients known to cause complications in high quantities without directly affecting vitamin levels, if you have a sleep disorder, if you’re having too much caffeine, if you’re breathing in air pollutants, if you have any number of genetic disorders, if you have certain damage to your organs, etc.
Stimulants are good.
Talk to a psychiatrist. If they think it would be good for your situation, then it is probably good. Until you do that, you have no clue if it will help you or hurt you. It could improve your situation, or it could make you forget to eat, make your sleeping worse, give you worse brain fog, withdrawal symptoms, extreme anxiety, or even a heart attack.
Stimulants are controlled substances for a reason. Please, talk to a health professional qualified to issue prescriptions for stimulants, specifically about the possibility of stimulants for your particular issues. (i.e. don’t just ask for tests, suggest the option. Doctors are willing to consider options when presented with them by the patient saying they want it, especially since a big barrier to people improving their health is often unwillingness to participate in a given habit or schedule of meds)
Oh, and consider a sleep study. That can catch many things that won’t show up on things like blood tests, and is very, very, VERY relevant to your specific symptoms.
Many conditions are never identifiable through blood, nutrient, or physical analysis of your body via scans and tests, and are only identified through symptoms, trial and error with different medications and known coping techniques, identifying changes after altering behaviors, etc.
The symptoms you are having are not normal or to be expected, they are clearly very impactful to your life, and the fact more basic tests like blood/vitamin tests haven’t identified an obvious cause signals you could possibly have a major underlying condition that could potentially be extremely serious.
Please, talk to a psychiatrist if you want to see if alternative stimulants could help, and get a sleep study done to understand how your body handles it and provide actual insight to your doctors.
there are not women here
I hope this was some misguided attempt at sarcasm.
And thanks to people like you, who have no idea about customs and history on the internet, my comment was deleted
Oh yeah, the storied history of how misogyny thrives on the internet.
Your comment will be missed from the annals of history.
9gag
customs and history on the internet
Lmfao. That’s the only time 9gag has ever managed to make me laugh!
I think it was a poor attempt at the joke “there’s no women on the internet”.
It’s outdated and didn’t age well lol
It’s rule 30 of 4chan’s rules of the internet. From the same list as rule 34
Dude, I come from 9gag and it was an inner joke. Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s only a joke
Some jokes age poorly.
Snowflake
Evolve and grow, why don’t you?
