Fatigue: Why am I So Tired?

I have struggled with fatigue for most of my life. Numerous doctor visits occasionally gave a diagnosis of low iron or low Vitamin B12, but improving these still left me tired most of the time. I I couldn’t find answers despite seeing my doctor over and over again. It was incredibly frustrating and discouraging. I finally discovered with Dr. Krop and Eco-Health and Wellness that there are sometimes reasons beyond the obvious. Here are my surprising discoveries to the causes of my fatigue.

8 Glasses of Water a Day?! And Protein Every 2 Hours?!

I’m notorious for getting involved in an activity and letting time fly by. I forget to eat, I forget to drink. Hours go by. I don’t get hungry or thirsty but then I suddenly wilt.

Yes, you can get tired if you are dehydrated! And if your blood sugar is low from not eating often enough! This seems like common sense but apparently some people, like me, needed to be hit in the head with this information.

So yes, drink 8 glasses of water per day and eat something every 2 hours. But, as Dr. Krop told me, you need to watch what you eat. Protein at every meal and at every snack. No high glycemic foods like cane sugar, white rice, white flour etc. Did this help my fatigue? Yes and I was flying with all the extra energy and mental clarity I had!

But I Like How My Clothes Smell!

I used to use conventional products for everything. By conventional, I mean scented. Full of chemicals. But then I suddenly developed severe asthma in my adult years, and I couldn’t gain control over it. I was sick all the time. And tired all the time.

I figured out perfume was a really bad trigger for my asthma attacks. So I stayed away from it. But I still used all my other regular products. It was Dr. Krop who told me to go fragrance free with everything. And I did. I didn’t think my detergent, fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, cream, hair spray, gel and deodorant were doing anything to me. It was perfume that set off my asthma, not that other stuff. But I was always sick with asthma attacks and I was always tired and I always felt lousy. By always, I mean always. Daily. So I decided what the heck. I’d go fragrance free to see if it would help. Guess what? It did. Less asthma attacks and way more energy.

The same chemicals that are in perfume are in other scented products (like your deodorant, fabric softener, detergent, shampoo, etc). There may be less of them, but they are still there. Unless you’re away from all fragrances for a while, you can’t really tell what they are doing to you. And guess what? Some of them make me tired. So tired I want to lie down and take a nap on the spot.

Food Made Me Feel Lousy

Dr. Krop had me screened for over 100 foods. I found out I have a whole bunch of food intolerances. I hate having food intolerances. Some of my favourite foods are on that list…like gluten, sugar, dairy, chocolate and alcohol. Ugh. How do you live without chocolate?!! But honestly, when you have a serious, chronic health condition, you need to give your body the best fighting chance to recover. And frankly, you don’t know what these food intolerances are doing to you and what strain they’re putting on your body. Well, that was the argument that convinced me to go cold turkey off everything on my list. For several years.

Guess what? Many of those things weren’t benign. I discovered some of those foods really did make me feel lousy. Like gluten. And sugar. And alcohol.

They all made me feel incredibly tired, so when I cut them from my diet, my energy returned.

But I Really Like Sugar!

I have a sugar addiction. Chocolate, cookies, cake, cupcakes, cinnamon buns. You name it, I crave it! In my quest for better health, I discovered I was not only intolerant to sugar and gluten (insert loud groan here), but that I had an issue with candida (an intestinal fungal overgrowth) (insert second loud groan here). All those years of antibiotics as a child did a number on me. So now I had to go on an anti-candida diet (insert third loud groan here). That meant not only avoiding my numerous food intolerances but it meant avoiding anything that would feed this candida overgrowth in my body. So bye bye sugar,alcohol, vinegar, yeast and foods such as mushrooms, strawberries, etc. Can I say brutal?!!! Yes, it was. But I was determined to give my body the best fighting chance to get healthy and frankly, I knew I had a problem in this area. My gut was really out of balance. But that’s a whole other story. We are now learning more and more about the relationship with gut health and our overall health. So if my gut health was contributing to some of my health issues or was preventing me from getting healthier, I was going to fix it.

I went cold turkey. The first few days were brutal.  Huge cravings. Crazy exhaustion. Lots of willpower to not throw in the towel. But then my energy increased with a vengeance! I had vitality like never before.

And if I cheated, even slightly, guess what? I felt like hell the next day. Exhaustion beyond exhaustion. Like being hit with a bad flu or a big Mac truck. That’s what sugar does to me. Is it worth it? Nope.

Allergies Can Do This?!!

My environmental allergies went absolutely crazy over a decade ago. I seemingly became allergic to almost everything under the sun…dust, mould, grass, trees, ragweed, cats, dogs, you name it. A dust bunny or a bit of mould on a piece of fruit would send me into an immediate asthma attack. Eek. I was on six medications every day for my asthma and allergies and they were not working!

Fast forward to the present and I am pleased to say all my hard work with Dr. Krop…yes I followed his protocol diligently…has reduced my allergy and asthma symptoms to the point where I’ve been off all my medications for years now. Yes, I still need to take an antihistimine or a puffer a couple times a year, but that’s a far cry from taking 6 medications each day and not having that be enough!

I have environmental allergies (dust, mould, grass, ragweed etc.) that have greatly improved since starting my health journey with Dr. Krop. No more daily asthma attacks, no more constant colds and sinus infections, no more daily unbearable congestion. Yay! It took years of hard work, but it paid off. Thanks Dr. Krop!

Although my allergies are night and day what they were over a decade go, I still do get the occasional light sinus congestion. Especially when moulds are high or it’s ragweed season. Last fall, I felt really under the weather. Tired, groggy, brain fog. I couldn’t figure out what was happening. Surprise! It was my allergies. The congestion was so slight, I didn’t even notice it. One antihistamine and …voila! No more fatigue!  Who knew congestion could make you tired?!!

Watch the Hot Yoga

A few years ago, when I got my health under control and was feeling a lot better, I got a great deal on a one month unlimited membership to a hot yoga studio. Unlimited!! Well, I wanted make use of that deal and go as many times as possible. So I ended up going 4-5 times a week. It was great! I felt so relaxed and nimble! But then, two weeks in, I suddenly started feeling like crap. Exhausted. Like a truck ran over me. And nothing would make it go away.

After struggling with this fatigue for a couple of weeks, I went to see Dr. Krop. During his assessment of me, I bragged to him that I had started hot yoga. “How often are you going?”, he asked. “4-5 times a week,” I proudly said. “Well, that’s it! You have depleted your minerals!!!”

I started taking a mineral supplement and…yes, that was it! I was back to feeling good.

These are all pieces of the puzzle of what has created fatigue for me. I’d guess some of these are common for many people. It can be overwhelming, but the fundamental changes I made had a huge impact on my baseline health and they allowed me to function at a higher level with more energy. That’s a gift. It took a lot of effort – but it was so worth it.