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Energy level rollercoaster

JasconiusJasconius sword criminalmad onlineRegistered User regular
edited March 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
As I've been getting farther into my 20's my energy levels have been changing noticeably.

Starting about a year and a half ago, after several years of working all day and going to school at night without a break, and after graduating college, I began to get very tired starting around 4:30-5:30PM, to the point where I really couldn't function effectively at work.

I found that when I went home, in some cases I would literally walk in the door and go straight to sleep, take an hour nap, and then wake up and be perfectly fine, and indeed, able to stay up until 1 and 2AM, fully alert, and even with more energy than what I had at, say, 1PM.

This has gone up and down over the last year or so in intensity, but it's going up again now. Yesterday when I got home I could hardly carry myself, took a nap for about an hour and a half, and by 1AM I was wishing I had 3 or 4 more hours that I could afford to stay up, because I was not only awake, but focused more so than I often am during the day.

My day job is not physically demanding at all, though it can be mentally demanding, it's not frequent.

Is there an explanation for this? I have a rapid metabolism, but I do not know if that is a direct cause of my problem or not.

Jasconius on

Posts

  • ElinElin Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I have the same issue, but I have a slow metabolism. I've tried exercise, no exercise, all protein for breakfast, protein at about noon, ect. If you figure it out, tell me. It's to the point that I would go to a doctor, but I'm not insured until fall semester. If I'm still having this issue by then I'll be seeking medical help because it's seriously impacting my life.

    Elin on
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  • WassermeloneWassermelone Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    You guys have never heard of the afternoon sleepies before? This is really really normal.

    Eat a light, lean lunch and take a walk. Avoid sugary snacks.

    Wassermelone on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Yeah, this is pretty much normal. Go for a walk around the block or something, get some fresh air.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • adytumadytum The Inevitable Rise And FallRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Or move to Spain, they've got naps locked down over there.

    adytum on
  • PotatoNinjaPotatoNinja Fake Gamer Goat Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Varying energy levels throughout a day are not abnormal. Not only do you generally go through cycles of high energy and low energy, diet and exercise play a huge part of how your energy levels will switch around during the day. Do you get really tired X hours after sugary snacks or caffeine? Really tired on days you don't work out, or maybe days after you work out really aggressively?

    For simple solutions, look at your diet and exercise levels. If your energy drops are interfering with your life and attempts to improve or change your diet and level of exercise don't help, consider seeing a medical professional.

    For diet, make sure you're taking a multivitamin (they aren't perfect, but they'll help fill in gaps in your diet) and eating healthy carbohydrates (whole wheat = good, butterscotch mocha + candy bar = bad) throughout the day.

    If this has only been going on for a brief period of time, it could also be related to allergies or a temporary illness.

    PotatoNinja on
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  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Welcome to aging!

    Are you getting 8 hours of sleep a night? Do you exercise regularly? Are you eating a healthy, balanced diet and avoiding heavy foods at lunch?

    Robman on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Yeah, exercise, proper sleep, and diet are probably your biggest culprits

    Thanatos on
  • eatmosushieatmosushi __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2010
    Yerba Mate' is fantastic. Pick it up in teabag form. ALSO

    Rhodolia is a fantastic supplement

    Also, Royal Jelly + Ginsing (you can buy these pills at whole foods, they are amazing)

    eatmosushi on
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  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    eatmosushi wrote: »
    Yerba Mate' is fantastic. Pick it up in teabag form. ALSO

    Rhodolia is a fantastic supplement

    Also, Royal Jelly + Ginsing (you can buy these pills at whole foods, they are amazing)
    I will sell you some Placebomaté that will work just as well as all of those, for half the price.

    Thanatos on
  • WassermeloneWassermelone Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Thanatos wrote: »
    eatmosushi wrote: »
    Yerba Mate' is fantastic. Pick it up in teabag form. ALSO

    Rhodolia is a fantastic supplement

    Also, Royal Jelly + Ginsing (you can buy these pills at whole foods, they are amazing)
    I will sell you some Placebomaté that will work just as well as all of those, for half the price.

    Unless the Placebomaté has caffiene in it, probably not. Well. Maybe better than the other two, I don't know.

    But Yerba Mate actually does keep you awake. IE, the same way coffee and tea does. Really it IS just tea. Dried herbs steeped in hot water? Tea. Albeit, tea with a higher caffeine concentration on average than other tea. Just because in the US only crunchy hippies drink it doesn't mean its useless. It just usually means that.

    Wassermelone on
  • JasconiusJasconius sword criminal mad onlineRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    My diet is balanced but in terms of raw calorie's it's prooobably slightly below average. I don't eat very many fatty foods and I hardly touch candy/desert at all, but I do drink at least a soda a day, never more than two though.

    Physically I am thin, sedentary, and only get a couple of hours of light exercise per week in the form of skating.

    Jasconius on
  • ObsidianiObsidiani __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2010
    Ok you're going to have to eat way more complex carbs it seems.

    I suggest you eat half a cup of brown rice for lunch and see if it makes any difference. Should give you a lot of energy until maybe dinner, in which you eat more anyway to gain energy.

    Obsidiani on
  • adytumadytum The Inevitable Rise And FallRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Since we're talking about South American remedies like mate, I hear cocaine is a helluva drug.

    adytum on
  • ObsidianiObsidiani __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2010
    adytum wrote: »
    Since we're talking about South American remedies like mate, I hear cocaine is a helluva drug.

    It's too expensive for everyday use.

    Obsidiani on
  • WassermeloneWassermelone Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Jasconius wrote: »
    My diet is balanced but in terms of raw calorie's it's prooobably slightly below average. I don't eat very many fatty foods and I hardly touch candy/desert at all, but I do drink at least a soda a day, never more than two though.

    Physically I am thin, sedentary, and only get a couple of hours of light exercise per week in the form of skating.

    Soda is basically liquid candy bar.

    Anyway, as has been said, this is really normal. I get hit with the sleepies pretty hard myself. A friend of mine at my last place of work would routinely nod off unintentionally. Fortunately he was in a corner and not very visible.... unfortunately he snored. It was like clockwork.

    Try a healthy snack like an apple or a good granola bar an hour or two before you get your sleepiness. And try taking walks.

    *edit
    The more complex carb thing that Obsidiani mentioned is good. The more complex the carb or sugar is the more evenly over time it is digested I believe. Less of a punch of energy and then a sudden lack thereof. One thing to note is that high fructose corn syrup is a very very simple sugar.

    Wassermelone on
  • eatmosushieatmosushi __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2010
    Thanatos wrote: »
    eatmosushi wrote: »
    Yerba Mate' is fantastic. Pick it up in teabag form. ALSO

    Rhodolia is a fantastic supplement

    Also, Royal Jelly + Ginsing (you can buy these pills at whole foods, they are amazing)
    I will sell you some Placebomaté that will work just as well as all of those, for half the price.

    I will bet dollars to donuts that you have not tried taking either on the required empty stomach and dosage.

    Yeah.

    Dollars to donuts.

    eatmosushi on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Spun uncontrollably skyward... Driven brutally into the ground
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