always sleepy

[hopetolive]

I am always sleepy. I doze at work despite sleeping 8 hours a night. I tried taking iron tablets. It helped a little but still sleepy.

what should I do

[Tissybell]

Follow up with your doctor's to check for iron levels and sleep apnea. I used to fall asleep at random before I started using a CPAP machine. When I become mentally foggy and fatiqued, usually it is due to my iron levels dropping . It is not normal to be sleepy all of the time. Sometimes, depression or medicines can be to blame.

[hopetolive in reply to Tissybell]

Thank you

[KidneyCoach NKF Ambassador]

Get to your doctor. Explain all of this to them. Blessings

[Turtlepad513]

It can be medication as well. Talk to your doctor

[HuiYuan]

Sleepiness is a common symptom of Type2 Diabetes. May be worth having your blood/sugar level checked. I kept dozing off at work and this was the cause. Once that was brought under control no more episodes.

[hopetolive in reply to HuiYuan]

Thank you for your advice. Will consult doctor and have my blood sugar levels checked

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Have your doctor test to see if it is anemia causing your sleepiness. Not all anemias are caused by an iron deficiency. This is why you need to see your doctor find out the cause. Vitamin D can cause anemia too, but you can take too much also. That is why it needs to be prescribed by a doctor/neprologist.

[medway-lady]

Thyroid issues will also make you fatigued so please GP asap x

[barbara55109]

Me too. It's gotten better since I started taking iron 3 x a day. My dog keeps trying to get me to nap, but since I work fulltime that is difficult. Lately I crash at 5 and nap and then wake up to put my pjs on. I wish I had a solution.

[RonZone]

So this has been an issue for me for several years now, and the closer I get to dialysis (start next month) the more sleep I need it seems. I've read where lots of folks have insomnia with CKD. I've got the opposite. If I don't get 10 to 11, sometimes closer to 12 hours of sleep each night, I find myself getting sleepy during the day. But when I'm able to "sleep it out" all in one stretch from 9 at night till 8 in the morning, I don't get sleepy during the day. I have no idea if dialysis will change this, but that's just the way it is for me currently. I've asked my neph and he offers no solution, and hasn't really offered to check iron etc. I'll just wait till I get on dialysis and then see how it goes and if I'm still having issues, I'll have an entire team to rely on for answers, not just one lazy neph. In fact I've been told I'll be rotating between three or four different kidney docs once I start dialysis. So do a better job than me and find a doc who will help you figure this out. I should've done that 2 years ago or more when I was struggling to stay awake and get everything done I needed to do and just get 7 hours of sleep each night.

[cadg in reply to RonZone]

Hey! I experienced this, too. Having dialysis regularly should help a lot. You may have a lot of built up creatinine or urea (or something else) and that easily can make you feel worn out. I was told that dialysis itself would make me tired, so I tried to schedule in the evenings.

[TopazForests]

It looks like you have gotten some great advice. Let us know what your doctor recommends.

[BabyTee]

Twice before dialysis I had both low iron and low B-12 levels. The B-12 and iron were so low that I couldn't supplement them, but had to get B-12 shots and Iron infusions. I'd see if he is willing to check for anemia, as well as B-12 deficiency.