What should you know about feeling of tiredness?

Tiredness may feel like sleepiness, low physical energy, difficulty concentrating or a lack of motivation. It can develop after disrupted sleep, long working hours, emotional strain, intense activity, a change in routine or an infection. Dehydration can add to weakness, headache and light-headedness, while alcohol can disturb sleep and leave you drained the next day.

Sometimes fatigue is linked with a health condition. Anaemia can present with tiredness alongside breathlessness, paler skin or a racing heartbeat. Coeliac Disease, Chronic Kidney Disease and COVID-19 may also present with fatigue, although tiredness alone cannot identify the cause. Burnout is associated with prolonged work-related stress and emotional exhaustion. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome involves persistent, disabling fatigue and needs professional evaluation. Alcohol Use Disorder can affect sleep, mood and energy.

For a short-lived episode, keep a regular sleep and wake time, drink fluids regularly, eat balanced meals and use gentle movement if it does not make you feel worse. Reduce late caffeine, alcohol and screen use when these interfere with sleep. Note when the tiredness began, how it affects work or daily activities, your sleep quality, medicines, mood and any other symptoms. Do not stop prescribed medicines without advice.

Arrange a routine appointment if fatigue continues, keeps returning, limits normal activities or comes with weight change, persistent low mood, unusual thirst, changes in bowel habits, heavy periods or symptoms of anaemia. A clinician may review your history, examine you and decide whether tests are appropriate.

Seek urgent medical help for tiredness with chest pain, severe difficulty breathing, fainting, new confusion, weakness on one side, a severe headache, or signs of a serious allergic reaction. Get prompt advice if you cannot keep fluids down, are passing very little urine, or become rapidly much more unwell. These symptoms can signal a problem needing immediate assessment rather than a simple lack of sleep.

Ask: What could be contributing to my tiredness? Could my sleep, diet, mood or medicines be involved? Do my other symptoms suggest anaemia, dehydration, an infection or another condition? Would an examination or blood tests help? What changes should prompt me to seek care sooner?