<p>"At what point does excessive tiredness become something to seek medical advice for? "</p>
<p>Right before you ask folks on an internet forum…</p>
<p>joking!?!?</p>
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Actually if she was at home I would probably have already have dragged her off to the doctor. That is one of the harder things about her being at college - it is difficult to figure out how best to handle health issues when they arise. The internet forum is my sounding board - instead of sitting worrying to myself I bounce it off all of you. Partly in the hope that I am being a worrywart (which i know i can be at times) and you will tell me that - or on the other hand that you will affirm that I should be concerned. So much harder to deal with than when they live at home.</p>
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No problem. Crossed my mind also but not the case thankfully as she had an unwelcome early visitor and was complaining that her cycle is messed up and and joking that it is the fault of her room mate who is on birth control. But the being messed up could be contributing to the tiredness problem.</p>
<p>I am touching base with her daily this week to see how she feels. I know she had a big test last week and another this week and said she is finding it hard to make herself study as much as she usually does. If she is not feeling better soon I will make an appointment with the family Doc for next week as she will be home for Thanksgiving. She would probably rather see her than go to a walk in clinic or the school health center.</p>
<p>Just a thought, aside from all the worst case scenarios brought up here, you could look at her diet. Is she exercising?</p>
<p>I used to feel the need to nap from the hour after I crawl out of bed in the morning to moment I collapse onto my bed at night. Then I changed my diet (same food, just some more in amount and “healthier” but not overboard) and started to exercise more often (started out with an occasional jog).
After about a week I felt really different stamina-wise, and I found myself less likely to doze off at my first lecture (just as likely to doze off at my 5th lecture of the day though 
) and more attentive throughout the day in general. </p>
<p>I’ve kept this up since the beginning of the semester (more exercising though, I’m involved in activities that require me to do so) and so far I’ve just been having really stable days and I can’t remember the last time I’ve had the urge to nap in the middle of the day.</p>
<p>I hope that helped…</p>
<p>“Actually if she was at home I would probably have already have dragged her off to the doctor. That is one of the harder things about her being at college - it is difficult to figure out how best to handle health issues when they arise. The internet forum is my sounding board - instead of sitting worrying to myself I bounce it off all of you. Partly in the hope that I am being a worrywart (which i know i can be at times) and you will tell me that - or on the other hand that you will affirm that I should be concerned. So much harder to deal with than when they live at home.”</p>
<p>Sigh…I get it…going through the same thing here…So does this help? To me it seems it would make me MORE anxious if I didn’t have a medical backround. Best wishes to both of you. FWIW, excessive tiredness is probably one of the most frequent compliants I see, and I doubt I am alone. Outcome probably varies by specialty, but for me, I can’t recall it ever turning out to be something medically scary.</p>
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Hmm. Kind of. Makes me realize I am right to not just brush off my concerns. Some of what people have suggested is what I or her room mate or friends had said. Anemia, thyroid etc. I am not any less anxious but the responses reaffirm my inclination to have her go get checked out by the Doctor.</p>
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<p>Actually I do think her current idea of a healthier diet - not eating red meat etc because it is fattier - is actually leading her to eat less healthily rather than more. Also she is not exercising as far as I can ascertain. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to encourage her to get involved in some physical activities at school (they have a lot of really great activities available and a fantastic gym with a climbing wall I thought she would be interested in. She has never used any of it). Unfortunately talking about that arena is fraught with pitfalls in our case. I don’t know about if other Mom’s of teenage girls run into this but any mention of eating habits or exercise are not well received at all and immediately perceived as me being critical. So, having made that mistake before, I don’t go there.</p>
<p>Blood tests would most likely give the answer.
My niece went through a similar situation, and was getting progressively more tired. Could barely make it through a school day (8th grade.) The HMO doc did nothing: “Maybe she’s depressed.” Thank goodness they visited for Easter. Her uncle took one look at her and they were off to the emergency room. Turned out she had subacute bacterial endocarditis, brought on by a dental visit. She’d been super tired for 3 months. Just don’t let it go so long.</p>
<p>I’m assuming she’s not taking any new medicines, even OTC? Any changes in caffeine consumption? I agree with the majority. It’s probably something simple, but if she’s still unusually tired next week she should see her doctor. If anything gets worse this week, she can go into student health.</p>
<p>if her quality of sleep is not good
( sleep apnea- saggy mattress- tension)
she is still going to be tired, even if she was in bed with her eyes closed .</p>
<p>I would suggest either benadryl, if she is having trouble getting to sleep
or melatonin, which is a hormone & some people are deficient
- but there are easy to find supplements, to aid with better sleep.</p>
<p>( does she get migraines? Melatonin helps with those too)</p>
<p>I would also recommend, that she be sure to drink enough fluid, dehydration is common and affects all the body processes.
( coffee doesn’t count)</p>
<p>I would suggest a dr exam also, but those things are worth a try while you are waiting</p>
<p>If she is overwhelmed, depression could also produce these symptoms. I think it is definitely time for a physical exam. Good luck and hopefully she will be back to her old self soon.</p>
<p>A lot of young people have no idea how difficult it can be to go vegetarian. Close friends of ours are vegetarians, and they work hard and think out their meals much more carefully than most folks to make sure they get the nutrients they need. THey are not on a standard diet sans meat.</p>
<p>If she feels her “cycle is messed up” that indicates her hormones might be out of balance. The adrenal glands produce hormones called corticosteroids, including female estrogen and cortisol which helps the body deal with physical stress.</p>
<p>You might consider making an appointment with an endocrinologist for your D.</p>
<p>I wanted to mention that many people who take iron supplements take them at the same time as calcium supplements which forms an indigestible salt that prevents your body from picking up either. Iron should be taken with vitamin C or orange juice. </p>
<p>I think anemia is very likely if she has stopped eating red meat and reduced meat in general.</p>
<p>Don’t want to scare you, but I have read that diabetes may also be a cause of chronic & excessive tiredness.</p>
<p>Tho I would put my money on anemia or thyroid, both easily correctable.</p>
<p>First test you plastic mini blinds for lead poisening. You can get home testing kits at the hardware or paint store. Lead poisening in teens makes them sleepy tired and irratiable. Sounds like a normal teen but its extreme. The iron is a good solution either way. Iron supplement will keep the lead from binding to the blood. (Old wives tale and not a scientific medical factoid)
My daughter went Veggy and still is. At first just the withdrawal of red meat, then ears later they learn to balance with other protein products and eat colored food with high fiber. We also went thru lead poisening problems.</p>
<p>I’m curious about the lead poisoning from the mini-blinds… Apart from sucking on the miniblinds :eek: how does one get poisoned from them?
Agreed about the problem with vegetarianism, if not done carefully…</p>
<p>look into lyme disease/ clinical depression.</p>
<p>My Dad has a slow growing form of cancer and sees a plethora of doctors, he had been weak and not right for several months when his cardiologist noticed he was pale, it was anemia and all the symptoms every one had attributed to effects of cancer are gone. I was amazed the personal physician and oncologist did not notice the paleness nor worry about the low iron in blood work, but anemia can be huge in how you feel</p>
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<p>She finally admitted she *has *been feeling depressed. Started a couple of months ago and has been getting worse. When I initially asked her it she might be, her immediate reaction was no. But, after talking to her best friend over thanksgiving about how she was feeling, her friend convinced her to tell me. Doesn’t know why she feels that way - things are going well (though her grades are not quite as good as usual because she has found it hard to get motivated), social life is better than last year. So she is confused about why she feels this way. </p>
<p>Couldn’t get her in to see our doc over Thanksgiving and she wants to see her rather than someone she doesn’t know. So she will go see her once exams are over.</p>
<p>I have tried suggesting some self help until she sees the doc - exercise etc, but she doesn’t feel she can with exams coming up. I can’t convince her that taking 30minutes might help.</p>
<p>I feel helpless.</p>
<p>Just for everyone here, we had two young people and a couple of grownups we knew who were exhausted for a long time… and all turned out to have Celiac disease…which is really a very strong allergy to gluten…which is in a ton of things.
Many of these people took years to diagnose, because doctors over here do not think of it, even though it is extremely prevelant. In Europe it is looked at immediatley because they know to look for it. Every single one of these people at first was diagnosed with chronic fatigue…in other words…we have no idea why you’re so tired!
Even if she is depressed you might want to have it checked out, because exhaustion can cause depression.
Basically with celiac nothing can be digested because the vili in the stomach get destroyed by the body in response to eating gluten. It can take a couple of months of gluten free diet to feel better and for the villi to grow back. That also means no vitamins get digested, nor food. My father had it, too, but he was in his 60’s when he was finally diagnosed.
If I see anyone with months of exhaustion I always mention it and so far I’ve been right far too often.</p>
<p>“I feel helpless.”</p>
<p>You ARE helping, you just can’t control it.</p>