Fatigue and Increasing Energy Level

Does anyone know any treatments for fatigue or increased energy level? What has worked for you? Thanks, Jeff

I have a lot of grogginess & fatigue in the morning, a combination of my medical conditions and medications. I've ended up on a small dose of Ritalin as needed, usually just weekday mornings. I haven't had any problems from it, nor have I needed to raise my dose. Only downside for me is that it is a Schedule II med (like opiates), so I need a new prescription each time. Typically doctors would try Provigil or Nuvigil first, but my insurance wouldn't cover those at the time (they are now FDA approved for conditions other than narcolepsy), and they may interfere with birth control pills, so I wasn't willing to try them.

My insurance also won't cover Ritalin (as I don't have ADD), but the generic cost is doable at my dose & frequency. Caffeine and energy drinks and such are a bad cycle to get into, and no matter what I tried naturally and lifestyle wise it didn't work, so medications it was. I wish there was enough time in the day to sleep 12 hours a night as then I may be able to get by without the Ritalin (except when driving long distances), but that isn't do-able when I work full time and have a long commute.

A good first step for fatigue is to see a sleep specialist, to check for any sleep disorders, assuming you've gone the general medical route already. They may also have an idea of conditions or medications that could be causing excess fatigue. They may be more likely to consider medications if needed. Best wishes.

I used to have a lot of sleepiness. I remember in college I would go to bed at 10pm, wake up for my 9am class and then go back to sleep until my noon class. I could never sit still for long periods without yawning and getting heavy eyes.  I went to see a sleep doctor and got the sleep study - he basically said I was indeed very sleepy but there was nothing wrong.  Years later, when I discovered that artificial food dyes made my migraines worse, I also discovered they contributed vastly to my sleepiness.  Now that I don't eat them, my migraines are much less painful and I am only slightly sleepier than the average person!