Thread: I'm different lately...

I've done sports all throughout middle school and high school, doing track, soccer, basketball, cross country, you name it, but lately it's just been this season of cross country that really got to me. I've been tired a lot lately too, but it could just be hormones. I don't know... just remember that going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier is better for you than staying up late even if you do sleep later and get the same amount of sleep.

but the mp3s might be what's making you so tired. If you listen to it all night and have a constant noise, you might not be getting into as deep a sleep as you need to be in. You have REM cycles every hour, the first 3 or 4 being shorter and in lighter sleep (which is why your dreams aren't as vivid in the first few hours) and the mp3 might be enough to cause you not to get into those cycles as much as you need to be. Best thing for you to do would be just to stop for a few weeks and see how you feel. I know lucid dreaming is really cool and all but its not worth it to mess up your waking life for it.

Depending on your age, fatigue is generally a natural byproduct of growing up and maturing. I was perpetually tired (and still am!) throughout my early to mid teens, but this appears to fade with age. As lagunagirl said, it could be hormones, stress, or any number of factors.

I personally highly doubt that the audio you listen to at night has much affect on the restorative quality of your sleep (unless of course you're listening to it very loudly or it is waking you up). I sleep with a loud fan right next to my head all night, with my roommates jabbering to all hours just a few feet away, and still find I can get an excellent night's rest, or sometimes I can't sleep at all. It's really just dependent on bodilly processes.

Now, there are genetic and other biological syndromes which produce extreme fatigue that never fades, in which case things should be looked at. If you are having trouble functioning during the day, I would recommend seeing a physician. What we believe to be "illness" generally isn't anything to worry about until it starts to interfere with everyday life.

Hypothyroidism might be a possible cause for chronic fatigue, but you would be noticing a multitude of other symptoms, like weight gain, cold intolerance, depression, muscle weakness, etc. If you don't have more than 5 or 6 of the diangostic symptoms, I would not worry about it at all. Just give it time.