Always tired

My progress in the gym has stopped and possibly even gone backwards and I personally believe it is because I feel wore out all the time now which in turn kinda makes me an ass and effects my whole life. I don't have that excited pumped up, ready to go attitude and not really sure how to get back there. When I look back through my journal it aggravates the hell out of me to know 10 weeks ago I benched 285 for 2 and then went up to 300(missed it but still felt good enough to try it) yesterday I could only hit 275 for 1 and it took everything I had to do that. I am still eating good, taking my protein and creatine so I don't feel like it is in my diet as that hasn't changed.

My wife and I recently had our first child 3 months ago and that has taken alot out of me but I still get right at 8 hours of sleep a night and sometimes more which should be plenty. No matter how much I sleep I still wake up dragging and feel that way pretty much all day. I feel the same way even if I sleep 10 hours a night on the weekends. I am a bit of a caffeine junky and have taken my share of EC and energy drinks but right now I am off the ephedrine and just do 1 energy drink first thing in the morning and then normally about 3 12oz cups of coffee up till lunch. That is all the caffeine I take most days and I don't feel like that is excessive. I have even tapered down to like 2 mountain dews a day and then back up but the only difference I notice is I become more jittery after being low on caffeine for a while then ramping back up.

Thinking of going to doc to get some blood work done but could my blood pressure, cholesterol or anything like that be making me feel this way or is that a waste? Any suggestions of something to try?

If diet and sleep are good, my first guess would be stress and maybe a little dehydration.

It could be any numbers of problems or issues...
- lack of true REM sleep. Sleep apnea of kind might cause this.
- excessive stress. With the addition of your first child there might be an increase in your stress levels that while might not be exactly physically taxing can be a huge mental toll and thus more issues.
- reduced amount of caffiene after a dependence. I'm not exactly sure on how dependent one can get on caffiene but you can become tolerant to it. So the less you take in the less of an effect it can have. What used to work, doesn't anymore so you're feeling tired from lack of it.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to see your doctor though just to rule anything out. They can do all the necessary tests to determine what the root cause is.

Nothing that hasn't been mentioned already, but take a really close look at your diet and stress levels - most people eat a lot worse than they'll admit, and stress from home and work is pretty hard to quantify.

Not saying you shouldn't get some blood work done though - it wouldn't be a bad idea.

I would try GABA or some SAM-E, this stuff (to me) was like a mild anti-depressant (maybe it was partly placebo not sure) i took the Gaba at the recommended dose for a few days it wasnt a high but i didnt feel low at all during those days then around the 4th 5th day i stopped taking it and feel good. Or maybe try popping a Benadryl before bed one night.. a real good deep nights rest can do wonders...just dont start popping them every night!


Sorry to go right to the pills, you could probably do a lot of changes in your environment or day that would help but...um...pills are easier.

I would try to cut back on the caffeine myself. It wont be a big noticeable increase in your mood right away but it will help over the long run. I used to do the same thing, an energy drink in the morning...drink my 3-5cups of coffee (kill the pot) then lay off it the rest of the day except for an occasional store bought cup. So to start i stopped the energy drink... replaced it with an apple and a multi-b vitamin has most of the same stuff and just went straight for the coffee. Then started cutting the coffee with Half Caff, now i drink mostly decaff maybe 2-3 cups in the morning followed by some really good tea.. like spiced apple or peppermint or some crap usually i mix in milk and then a scoop of banana protein powder to give it some flavor and get some protein.