Suggest Treatment For Tiredness And Persistent Sleepiness

Posted on Sat, 3 Jun 2017

Question: So for the last month, I have been really really sleepy all day long -- even after 8 or 9 hours of good sleep. For the past 30 years, I have exercised every day and eaten healthfully. This is something new. When I took my vigorous walk 2 days ago, I had to force myself to keep walking. I was *tired*, I was sleepy, as if I've been drugged. I could happily take a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day but I'm not letting myself do it. I'm otherwise very healthy, as far as I know.

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (37 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
claritin may cause sleepiness

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I haven't understood whether this sleepiness started when you started taking claritin or before that. If they started together then be warned that claritin may cause sleepiness.

If the symptom was there before you started the drug then investigation would be required to determine the cause. The first things to do include the following:
- clinical examination and history taking by your doctor (very important)
- thyroid function tests (TSH is the most important test here)
- complete blood count (anemia may cause sleepiness)
- electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium)
- urea, creatinine (faulty kidneys with high urea values may cause such symptoms)
- a basic biochemical panel as a screening test for various disorders
- body temperature (feeling sleepy is very common when the temperature is higher than normal)

I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar