Yes, the feeling of being persistently tired/ exhausted is a common problem in diabetes.
There are many reasons why this happens:
- Diabetes causes an increased level of glucose in the bloodstream. However, cells of various body tissues are unable to take up this glucose, either because of a shortage of insulin and/or resistance to the actions of insulin and thus suffer from a shortage of it.
- Sleep is frequently impaired in diabetics, because of having to pass urine often and/or drink the water due to a sense of being thirsty always. Sleep may also be affected by pain in the limbs which is common in diabetes. Due to disturbed sleep, patients tend to feel tired.
- There are various medications used in diabetic patients, aside from anti-diabetic drugs themselves, which may contribute to the feeling of fatigue: examples are beta-blockers and statins.
- Sometimes people with diabetes end up having hypoglycemia attacks, where the glucose level in the blood becomes dangerously low as a result of certain medications and/or improper meal timings. This results in severe fatigue which may take time to recover fully.
- Diabetes patients are also more prone to develop heart disease, kidney failure and nerve damage. Also, infections are more common in diabetes. These conditions themselves may cause persistent tiredness.
- Also, depression is a frequent accompaniment of diabetes. This tends to be associated with lethargy and tiredness.
- Type 2 diabetic patients are frequently overweight or obese. This excess weight also tends to cause tiredness in patients.
