One of the most common "symptoms" of allergies is not a runny nose or itchy eyes, but instead is that constant battle with fatigue.  At one point, I was convinced that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome because I was constantly battling fatigue.  Fortunately, I began addressing environmental and food allergies which helped combat not only the allergies, but also the fatigue.  At the time though, it never occurred to me that the fatigue was linked to my allergies.

In my experience, I’ve found traditional MDs would rather run tests than try to chase down a food based allergy.  My own mother still is seeking the "holy grail"… a pill that will relieve her constant fatigue.  She has yet to have a Medical Doctor suggest a food allergy… even though her daughter and her daughter’s children all have food allergies.  The doctors don’t ask and my mother doesn’t offer it up either.  She’s looking for a pill and her long list of doctors is more than willing to test away.  She finally found a doctor who would prescribe thyroid medicine for her.  It helped for about 6 weeks… now a year later, she’s dependent upon the medication and she feels more fatigued than ever.

Doug Samuel over at Allergy Details offers a GREAT explanation of the allergy/fatigue connection:

The first is that an allergic reaction is like being sick. Normally, we become sick when we have an infection. The body fights it off, which takes lots of energy. Result: you get tired.

An allergy is the body mistakenly thinking that an ordinary substance such as a wheat protein or gluten, is an infection. The body is wrong, but it treats the substance in the same way as an infection. Result: you get tired, just like having the flu or a cold.

The other reason, and I know this happens in my case, is that allergies can affect your sleep. If you can’t sleep properly, you will feel a bit tired the first day, more the next, and eventually you will become chronically fatigued. Add this to the tiring effects of the body fighting the substance you are allergic to, and its not surprising that you get so tired.

If you’re constantly tired…. suspect an allergy.  Ask others around you to help "diagnose" you because chances are you’re too run down to accurately see the cause for yourself.   Begin by addressing the environment and if that doesn’t help, begin addressing food based allergies.  Doug offers a great self test for food allergies on his site  and he offers a list of the most common food offenders.