If you’re like many people, when the calendar turns to fall, you often find yourself feeling a bit sluggish compared to your summer self. Fall fatigue, also called autumn fatigue or seasonal tiredness, is a common condition with underlying physical and environmental causes. Feeling groggy or depressed during the fall or winter months can impact your quality of life, but the good news is that there are natural solutions to get you feeling like yourself again.
Making a few behavioral adjustments, like sticking to a fitness routine, eating well, and spending time outside, can go a long way. And natural treatments, like targeted B vitamin injections for fall fatigue, can help enhance your fall rejuvenation efforts. In this article, we break down what causes change-of-season fatigue and how to revitalize your energy and mood during colder months.
What Is Fall Fatigue?
If you’ve ever wondered why you’re so tired in the fall, it’s probably not just your imagination. As the days get shorter and the weather gloomier, physical changes occur in your body that contribute to making you feel low on energy, sleepy, or moody.
- With fewer daylight hours in the day, your body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) becomes disrupted. This throws off the balance of key hormones, such as serotonin—one of the “happy hormones” that regulates your mood and energy levels. The production of melatonin, the hormone that signals to your body it’s time to sleep, can also shift earlier, making you feel sleepy sooner. As your sleep-wake schedule is disrupted, it becomes harder to get a solid night’s rest.
- Less sunshine and less time outdoors put people at greater risk of vitamin D deficiency. This shortage can contribute to:
Persistent tiredness and low energy
Weakened immune function
Aches and pains
- These environmental changes also make it harder for people to stay active. Exercising less contributes to the cycle of tiredness, muscle stiffness, and poor sleep.
Does Seasonal Fatigue Affect Mood?
Fall fatigue symptoms include mood changes, too. Fall fatigue is closely related to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of depression that is also brought on by the long fall and winter months. In both conditions, lack of sunlight and disruptions to your body’s internal clock impair the functioning of dopamine.
This hormone is central to motivation and the rewarding feeling of accomplishing a task, being with friends, or enjoying a good meal. As a result, you can become depressed or irritable, lack focus, and lose interest in activities you normally enjoy.
How Can I Beat Fall Fatigue Naturally?
Fall can be a beautiful time of year, and there’s no reason why it should put you into a funk, as long as you work with your body’s natural response to the changing seasons.
- Light exposure: Take walks outside, even on cloudy days, especially within two hours of waking. If that’s not possible, consider using a SAD light box or light therapy lamp.
- Exercise regularly: Engage in moderate exercise 30 minutes per day (preferably outside) to promote mood- and energy-boosting hormones and improve sleep quality.
- Eat a balanced diet: Focus on lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, omega-3 fatty acids, and foods rich in B vitamins. Limit refined sugars, processed foods, and caffeine, which can cause energy crashes and disrupt sleep.
- Support healthy sleep: Go to sleep and wake up at regular times. Follow a relaxing bedtime routine, including turning off blue light-emitting devices like smartphones at least one hour before sleep.
- Maintain nutrient levels: Support your body’s natural processes by ensuring your cells have an adequate supply of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to adapt to seasonal changes. Consider vitamin injections for additional support.
How Can Vitamin Shots Help With Seasonal Tiredness?
While oral supplements can be a beneficial part of overcoming fall fatigue, their effectiveness is limited by having to be absorbed through digestion. This process affects their bioavailability and potential benefits. Injection and IV therapies, on the other hand, deliver precise doses of key nutrients directly into the bloodstream for optimal absorption and faster benefits.
Injections also allow medical professionals to tailor treatments to patients’ individual needs. A B vitamin injection for energy can deliver targeted blends of B6, folic acid, B12, and other complementary nutrients for a comprehensive treatment that supports energy production and mood regulation.
What Treatments Help With Fall Fatigue?
At Hydration Room, we offer several injection and IV therapies designed to boost energy and elevate mood, all of which may help counter seasonal tiredness. We particularly recommend our Happy Shot, which delivers a powerful blend of B vitamins for fall fatigue.
- Energy production: B vitamins serve as essential coenzymes for converting food into usable energy, helping to battle fatigue. B vitamins can also boost endurance, helping you maintain an exercise routine that contributes to balancing energy and mood.
- Mood regulation: B6 supports serotonin and dopamine production. B12 and folic acid play a role in regulating homocysteine levels, which can help prevent related depression and anxiety. B12 also aids in melatonin production, supporting healthy sleep patterns.
- Cognitive clarity: B vitamins support healthy brain function. By helping to protect nerve health and aiding in DNA synthesis and repair, B vitamins may help reduce brain fog.
- Stress response: B-complex vitamins support adrenal function and cortisol production for a healthy stress response. This may help prevent you from becoming overwhelmed and worn down when you are under increased physical and mental demand due to seasonal fatigue.
Discover Customized Vitamin Injections Today
Hydration Room’s injection and IV therapies are physician-designed and nurse-administered for maximum effectiveness. In under five minutes, you can receive a targeted nutrient boost that can help you overcome fall fatigue.
Book a Happy Shot today at a Hydration Room location near you.