Everyone knows allergies usually make people sneeze and have runny noses, but did you know they can also make you feel tired? Many patients experience fatigue and low energy without the hallmark signs of allergies. This article explores how allergies can make you tired, even if you don't have the usual symptoms. We'll break down the science in a simple way to help you understand why allergies might be zapping your energy.

One of the key symptoms of allergies is inflammation. Often times, this happens in obvious places like your sinuses (hay fever) or on your skin (eczema). Other times, this happens in other parts of your body, or may be too minor to cause typical allergy symptoms (Bush and Prochnau, 2004). This hidden inflammation can result in your allergies being masked, as the typical symptoms such as sneezing, itching, or a runny nose don't manifest.

Even if you don't notice the hidden inflammation—your body does, and is trying to constantly fight it in the background, which eats up a lot of energy from your mitochondria (the powerhouse of your cells). The loss of energy to fighting your hidden allergies is what results in your body feeling tired, low energy, or fatigued (Peng et al., 2018).

Allergies can also drastically affect your mood and stress levels. The study of psychoneuroimmunology looks at how your mind, body, and immune system all talk to each other. Allergies, when combined with stress causes your immune system to kick into overdrive, resulting in your body feeling more tired than usual—especially if you are fighting hidden or atypical allergies (Dantzer et al., 2008).

The best way to get diagnosed is to get an allergy test done. This can be done by signing up for our treatment plans or at one of our partner clinic locations. The results from your allergy test will help shed some light on whether your immune system is fighting inflammation in the background.

Getting treated is simple and can be done in the comfort of your home. Once the results from your allergy test come back, we can get you on our treatment plan–where our allergy specialists will review your treatment goals, and set you up with your custom-tailored at-home treatment kit. Most patients start to see results within 3-6 months, and see life-long remission of their allergies after 2 years of treatment (what we recommend).