Why You Feel Tired Because of Allergies and What You Can Do About It (2025)

Fatigue is a common allergy symptom, so people with allergies may often feel tired. This is due to several factors, including disruptions in sleep caused by allergy symptoms or medications. Allergy-related fatigue can lead to other symptoms as well, including brain fog and sleep disorders.

Why You Feel Tired Because of Allergies and What You Can Do About It (1)

What Does Allergy Fatigue Feel Like?

Allergy fatigue causes a person to feel consistently tired throughout the day. This level of tiredness isn’t the same as losing rest and being able to “sleep it off” the next night.

People who experience allergy fatigue will not be able to relieve the symptoms through rest, and it can persist regardless of how much sleep a person gets. Allergies can cause the nasal passage to become blocked, which can lead to poor sleep quality. Additionally, the immune system uses a lot of the body's energy to fight allergies, which can also contribute to fatigue.

How Do You Know if You Have Allergies?

What Causes You to Feel Tired?

There are several possible causes of allergy fatigue, including the body’s reaction to allergens and allergy symptoms that cause disturbances to a person’s ability to rest. These causes include:

  • Sleep disturbances: Allergies often exacerbate the symptoms of sleep disorders.
  • Allergy symptoms: The symptoms of allergies, including congestion, itchiness of the eyes and skin, and difficulty breathing, can make it challenging to get enough high-quality sleep, leading to tiredness.
  • Allergy medications: Many allergy medications are designed to relieve symptoms that can cause drowsiness throughout the day and hinder a person’s ability to get quality sleep at night.

A Cocktail of Fatigue-Driving Issues

When a person’s allergy symptoms and medications each cause fatigue, treatment can feel challenging. In most cases, nonsedating medications can treat symptoms without the side effects of sedating antihistamines.

Weather Allergies

Could It Be Allergic Rhinitis?

Allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, is a seasonal allergy that causes nasal symptoms when people come into contact with plant pollen.

The symptoms that develop, including an itchy and runny nose, sneezing, and watery eyes can all make someone fatigued.

How to Manage Seasonal Allergies

Pay Attention to Your Symptoms

When a person experiences fatigue due to allergies, they may also have other ailments as well, including:

  • Brain fog, which affects cognition and can be characterized as confusion, forgetfulness, and a lack of focus
  • The worsening of sleep apnea, which is a condition that causes a person to repeatedly stop breathing through the night
  • Breathing issues caused by inflammation-driven swelling and congestion in the nasal cavity

Understanding Allergy Fatigue Symptoms

When you know you have allergies and are experiencing fatigue, paying attention to your other symptoms can help you plan a course of action to relieve them and combat fatigue.

Allergy Symptoms

Medications Can Alleviate Allergies

Many effective allergy medications combat the condition's symptoms. Antihistamines are the most notable, but even if they're labeled nondrowsy, they can contribute to daytime tiredness.

Decongestants, such as nasal sprays or irrigators, may also effectively reduce congestion that drives sleep disturbances. These should not be used for more than a few days due to significant risk for side effects.

In some cases, a person may require more extensive treatment if over-the-counter options aren't working. Those can include:

  • Corticosteroids: Intranasal corticosteroids decrease inflammation in the nasal passages and can decrease congestion over time. These medications can take a few days to work and their strongest effects usually kick in after one to two weeks of continual use.
  • Allergy shots: Allergy shots, otherwise known as immunotherapy, can effectively treat allergy symptoms, especially those with hay fever and seasonal allergies. They expose the body to allergens in small amounts over time to desensitize the immune system in a way that hinders an allergic reaction.

Knowing What Treatment Is Right For You

The best way to determine if your fatigue is a result of allergies is to speak to a healthcare provider. They will help you identify what is causing the allergy and provide you with the optimal therapy route.

Track Your Triggers

If you experience allergy fatigue, tracking your allergy triggers can help you identify specific symptom patterns.

For example, if you experience seasonal allergies, noting when and at what times of the year you’re most likely to experience these symptoms can help you prepare for allergy fatigue more effectively.

An Overview of Pollen Allergies

Tips for Beating Allergy Fatigue

If you want to beat allergy fatigue, there are a few things you can do, including:

  • Identifying your specific allergen trigger through allergy tests
  • Finding medications that work for you by working with a healthcare provider
  • Reducing your exposure to your known allergens
  • Considering more extensive therapy plans, such as allergy shots
  • Preparing for those low-energy periods by learning more about diet and nutrition and how to use food to increase energy levels
  • Improving your sleep hygiene by keeping your bed free of allergens, sleeping on hypoallergenic pillows, and washing your bedding regularly
  • Developing a regular bedtime routine
  • Using products such as eye drops or a neti pot to reduce allergy symptoms that disrupt sleep
  • Getting regular exercise as much as possible to boost the immune system, reduce allergy-induced inflammation in the body, and improve energy levels
  • Managing stress levels, which can worsen the symptoms of allergies and lead to fatigue

Summary

Allergy fatigue can make getting through daily tasks difficult because of its association with tiredness, brain fog, and a lack of focus. Though it has many possible causes, there are actions you can take to beat the fatigue and restore your energy levels while treating your allergies.

Diet, nutrition, sleep hygiene, and exercise are all natural ways to combat allergy-driven fatigue. Proper medications or allergy shots are also great options, depending on your circumstances. Talk to a healthcare provider about your specific allergy symptoms, and they will help you find the treatment that works best for you.

5 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. South Florida ENT Associates. Can allergies make you tired?

  2. Tamm S, Cervenka S, Forsberg A, et al. Evidence of fatigue, disordered sleep and peripheral inflammation, but not increased brain TSPO expression, in seasonal allergy: a [11C]PBR28 PET study. Brain Behav Immun. 2018 Feb;68:146-157. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2017.10.013

  3. Xi Y, Deng YQ, Chen SM, et al. Allergy-related outcomes and sleep-related disorders in adults: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES 2005-2006. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2022 Mar 22;18(1):27. doi:10.1186/s13223-022-00669-z

  4. MedlinePlus. Allergic rhinitis.

  5. Penn Medicine Becker ENT & Allergy. Can allergies make you tired? Here's how to fix allergy fatigue.

Why You Feel Tired Because of Allergies and What You Can Do About It (2)

By Angelica Bottaro
Bottaro has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and an Advanced Diploma in Journalism. She is based in Canada.

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