A common question patients have when coming into the clinic is "Why am I so tired? Am I just fatigued or is there something wrong? I haven't changed anything but I'm really tired."
Fatigue can come from many different medical problems and is a symptom of many chronic conditions. Let's take a look at some of the common chronic diseases that lend fatigue as a side effect.
Obesity can be a major factor for fatigue.
For every pound you are overweight, it is 10 pounds on your joints. Take for example 50 pounds times 10. The end result of that multiplication is 500 pounds. Carrying around 500 extra pounds every day with every step you take is going to leave you fatigued. This is something that we never even think about. Yellow fat is inflammatory.
Chronic inflammation is another cause of fatigue.
Not only is carrying around too much yellow fat on your frame inflammatory, the effects of the Standard American Diet can set a system aflame and lead to nutritional deficiency and fatigue.
Start reading food labels and evaluate all of the toxic things you put in your system. It is not just high fructose corn syrup (linked to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes) that is inflammatory, it is all of the other additives and preservatives in food that cause systemic inflammation and yield chronic fatigue!
The blue dyes 1 and 2 have been linked to brain dysfunction and hyperactivity. Red dye 40 and yellow 6 have been linked to DNA damage and cancer. Not to mention all of the additives and preservatives we consume every day.
Every cell in your body sees everything you eat in some way. If it is not nutritious in nature it may be causing low grade chronic inflammation and fatigue!
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Fatigue can come from the lack of sleep or lack of good quality sleep.
Most people don’t get nearly enough rest. We have altered our natural Circadian Rhythms with artificial light so that we can get more things accomplished. What happens as an end result is that the body suffers from the lack of good quality rest.
In some instances we may be laying in bed for a lengthy amount of time. The time we lay in bed, however, may not bring on good restful sleep. We toss and turn and our minds won't shut off. We get up the next day fatigued. This fatigue will then drive us to bad habits like excessive caffeine, over eating sugary foods, and other things as previously mentioned, which all lend more fatigue.
This behavior is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Peter's bank account eventually is empty. Now we are faced with having to face the effects of being in overdrive resulting in fatigue.
Sleep apnea can cause chronic fatigue.
It is a condition that must be considered and evaluated if fatigue has no other source. If you never wake up refreshed, can fall asleep at the drop of a hat or even while driving, you may need to be evaluated for sleep apnea. Snoring does not mean you have sleep apnea either.
Depression can cause fatigue.
Fatigue can be the result of depression which often manifests as a sense of overwhelming tiredness and lack of energy. Depression is a clinical diagnosis of exclusion. We want to make sure that we have ruled out anything else that may cause fatigue.
Thyroid dysfunction, female and male sex hormone dysfunction, adrenal dysfunction, and other endocrine hormone imbalance that can cause fatigue. It is not recommended to just jump on an anti-depression medication before having your full system evaluated and certain conditions ruled out. There are side effects to antidepressant medications that can cause weight gain and lead to signs of apathy that can be misinterpreted as fatigue.
Fatigue can be the result of anemia or a low blood count.
If you are diagnosed with anemia, it is very important that you understand why you are anemic. There are many causes of anemia to include blood loss possibly from menstrual periods, hemorrhoids, stomach ulcers or even colon and other digestive diseases. Anemia can also result from the bone marrow being deficient in its ability to produce red blood cells. Anemia can be corrected in most cases. Once the anemia is corrected, fatigue improves and goes away.
Fatigue can be from chronic diseases such as diabetes and uncontrolled hypertension.
It is important to understand the chronic diseases that have a symptom of fatigue associated with them. Often times if we improve lifestyle from the ground up to include appropriate nutrition, appropriate exercise, good hormone balance, appropriate rest and stress management, any chronic disease can improve or even be cured. The symptom of fatigue can be minimized in these instances if we take good care.
The most important thing to know is that fatigue needs to be evaluated.
This symptom overlaps so many conditions and can be just lumped into a diagnosis that is not real. If you are fatigued and don't know why, seek out a practitioner that will listen to you and evaluate all causes of fatigue before just putting you on a medication, calling you crazy, or simply depressed. Ignoring the symptom of fatigue can be serious. It can mean a delay in diagnosing a serious underlying cause.
We encourage you to understand the symptoms of fatigue. If getting a good nights rest does not absolve your fatigue, start to investigate the reasons why it's there. Ongoing fatigue is not normal.
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