Fatigue

Causes

Certain illnesses do produce fatigue, as one symptom among others, and one of these is heart diseases. In heart failure , for example, the heart fails to pump enough blood to meet the body needs for oxygen. This will lead to fatigue together with other symptoms. Patients with coronary artery disease will feel fatigue especially with exertion. Fatigue in such cases is usually accompanied with chest pain.

In undetected diabetes  the blood sugar level is high and this seems to make the diabetic fatigued. Similarly, poorly controlled diabetes may cause the sufferer to experience fluctuations of blood sugar level and corresponding lassitude.

In severe anaemia the blood is thin and it is a considerable effort for the heart and lungs to supply oxygen and deliver it to all parts of the body. The fast heartbeat of severe anaemia may be accompanied by a feeling of exhaustion.

The classical descriptions of tuberculosis is that of a cough with weight loss and terrible fatigue, while the low blood pressure and exhaustion of Addison’s disease, caused by insufticient production of hormones by the adrenal glands, is rare.

There is also the unusual disease, myasthenia gravis, where the transmission of the nerve impulse at the nerve muscle junction becomes impaired because of an abnormality in the body’s chemistry. The sufferer feels intense fatigue in his or her muscles, but characteristically the muscles recover rapidly after rest. As the illness progresses walking involve longer and longer rests between paces. The sufferer’s eyelids droop and, in very rare cases, speech is difficult.

Certain types of mental illness also cause fatigue. In severe anxiety the patient is so tense from worry and agitation that any kind of additional mental effort or strain produces exhaustion. Only when the tension is reduced will the fatigue disappear. The symptoms of severe depression include early morning waking, lack of motivation, weepiness and guilt as well as fatigue. The fatigue has to be treated along with the other symptoms of the illness and lack of sleep.

Most virus infections leave the patient feeling tired. Sometimes they are followed by prolonged fatigue that lasts for months. Called chronic fatigue syndrome, it often produces muscular aches and pains after even slight exercise, and difficulty in concentrating.

Symptoms

Symptoms of fatigue do vary and can give a clue as to the cause. Fatigue in the early morning and never late at night is most typical of depression. And the person who seems to complain of being tired or exhausted all the time is also likely to be depressed.

Fatigue identified with specific aching muscles is more likely to have a physical cause, while the useless feeling of near paralysis that accompanies myasthenia gravis is quite different from any other type of fatigue.

Fatigue at otherwise peak activity times such as on a busy morning at work could be either physical or psychological in origin, whereas fatigue depending on the office temperature or the weather is likely to be a physical reaction.

Treatment

Where fatigue is one of the symptoms of a major illness, it is treated as part of that illness. Myasthenia gravis can be controlled by drugs, and diabetes can be stabilized by balancing insulin with diet.

The treatment of fatigue which is psychological in origin is more difficult. A medical check-up is perhaps a good start but, as likely as not, nothing will be found to be wrong. This is where the individual suffering from the trouble must take over: the cure for the majority of people must come from within.

A diet advised by your doctor, combined with exercises, could help. For others, it could be taking up swimming jogging or another sport. Exercise tones up the circulation, provides oxygen for the blood and should produce a feeling of well being.

Rest is seldom the answer to psychological fatigue. Earlier nights might help, but not a long lie-in in the morning. A rest during the day is to be avoided: it is far better to have a change of activity. Sleeping tablets should if possible not be taken. Almost all of them leave a hangover in the morning and make getting up more difficult. Older people are particularly prone to sleeping tablet drowsiness and fatigue during the day.

Even an unsolved problem can be the cause of feeling fatigued. And this can be treated in a variety of ways, from discussing the matter with a friend to asking the doctor to suggest a specialist counselor. It is seldom worth endlessly chewing over a problem alone.

General tips to overcome fatigue:

1. Go to your doctor for a check up.
2. Try self analysis to come up with the cause of your fatigue
3. Try a change in your life-style
4. Take up a new sport—perhaps jogging or swimming
5. Avoid boredom by reading and taking up a hobby
6. Vary your routine now and again
7. Try healthier living, less food, less alcohol and less tobacco
8. Take positive steps to solve any deep problem which might be worrying you
9. Try yoga as a means of relaxation
10. Try sleeping less instead of more