Fatigue - the underestimated plague

Fatigue is the body’s way of letting us know we need to slow down and take a look at our lifestyle. 

It is basically the body’s feedback on our physical condition.

Lots of visible factors may be the reason for fatigue: poor nutrition, lack or excess of physical activity and lack of sleep, but also less visible factors such as: pressure and stress handling. In fact, one of the main complaints people make is about fatigue. It is also one of the more common reasons for going to see the doctor.

There are different levels of fatigue; from mild fatigue, as a result of daily activities to intense fatigue, which makes it difficult for someone to get out of bed.
We all experience tiredness from time to time and it’s very natural, after a long day’s work, vigorous physical exertion or season change to feel tired, but you should usually be able to recharge and get your energy back after a good night’s sleep or a restful day.
That’s not the case with fatigue, which is a deeper and continuous tiredness, accompanied by a continued feeling of lack of energy and sometimes the sense of depression, nervousness or inability to concentrate/perform daily tasks. The feeling in a lot of cases is that you just don’t have the power to do anything and you’re just surviving throughout the day...activities which used to excite you don’t evoke any interest.

Fatigue is the symptom of a lot of medical conditions, but is usually related to lifestyle (a controllable factor). However, you should go see the doctor in order to exclude medical conditions such as: Anemia, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes, heart condition, Long COVID and more.

Fatigue is an evolving process, therefore you should recognize the primary reasons for it and address them accordingly, they can be: nutritional deficiencies, food allergies, stimulating substances (caffeine, sugar, etc.), sleep disturbance, lack or excess of physical activity, excess work, emotional stress, medical conditions (Hypoglycemia- low blood sugar level, hypothyroid- hypothyroidism, dysfunction of the adrenal gland- the gland that sits above the kidney, EBV, CMV- Mononucleosis and more).

We live in a fast pace world and we have to keep up in order to stay in the race…
If we were to live life by its natural and right rhythm we would have to find the balance between the level of activity and the level of rest. Most of us think rest is a waste of time, therefore we give it just enough time to allow us to function.
The attempt to compensate over the weekend for the lack of sleep hours during the week disrupts the body’s metabolic clock and therefore worsens the problem.
Meaning, sleep deprivation is one of the main reasons for fatigue.
Add to that the fact that people give less time to nutritional meals in a relaxed setting- we mainly just grab something to eat between meetings, eat out at fast food places, binge in front of the TV, heat up prepared meals in the microwave or eat too many industrial sweet or salty treats. This way we don’t provide our body with the vitamins and minerals it needs in order to function satisfactorily.

Sometimes tiredness or fatigue can evolve a step further and cause CFS- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (previously called Yuppie Flu) or in its other name- Myalgic encephalomyelitis. This kind of tiredness is very strong and is characterized by lack of vitality, making it difficult to carry out normal daily activities. It usually appears suddenly and can be prolonged or intermittent, and even a good night’s sleep can’t make it go away. The feeling is of complete exhaustion.
Common symptoms can include: muscle and joint pain, persistent sore throat, frequent headaches, sensitivity in the lymph nodes and more. The symptoms are very similar at times to those of a sever flu, except for one thing- they don’t disappear after a week or two, they continue to exist for 6 months or even more.

The physiological symptoms accompanying the disease are many and varied, which creates a difficulty in diagnosing it and challenges both the patient and the doctor.
For example, the symptoms can also be: irritable bowel, allergies, hypersensitivity (noises, smells, chemicals, medicines, etc.), arrhythmia, chest pains, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, tingling or burning in the extremities, fainting, chills or night sweats, buzzing or ringing in the ears, visual impairments, menstrual disorders, depression, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, panic attacks, cognitive disorders (fuzzy thinking, impaired judgment, short-term memory problems, etc.) and many others, while each of them can also indicate a number of other diseases, completely different from the chronic fatigue syndrome.

To conclude, if you’re feeling tiredness or fatigue for a prolonged period of time, for a reason that is not known to you (not after a flu, the birth of a new baby etc.), it is recommended to go see a doctor and/or a Naturopath in order to investigate and find the reason for it. By making a simple blood test you can exclude different diseases that may have caused it and check for any deficiencies (vitamin B12, folic acid etc.) which you can easily and rapidly make up for.
Alertness and awareness of the body and its basic needs is the key for keeping the balance between wakefulness and sleep and between vitality and fatigue.

Alternative medicine has varied solutions for the medical conditions that lead to fatigue and its symptoms.

Let’s prevent fatigue with some vital conduct.