A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Life is more challenging than ever in today’s new digital and fast paced world. As such, it is very easy for fatigue to set in for everyone. The following contributed post is entitled, Suffering Fatigue But Not Sure Of The Cause.
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There are some health symptoms that are not only affect your quality of life, but can be rather frustrating in terms of identifying the source of them. This is because certain symptoms could be contributed to by a mix of issues and causes, which is why doctors spend so much time learning their practice before they’re permitted to apply it.
Fatigue is one amongst these symptoms, and can be quite debilitating. This is especially true if fatigue seems to come on unannounced, without any notable cause that seems obvious at first. Moreover, fatigue can be so nondescript that the only medical advice you may get, at least initially, is to get better sleep, exercise, and eat more healthily. Of course, all those things count, but they won’t resolve the issue in 100% of cases, particularly if you’re already doing those things.
In this post, then, we’ll discuss how to go about considering fatigue, even if you’re not sure where this new issue stems from:
Has Your Nutritional Intake Changed?
If your nutritional intake has changed, then it could be you’re exposing yourself to an allergy you didn’t know you had, or you’re reacting with sensitivity to that new ingredient. It can be worth taking time to consult with an allergy doctor if only to rule this issue out.
For some people, sensitivities to food can be a little distracting but not entirely life-changing. For instance, people can be lactose-intolerant to various degrees, but fatigue is certainly a potential symptom that can be experienced.
If you’ve made a large change to your diet, such as limiting your carb intake, cutting out sugars entirely, stopping alcohol consumption or even switching from a balanced to ketogenic diet, your body can react with disrupted energy levels. This doesn’t have to mean you have to revert the change, only that you have to identify it, gauge its impact, and consider how long it’s going on for.
Note that your change in diet doesn’t have to be so drastic. Maybe you’ve been drinking coffee at around 3pm each day and it’s affecting your restful sleep each night, which is causing you to crash the following day. Even minor changes you don’t think about, such as this, can have an effect.
Are You Using Any New Medicines?
New medicines can, unfortunately, cause side effects or take time to adapt to. You may find this in the case of anti-depressants, anti-histamines causing drowsiness, and other prescription meds that might influence how you feel. Pain medications, especially stronger meds following surgeries, tend to cause people to sleep more easily.
It’s worth consulting with your doctor about your fatigue, especially if you’ve noticed a change since switching or lowering your medication intake. This way, they may be able to find an alternative, suggest that you complete the course to see if this is a temporary symptom, or quit this particular course of treatment altogether. In some cases, it’s just a matter of getting the dosages correct.
How Are Your Stress Levels?
Stress, and the hormone cortisol, can have odd impacts on the body. For example, it’s not uncommon for those under stress to break out in skin rashes because of it. However, stress can also affect fatigue levels too.
As you can imagine, stress is often a fear response, meaning that you often feel alert when under it. However, that “twice-burning of the candle” can lead to a deep crash which can lead to prolonged periods of fatigue.
If you’ve started a new job but feel incredibly tired because of it, have been suffering a health scare and feel exhausted thanks to that, or are simply dealing with new changes in life, it could be that your stress is manifesting itself, and needs a healthier outlet.
Could You Be Suffering Withdrawals
In some cases, withdrawals from both medicines and even bad habits can cause fatigue as our body learns to heal. We mentioned alcohol above (it’s always important to slowly taper off alcohol, particularly if you used to regularly binge drink, because the body needs it to function. A proper medical course of treatment should help with this), but it’s also important to include certain medications, and even consumption habits like sugar.
Even psychological withdrawals can have an impact, such as if you stop playing intensive video games or looking at erotic material online. That might sound odd, but both sets of stimuli are primed to encourage dopamine responses, which if abused over time can lessen your dopamine sensitivity. As your brain heals from this via a process called neuroplasticity, you may experience physical effects such as tiredness and faux-depressive symptoms.
What’s Your Routine Like?
It’s a simple question but it does matter – what’s your general routine like? Asking this question can help you more easily determine the best approach to take here.
For instance, if you rarely have a consistent bedtime due to shift pattern work (or just your neighbor purchasing a new speaker set), then it’s not hard to identify the culprit. If you’re rather disordered and messy in your personal life, such as finding yourself always rushing, or struggling to negotiate with children before the school run, or have too much on your plate, then your routine can be harmful, not helpful.
In these cases, addressing how you could alter your schedule for the better, or how you could help get back into a natural rhythm may assist you in feeling better rested during the day.
What’s The Extent Of Your Fatigue & How Does It Propagate?
Ultimately, it’s important to write down how your fatigue is being experienced. This can help medical assistants help you. Does it come at the same time each day? How pervasive does it feel? Does it stop you from feeling productive? Does it occur on the same days? How about the weekend when you don’t have to work?
These questions, if nothing else, can help identify a cause.
With this advice, you’re sure to take helpful steps towards understanding and potentially resolving fatigue.