When was the last time you felt so tired you needed to take several breaks before you finished cooking dinner… or completed that report?
Fatigue is a common symptom most of us experience. The good news is that some of the causes are easily reversible. After we go through this post, you may catch yourself thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that before?!!”
So let’s try to put the pieces together and see if we can find an escape route, shall we?
Sleep deprivation: The easiest cause to address yet sometimes the hardest to get to with our busy lifestyles (unless of course if long term insomnia is the culprit – more on that on a later post). Long shifts and night shifts put us more at risk.
Dehydration: Most of us are guilty of this at one time or another. Long working hours and sometimes poor access to water may leave us dehydrated.- Electrolyte changes (eg: sodium, potassium, magnesium): common causes being
- dehydration
- kidney disease
- other hormonal causes such as adrenal disease as below
Anemia: By reducing the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, anemia commonly presents initially as fatigue.- Pregnancy: Well the mother’s body is doing the work for two, so not surprising!
Hypothyroidism: Don’t be fooled by the size of this gland, when it comes to its effect on the body. Anywhere from metabolic rate (how fast we burn food) to the function of vital organs including the brain can be harmed when the thyroid stops functioning as well as it used to. Often being associated with anemia and obesity, it can also indirectly lead to fatigue.
Diabetes: Fatigue is a very common if not the presenting symptom in diabetes.
Cancer: Fatigue is associated with all types of cancer.
Heart disease: Often presenting with fatigue and shortness of breath with exertion, or reduced exertional endurance. In women: also with non-typical symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
Vitamin D deficiency: Never underestimate the power of vitamin D! Involved in most bodily functions including bone and teeth health, muscle function, allergy response, lung health, immunity, cancer prevention and even heart health, it is no surprise that vitamin D deficiency causes fatigue and reduced exertional endurance similar to what happens with heart disease and anemia.- Vitamin B12 deficiency: Vegans beware! Mostly of dietary origin, and with its most common food sources being of animal origin, vegetarians are at high risk of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Sleep apnea: The silent villain!- Often times not detected till other causes have been excluded.
- Frequent cause of morning headaches.
- Quintessential symptoms include snoring that gets progressively louder till breathing stops for a few seconds, then the body jolts awake (often not recalled) and goes back to breathing. But, it need not always present with snoring!
- If you wake up feeling like you ran a marathon in your sleep, it may not have been just those nightmares after all.
Depression/ anxiety: Let’s not forget that mental health concerns can cause fatigue as well.- Long term viral infections: major culprits being
- HIV
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- What about coronavirus? We don’t know yet 😉
Hormonal:- low testosterone (especially men):
- low estrogen and progesterone (especially women)
- adrenal insufficiency
- Psst…..I wonder if middle age got its name from the part of the body that stores our weight at that age…the middle section that is ;). After all the hormonal changes that occur in men and women at that age do lead to that! What do you think?
Stress: No-brainer; emotional stress such as major life events/ caregiver stress as well as physical stress such as doing too much for too long.
Autoimmune disease: Such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, multiple sclerosis.
Malabsorption from any cause: Nutritional deficiency from these (including celiac disease, pancreatic insufficiency and even serious intestinal parasitic infestations such as tapeworm) can cause fatigue.
Chronic fatigue syndrome: unknown cause, but said to be multifactorial. Often diagnosed when all other causes have been excluded.- Unresolved trauma/ Burnout: Both trauma and burnout share some common hormonal and neurological changes. In fact burnout behaves very much like trauma: click here to find out more. To find out how I may be able to help you with either, please click here to schedule a discovery session with me. You may also join our free heart-centered facebook group, Enlightened Divas, where every week we go through free tips and resources to heal from burnout and trauma. You may join the group by clicking here.
Please do not hesitate to discuss with your doctor if you suffer from fatigue. Hoping and wishing for plenty of energized days in your life!
