Tag: chronic fatigue

Fatigue – Healthline’s definition of fatigue is a term used to describe an overall feeling of tiredness or lack of energy. It isn’t the same as simply feeling drowsy or sleepy. When you’re fatigued, you have no motivation and no energy. Being sleepy may be a symptom of fatigue, but it’s not the same thing. Fatigue is a common symptom of many medical conditions that range in severity from mild to serious.

10 conditions that can cause chronic fatigue are:

1. Anemia – A condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body’s tissues. Having anemia, also referred to as low hemoglobin, can make you feel tired and weak. There are many forms of anemia, each with its own cause. Anemia can be temporary or long term and can range from mild to severe. In most cases, anemia has more than one cause. See your doctor if you suspect that you have anemia. It can be a warning sign of serious illness.
2. Sleep Apnea – A chronic condition that occurs when your muscles relax during sleep, allowing soft tissue to collapse and block the airway. As a result, repeated breathing pauses occur, which often reduce oxygen levels. These breathing pauses are followed by brief awakenings that disturb sleep. While a sleep study is the best way to diagnose sleep apnea, there are certain observations in the mouth that indicate possible sleep apnea. If you struggle with fatigue, find out if sleep apnea could be affecting you.
3. Celiac Disease – A chronic intestinal disease caused by an intolerance to gluten. It is characterized by your own immune system attacking the villi of your intestines. Celiac disease is associated with maldigestion and malabsorption of many vitamins and nutrients. Silent celiac disease includes symptoms that often have nothing to do with the digestive tract. Many of them are not associated with classic celiac disease. These include: Fatigue, Insomnia, Brain Fog, Irritability, Dental enamel defects, Diabetes, Anemia, Itchy skin, Depression, Infertility, Neuropathy, and Migraines and/or chronic headaches.
4. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – A complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that lasts for at least six months and that can’t be fully explained by an underlying medical condition. The fatigue worsens with physical or mental activity, but doesn’t improve with rest.
5. Fibromyalgia – A long-term condition that causes pain all over the body. As well as widespread pain, people with fibromyalgia may also have increased sensitivity to pain, extreme tiredness (fatigue), muscle stiffness, difficulty sleeping, problems with mental processes (known as “fibro-fog”), such as problems with memory and concentration, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a digestive condition that causes stomach pain and bloating.
6. Chronic Pain – Daytime fatigue is commonly reported with chronic pain and can be just as challenging to manage. Restorative sleep is undoubtedly important and adhering to the guidelines for sleep restriction and sleep hygiene can improve the quality and often the quantity of sleep. Less well-known are diurnal rhythms, which are independent daytime biological patterns, and how they affect us and how we can affect them. Changing what we do, how and when we do them, can help these invisible hormonal and chemical patterns synchronize and as a result have less fatigue. 
7. Thyroid – Fatigue is a common symptom of thyroid disease. And, if you’ve experienced it, you’re very aware that this isn’t the typical fatigue that many people experience after a night of poor sleep or during a stressful time. It’s often extreme exhaustion that interferes with daily life. Whether you find yourself needing a nap every afternoon to make it to dinnertime or waking up unrefreshed and brain-fogged despite a full night’s sleep, it may make you feel better to know that you’re not alone.
8. Depression – Of the many feelings depression can cause, fatigue is one of the most common. Fatigue occurs in over 90% of people who are experiencing depression. If you’re currently experiencing depression fatigue, know that millions of peopleTrusted Source are in a similar situation. It may not feel this way, but you’re far from alone. Aside from fatigue, depression is often associated with persistent feelings of sadness or anxiety, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in activities that you used to enjoy.
9. MS – Fatigue is one of the most common invisible symptoms of MS. Some people find it’s the symptom that affects them most. But there are ways to manage it and minimise its effects on your life. Different factors can cause fatigue when you have MS. We separate them into primary fatigue and secondary fatigue. Primary fatigue is caused by MS damage in the brain and spinal cord. And lots of processes might be involved. One idea from researchers is that passing messages around nerve damage takes extra energy. Secondary fatigue is caused by living with MS symptoms like pain, or disturbed sleep.
10. Long COVID-19 – Many patients with “long” covid are experiencing extreme fatigue, a situation that has re-polarised approaches to treatment and rehabilitation. How long it takes to recover from COVID-19 is different for everybody. Many people feel better in a few days or weeks and most will make a full recovery within 12 weeks. But for some people, symptoms can last longer. The chances of having long-term symptoms does not seem to be linked to how ill you are when you first get COVID-19. People who had mild symptoms at first can still have long-term problems including chronic fatigue.

Source: Healthline, Mayo Clinic, Fatigue To Flourish, NHS, MS Society,Psych Central, Very Well Health , Institute for Chronic Pain, Mayo Clinic, Dr. Ruscio