WHAT CAUSES FATIGUE & HOW TO DEAL WITH IT
What Causes Fatigue
& How To Deal With It
Fatigue is a term that relates to a general feeling of exhaustion or a lack of energy. It’s not the same as feeling sleepy or drowsy. When you’re fatigued, you don’t have any motivation or energy. Sleepiness is a symptom of fatigue, although it is not the same
Exhaustion
What causes fatigue?
• Physical health conditions
• Lifestyle factors
• Mental health issues
On the other side, unrelenting tiredness lasts longer, is more severe, and is not eased by rest. It’s a near-constant feeling of exhaustion that builds over time and saps your energy, motivation, and focus. Fatigue at this level also has an impact on your emotional and psychological health.
Physical health conditions
• Autoimmune disorders
• Addison’s disease
• Congestive heart failure
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• COPD
• Emphysema
Lifestyle factors
• Lack of physical activity
• Sleep deprivation
• Obesity or being overweight
• Periods of emotional stress
• Boredom
• Antidepressants or sedatives
• Alcohol Consumption
• Drug use, such as cocaine
• Excessive caffeine intake
• Poor Diet
Mental health issues
You should make an appointment to see your doctor if you are feeling fatigued and you:
• Can’t think what is causing your fatigue
• Your body temperature is higher-than-normal
• You experience unexplained weight loss
• Sensitivity to cold temperature
• Trouble sleeping
• Experience depression
Your fatigue could be caused by a significant medical problem in some situations. If you have fatigue and any of the following symptoms, go to the hospital very away.
• Rectal bleeding
• Vomiting blood
• Severe headache
• Chest Pain
• Feeling faint
• Irregular heart rhythm
• Shortness of Breath
• Severe pain in your abdominal, back, or pelvic region
• Suicidal or self-harm thoughts
• Thoughts of harming another person
-
The nature of your fatigue, including when it began and whether it improves or worsens at different periods
-
The various signs and symptoms you’ve been having
-
Additional medical issues you’re dealing with
-
What causes your stress and your lifestyle
-
Medications you’re currently taking
treatment modalities to treat chronic health issues, including:
that can help you feel less tired?
A variety of strategies can aid in the reduction of fatigue produced by daily activity. To help you feel more energised and improve your overall health:
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water
• Make healthy eating choices
• Exercise on a regular basis
• Get adequate sleep
• Stay away from known stressors
• Avoid an overly demanding job or social schedule
• Participate in soothing activities like yoga
• Avoid consuming alcohol, cigarettes, and other illegal substances
and how you may be able to resolve it
It’s very usual to feel exhausted on a frequent basis. In reality, roughly a third of healthy teenagers, adults, and seniors say they are tired or fatigued.
Fatigue is a typical symptom of a variety of disorders and serious diseases, but it is also caused by simple lifestyle factors in the majority of cases.
Fortunately, most of these issues are simple to resolve.
This article discusses ten possible reasons why you’re always exhausted and offers suggestions for regaining your energy.
Consuming an Excessive Amount of Refined Carbs
Several studies have demonstrated that eating fewer sugary and processed carbs at meals and snacks results in more energy.
In one study, children who ate refined carbohydrate snacks before a soccer game felt more tired than kids who ate a peanut butter-based snack. Fortunately, research suggests that certain foods may help to prevent fatigue.
Compounds found in okra and dried bonito broth, for example, may help to reduce weariness and boost alertness. Replace sugar and processed carbs with nutritious meals high in fibre, such as vegetables and legumes, to keep your energy levels steady.
Adopting a Sedentary Way of Life
Not Enough Good-Quality Sleep
One of the more obvious reasons for fatigue is a lack of sleep. While you sleep, your body conducts a variety of things, including storing memories and releasing hormones that control your metabolism and energy levels.
You usually wake up feeling refreshed, alert and energised after a night of good sleep.
Adults require an average of seven hours of sleep per night, according to the Surrey Sleep Research Centre. Importantly, sleep should be restful and undisturbed so that your brain can cycle through all five stages of sleep.
A consistent sleep regimen, in addition to receiving enough sleep, appears to help reduce weariness.
Teenagers who went to bed at the same time on weekdays and weekends reported less exhaustion and difficulties falling asleep than those who stayed up later and slept fewer hours on weekends, according to one study.
Physical activity during the day may aid in getting more restful sleep at night. Exercising helped older people improve their sleep quality and minimise fatigue, according to one study.
Napping might also help you feel more energised. Pilots, who frequently endure exhaustion owing to long working hours and jet lag, have been proven to benefit from napping.
Go to bed at about the same time every night, relax before sleeping, and stay active during the day to improve the amount and quality of your sleep.
If you’re having trouble falling or staying asleep and think you might have a sleeping condition, talk to a doctor about having your sleep checked by a professional.
Food Intolerances
Symptoms of food sensitivities or intolerances include rashes, stomach issues, a runny nose, and headaches.
Fatigue, on the other hand, is a symptom that is frequently disregarded.
Furthermore, evidence suggests that fatigue may have a greater impact on the quality of life in people with food sensitivities.
Gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and maize are all common food intolerances.
If you think particular meals are making you weary, consult an allergist or nutritionist who may run tests for food sensitivities or suggest an elimination diet to figure out which foods are causing you problems.
You Aren’t Consuming Enough Calories
Exhaustion can result from consuming too few calories. Calories are energy units present in foods. They help your body move and fuel operations like breathing and keeping a stable body temperature.
Your metabolism slows down to conserve energy when you eat too few calories, which can lead to weariness.
Depending on your weight, height, age, and other characteristics, your body can function within a certain calorie range.
To avoid a metabolic slowdown, most adults need a minimum of 1,200 calories each day.
Experts on ageing say that, despite the fact that metabolism slows as individuals get older, elderly adults may need to consume at the very top of their calorie range in order to perform typical tasks without being weary.
Furthermore, when your calorie intake is too low, it’s tough to meet your vitamin and mineral requirements. Fatigue can also be caused by a lack of vitamin D, iron, and other essential nutrients.
Even if your objective is to lose weight, avoid extreme calorie reductions to keep your energy levels up. You can use the calorie calculator in this article to figure out how many calories you need.
Sleeping at the Incorrect Time
Sleeping at the incorrect time, in addition to not getting enough sleep, can deplete your energy.
When you sleep during the day instead of at night, your body’s circadian rhythm is disrupted, which is the biochemical changes that occur in reaction to light and darkness during a 24-hour cycle.
Chronic fatigue can occur when your sleep pattern is out of sync with your circadian rhythm, according to research.
This is a typical issue for persons who work nights or shifts.
According to sleep experts, 2–5% of all shift workers suffer from a sleep disorder characterised by excessive drowsiness or interrupted sleep for a month or more.
Furthermore, simply remaining awake for a day or two might lead to fatigue.
Healthy young males were given the option of sleeping for seven hours or just under five hours before being kept awake for 21–23 hours in one study. Regardless of the number of hours they slept, their fatigue levels rose before and after.
It’s best to sleep as much as possible during the night.
If you work shifts, though, there are ways to retrain your body clock, which should help you feel more energised.
Shift workers in one study reported feeling less tired and happier after being exposed to strong light pulses, wearing dark sunglasses outside, and sleeping in complete darkness.
Shift workers may benefit from wearing glasses that block blue light.
Inadequate Protein Consumption
Your fatigue could be caused by a lack of protein in your diet.
Protein consumption has been demonstrated to increase metabolic rate more than carbs or fat consumption.
This may help reduce weariness in addition to assisting weight loss.
In one study, Korean college students who reported eating high-protein meals such fish, pork, eggs, and beans at least twice a day had considerably lower self-reported weariness levels.
Other research has found that high-protein diets cause decreased fatigue in weight lifters and resistance training participants.
Furthermore, research suggests that branched-chain amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, may help to alleviate weariness.
Every meal should include a high-quality protein source to keep your metabolism healthy and prevent weariness.
Insufficient hydration
Maintaining good energy levels necessitates staying hydrated.
Every day, your body loses water as a result of the numerous metabolic activities that occur within it.
When you don’t drink enough liquid to replenish the water lost in your urine, faeces, sweat, and breath, you become dehydrated.
Dehydration, even mild dehydration, has been linked to lower energy levels and a reduced capacity to concentrate in several studies.
In one study, men who exercised on a treadmill and lost 1% of their body weight in fluid experienced more fatigue than those who did the same exercise while staying hydrated.
Although you may have heard that you should drink two litres of water each day, depending on your weight, age, gender, and level of exercise, you may need more or less.
The key is to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Thirst, weariness, dizziness, and headaches are all common signs of dehydration.
Using Energy Drinks as a Source of Energy
There’s no shortage of drinks that promise to give you a boost of energy.
The following are examples of popular energy drinks:
Sugar Amino acids Caffeine
B vitamins in high doses
Herbs
Due to their high caffeine and sugar content, these beverages may deliver a short energy boost.
For example, a study of sleep-deprived healthy people found that taking energy shot improved alertness and mental function by a little amount.
Unfortunately, as the effects of caffeine and sugar wear off, these energy beverages are likely to cause rebound weariness.
According to a study of 41 trials, energy drinks boosted alertness and improved mood for several hours after use, but they also caused excessive daytime sleepiness the next day.
Although caffeine concentration varies greatly between brands, one energy shot can have up to 350 mg of caffeine, and some energy drinks can contain up to 500 mg of caffeine per can. Coffee, on the other hand, typically contains 77–150 mg of caffeine per cup.
Even in moderate doses, though, drinking caffeinated beverages in the afternoon can disrupt sleep and result in low energy the next day.
To interrupt the cycle, consider reducing the number of energy drinks you consume and gradually weaning yourself off of them. Limit your coffee and other caffeinated beverage intakes to the morning.
High Levels of Stress
Chronic stress can deplete your energy and negatively impact your quality of life.
While some stress is healthy, severe stress has been related to weariness in various studies.
Furthermore, how you react to stress can have an impact on how fatigued you are.
One research of college students discovered that avoiding stress resulted in the most weariness.
While you may not be able to avoid stressful events entirely, learning stress management methods can help you avoid becoming fully fatigued.
Large reviews of studies, for example, suggest that yoga and meditation can help relieve stress.
These and other mind-body techniques may help you feel more energised and better able to cope with stress in the long run.
• Physical health conditions
• Lifestyle factors
• Mental health issues
Physical health conditions
• Arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Infections, such as cold and flu
• Hypothyroidism
(Underactive thyroid)
• Hypothyroidism
(Overactive thyroid)
• Insomnia
• Anorexia
• Autoimmune disorders
• Addison’s disease
• Congestive heart failure
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• COPD
• Emphysema
• Lack of physical activity
• Sleep deprivation
• Obesity or being overweight
• Periods of emotional stress
• Boredom
• Grief
• Antidepressants or sedatives
• Alcohol Consumption
• Drug use, such as cocaine
• Excessive caffeine intake
• Poor Diet
You should make an appointment to see your doctor if you are feeling fatigued and you:
• Can’t think what is causing your fatigue
• Your body temperature is higher-than-normal
• You experience unexplained weight loss
• Sensitivity to cold temperature
• Trouble sleeping
• Experience depression
Make an appointment with a doctor if you’ve tried unsuccessfully to address the most common lifestyle reasons of exhaustion, such as lack of sleep, poor eating habits, and stress, and your fatigue has lasted two weeks or more.
Your fatigue could be caused by a significant medical problem in some situations. If you have fatigue and any of the following symptoms, go to the hospital very away.
• Rectal bleeding
• Vomiting blood
• Severe headache
• Chest Pain
• Feeling faint
• Irregular heart rhythm
• Shortness of Breath
• Severe pain in your abdominal, back, or pelvic region
• Suicidal or self-harm thoughts
• Thoughts of harming another person
treatment modalities to treat chronic health issues, including:
that can help you feel less tired?
A variety of strategies can aid in the reduction of fatigue produced by daily activity. To help you feel more energised and improve your overall health:
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water
• Make healthy eating choices
• Exercise on a regular basis
• Get adequate sleep
• Stay away from known stressors
• Avoid an overly demanding job or social schedule
• Participate in soothing activities like yoga
• Avoid consuming alcohol, cigarettes, and other illegal substances
and how you may be able to resolve it
It’s very usual to feel exhausted on a frequent basis. In reality, roughly a third of healthy teenagers, adults, and seniors say they are tired or fatigued.
Fatigue is a typical symptom of a variety of disorders and serious diseases, but it is also caused by simple lifestyle factors in the majority of cases.
Fortunately, most of these issues are simple to resolve.
This article discusses ten possible reasons why you’re always exhausted and offers suggestions for regaining your energy.
Consuming an Excessive Amount of Refined Carbs
Several studies have demonstrated that eating fewer sugary and processed carbs at meals and snacks results in more energy.
In one study, children who ate refined carbohydrate snacks before a soccer game felt more tired than kids who ate a peanut butter-based snack. Fortunately, research suggests that certain foods may help to prevent fatigue.
Compounds found in okra and dried bonito broth, for example, may help to reduce weariness and boost alertness. Replace sugar and processed carbs with nutritious meals high in fibre, such as vegetables and legumes, to keep your energy levels steady.
Adopting a Sedentary Way of Life
Not Enough Good-Quality Sleep
One of the more obvious reasons for fatigue is a lack of sleep. While you sleep, your body conducts a variety of things, including storing memories and releasing hormones that control your metabolism and energy levels.
You usually wake up feeling refreshed, alert and energised after a night of good sleep.
Adults require an average of seven hours of sleep per night, according to the Surrey Sleep Research Centre. Importantly, sleep should be restful and undisturbed so that your brain can cycle through all five stages of sleep.
A consistent sleep regimen, in addition to receiving enough sleep, appears to help reduce weariness.
Teenagers who went to bed at the same time on weekdays and weekends reported less exhaustion and difficulties falling asleep than those who stayed up later and slept fewer hours on weekends, according to one study.
Physical activity during the day may aid in getting more restful sleep at night. Exercising helped older people improve their sleep quality and minimise fatigue, according to one study.
Napping might also help you feel more energised. Pilots, who frequently endure exhaustion owing to long working hours and jet lag, have been proven to benefit from napping.
Go to bed at about the same time every night, relax before sleeping, and stay active during the day to improve the amount and quality of your sleep.
If you’re having trouble falling or staying asleep and think you might have a sleeping condition, talk to a doctor about having your sleep checked by a professional.
Food Intolerances
Symptoms of food sensitivities or intolerances include rashes, stomach issues, a runny nose, and headaches.
Fatigue, on the other hand, is a symptom that is frequently disregarded.
Furthermore, evidence suggests that fatigue may have a greater impact on the quality of life in people with food sensitivities.
Gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and maize are all common food intolerances.
If you think particular meals are making you weary, consult an allergist or nutritionist who may run tests for food sensitivities or suggest an elimination diet to figure out which foods are causing you problems.
You Aren’t Consuming Enough Calories
Exhaustion can result from consuming too few calories. Calories are energy units present in foods. They help your body move and fuel operations like breathing and keeping a stable body temperature.
Your metabolism slows down to conserve energy when you eat too few calories, which can lead to weariness.
Depending on your weight, height, age, and other characteristics, your body can function within a certain calorie range.
To avoid a metabolic slowdown, most adults need a minimum of 1,200 calories each day.
Experts on ageing say that, despite the fact that metabolism slows as individuals get older, elderly adults may need to consume at the very top of their calorie range in order to perform typical tasks without being weary.
Furthermore, when your calorie intake is too low, it’s tough to meet your vitamin and mineral requirements. Fatigue can also be caused by a lack of vitamin D, iron, and other essential nutrients.
Even if your objective is to lose weight, avoid extreme calorie reductions to keep your energy levels up. You can use the calorie calculator in this article to figure out how many calories you need.
Sleeping at the Incorrect Time
Sleeping at the incorrect time, in addition to not getting enough sleep, can deplete your energy.
When you sleep during the day instead of at night, your body’s circadian rhythm is disrupted, which is the biochemical changes that occur in reaction to light and darkness during a 24-hour cycle.
Chronic fatigue can occur when your sleep pattern is out of sync with your circadian rhythm, according to research.
This is a typical issue for persons who work nights or shifts.
According to sleep experts, 2–5% of all shift workers suffer from a sleep disorder characterised by excessive drowsiness or interrupted sleep for a month or more.
Furthermore, simply remaining awake for a day or two might lead to fatigue.
Healthy young males were given the option of sleeping for seven hours or just under five hours before being kept awake for 21–23 hours in one study. Regardless of the number of hours they slept, their fatigue levels rose before and after.
It’s best to sleep as much as possible during the night.
If you work shifts, though, there are ways to retrain your body clock, which should help you feel more energised.
Shift workers in one study reported feeling less tired and happier after being exposed to strong light pulses, wearing dark sunglasses outside, and sleeping in complete darkness.
Shift workers may benefit from wearing glasses that block blue light.
Inadequate Protein Consumption
Your fatigue could be caused by a lack of protein in your diet.
Protein consumption has been demonstrated to increase metabolic rate more than carbs or fat consumption.
This may help reduce weariness in addition to assisting weight loss.
In one study, Korean college students who reported eating high-protein meals such fish, pork, eggs, and beans at least twice a day had considerably lower self-reported weariness levels.
Other research has found that high-protein diets cause decreased fatigue in weight lifters and resistance training participants.
Furthermore, research suggests that branched-chain amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, may help to alleviate weariness.
Every meal should include a high-quality protein source to keep your metabolism healthy and prevent weariness.
Insufficient hydration
Maintaining good energy levels necessitates staying hydrated.
Every day, your body loses water as a result of the numerous metabolic activities that occur within it.
When you don’t drink enough liquid to replenish the water lost in your urine, faeces, sweat, and breath, you become dehydrated.
Dehydration, even mild dehydration, has been linked to lower energy levels and a reduced capacity to concentrate in several studies.
In one study, men who exercised on a treadmill and lost 1% of their body weight in fluid experienced more fatigue than those who did the same exercise while staying hydrated.
Although you may have heard that you should drink two litres of water each day, depending on your weight, age, gender, and level of exercise, you may need more or less.
The key is to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Thirst, weariness, dizziness, and headaches are all common signs of dehydration.
Using Energy Drinks as a Source of Energy
There’s no shortage of drinks that promise to give you a boost of energy.
The following are examples of popular energy drinks:
Sugar Amino acids Caffeine
B vitamins in high doses
Herbs
Due to their high caffeine and sugar content, these beverages may deliver a short energy boost.
For example, a study of sleep-deprived healthy people found that taking energy shot improved alertness and mental function by a little amount.
Unfortunately, as the effects of caffeine and sugar wear off, these energy beverages are likely to cause rebound weariness.
According to a study of 41 trials, energy drinks boosted alertness and improved mood for several hours after use, but they also caused excessive daytime sleepiness the next day.
Although caffeine concentration varies greatly between brands, one energy shot can have up to 350 mg of caffeine, and some energy drinks can contain up to 500 mg of caffeine per can. Coffee, on the other hand, typically contains 77–150 mg of caffeine per cup.
Even in moderate doses, though, drinking caffeinated beverages in the afternoon can disrupt sleep and result in low energy the next day.
To interrupt the cycle, consider reducing the number of energy drinks you consume and gradually weaning yourself off of them. Limit your coffee and other caffeinated beverage intakes to the morning.
High Levels of Stress
Chronic stress can deplete your energy and negatively impact your quality of life.
While some stress is healthy, severe stress has been related to weariness in various studies.
Furthermore, how you react to stress can have an impact on how fatigued you are.
One research of college students discovered that avoiding stress resulted in the most weariness.
While you may not be able to avoid stressful events entirely, learning stress management methods can help you avoid becoming fully fatigued.
Large reviews of studies, for example, suggest that yoga and meditation can help relieve stress.
These and other mind-body techniques may help you feel more energised and better able to cope with stress in the long run.