Fatigue

Fatigue is a physiological or psychological state of a person due to prolonged stress associated with work, increased emotionality. A manifestation of this condition is a decrease in performance. Fatigue usually disappears after a long and high-quality rest of the body. However, with the accumulation of a state of fatigue day by day, it is important to understand what serves as its causes, since only by eliminating them, you can save your own health.

Types of fatigue

Fatigue can be classified according to the degree of manifestation into 3 types – pleasant, painful fatigue and weakness. Pleasant fatigue refers to such fatigue that occurs after a person is satisfied with sports activities, physical activities or mental stress. This condition disappears after normal sleep at night or a short rest.

Painful fatigue is manifested by painful symptoms – fever, lack of appetite, lethargy. There are many reasons for the disease state, but all of them are usually not associated with overload, but are an indicator of the occurrence of any disease. At the first signs of painful fatigue, it is recommended to seek medical help.

Weakness is the most common type of fatigue. It arises both as a result of negativity (a quarrel with a loved one, for example), and in the case of drastic positive changes that turned out to be unexpected for the body (promotion, for example). It is weakness that can lead to depression or chronic fatigue. The occurrence of this condition leads to the cyclicity of the disease – weakness entails fatigue, the fight against it leads to depression. It is almost impossible to break such a closed chain, therefore, if symptoms appear that indicate it, it is necessary to understand in a timely manner what is the cause of constant weakness and learn to avoid this cause or respond to it more objectively and less painfully.

Symptoms of pathology

Chronic fatigue syndrome has a number of special symptoms. All these symptoms can be divided into major and minor. Under the main symptoms, there is a debilitating severe weakness that does not disappear with quality rest. In this state, the performance of a person is greatly reduced. However, the patient does not have other diseases that could cause such weakness.

A minor symptom of the state of fatigue is its progression after physical exertion. Sometimes in such cases there is a low-temperature fever, sore throat and lymph nodes, soreness in the joints and muscles. Normal sleep is abruptly interrupted, both drowsiness and insomnia can overtake. There may be uncharacteristic pain in the head with neuropsychiatric disorders, for example, with photophobia, the appearance of spots or flies before the eyes, memory impairment and the ability to concentrate, the occurrence of depressive states.

When establishing a diagnosis, it is important for specialists to understand how long the patient has been constantly tired. In the absence of a connection between this condition and other diseases and its duration for more than 6 months, there is reason to say that the patient’s pathology has become chronic. Symptoms of chronic fatigue appear gradually. It is often similar to the symptoms of an acute respiratory viral disease – there are sore throats, fever, swollen lymph nodes. Further, in a progressive course, aching joints, muscle pains begin to be added. The patient feels that he cannot do what he used to do, because he physically cannot bear it anymore. Rest does not bring relief.

Causes of the disease

Chronic fatigue is caused by a variety of diseases. Many diseases last for a very long time and do not have pronounced symptoms, in addition to fatigue. That is why it is so important to pay attention to it. The most common causes of fatigue include diseases such as:

  • celiac disease;
  • anemia;
  • chronic fatigue syndrome;
  • sleep apnea;
  • hypothyroidism;
  • diabetes;
  • Infectious mononucleosis;
  • depression;
  • restless legs syndrome;
  • sense of anxiety.

Celiac disease refers to a type of intolerance to certain types of food (cereals) containing gluten (gluten). In 90% of cases of celiac disease, patients do not even know about it. If other symptoms occur, such as diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, doctors begin to suspect celiac disease, to confirm which the patient is enough to donate blood for analysis.

Constant fatigue due to anemia is the most common occurrence. Anemia occurs in all age groups, most often it affects pregnant women, long-term menstruating women, 5% of all living men. Anemia has such symptoms (in addition to the symptom under consideration) as changes in taste sensations from food, addiction to spicy, salty, spicy, sweet, shortness of breath, constant heartbeats and others. Diagnosis can be made by taking a blood sample.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis is the scientific name for chronic fatigue syndrome. This is a long-term chronic fatigue, which cannot be overcome for many months even with long sleep and rest. The environmental problems of the region, past infectious diseases, chronic pathologies in an acute form, etc., can contribute to the emergence of such a pathology.

Sleep apnea occurs when the upper airways temporarily close or narrow, resulting in repeated cessation of breathing. This provokes a drop in the level of oxygen in the human blood, a violation of the structure of sleep, the occurrence of snoring. With frequent and severe sleep apnea, drowsiness, fatigue, and memory deteriorate. Most often, sleep apnea affects middle-aged overweight men. Sleep apnea is aggravated by regular consumption of tobacco and alcohol.

With a deficiency of thyroxine – a thyroid hormone – a pathology such as hypothyroidism occurs in the body. Constant fatigue is the first sign of a sluggish disease. Among other manifestations of hypothyroidism, experts call weight gain, the occurrence of edema, brittle nails, dry skin, and hair loss. When taking a blood test for thyroid hormones, you can determine the occurrence of hypothyroidism.

Fatigue is a clear sign of diabetes, along with thirst and frequent urination. A blood test is recommended to diagnose diabetes. But with infectious mononucleosis, the symptom in question is secondary, the main signs of the disease are fever, high body temperature, swelling of the glands and lymph nodes, and sore throat. The second name of the infection is glandular fever, the pathology is more characteristic of adolescents. Fatigue in this case is detected after the disappearance of all symptoms of infection after 4-6 weeks.

When depressed, a person loses energy. He cannot sleep properly or is constantly sleepy, feeling tired throughout the day. And with restless legs syndrome, pain in the lower extremities occurs at night, it is accompanied by jerks of the legs, a constant desire to move them. In this case, sleep is disturbed, insomnia occurs and, as a result, constant fatigue. This syndrome is an indicator of many diseases, for the detection of which it is necessary to undergo an examination by a doctor.

Such a logical feeling as a feeling of anxiety can also become destructive if it does not disappear throughout the day. In medical language, this condition is called generalized anxiety disorder and it is diagnosed in 5% of the total population of the planet. Generalized anxiety disorder contributes to constant fatigue, restlessness, and irritability.

Also, the causes of fatigue can be a lack of vitamin B12, which is responsible for the functioning of blood and nerve cells that are involved in transporting oxygen to tissues (a decrease in this indicator leads to fatigue), a lack of vitamin D, taking certain medications, and problems in the cardiovascular system.

Only timely seeking medical help can help to make the correct diagnosis with constant fatigue. Eliminate the cause, identify the source of the condition – this is the main thing that treatment should be aimed at in this case.

Treatment of a pathological condition

Treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome is very difficult to carry out. Multiple causes that provoke regular exacerbations must be treated in combination, as well as independently of each other. It is also worth taking advantage of the symptomatic treatment of manifestations of fatigue. The most common remedy for this is a good vitamin complex. The doctor also recommends that the patient make adjustments to their own lifestyle to eliminate the causes of depression and dissatisfaction with life.

The initial stage of chronic fatigue syndrome is treated with sleep, rest, establishing a daily routine, and minimizing stressful situations. With a protracted course of the disease and vivid symptoms of pathology, it is important to send the patient to a psychotherapist in a timely manner. The doctor will prescribe a complex neurometabolic therapy that combines medications, a cognitive type of psychotherapy, physical therapy, and a balanced diet. Such a therapy regimen is recognized by the World Health Organization as the most effective for any diseases accompanied by chronic fatigue syndrome.

For preventive purposes, with frequent overwork, doctors recommend regularly playing sports to improve the functioning of the lungs and heart, training muscles, finding a hobby for yourself, spending time with relatives and friends, solving your own problems as they arise, without starting them to unsolvable stages, relax with the help of breathing exercises, give up sleeping pills, alcohol, cigarettes.

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