Chronic Fatigue – Sick and Tired Of Being Sick and Tired?

 

Chronic fatigue is becoming so common in our society that it could almost considered to be “normal”.  Some eventually become concerned enough that they seek medical attention.  They undergo a series of tests, usually to find out that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them (according to the tests).  But how can you feel so bad all the time and be “perfectly healthy”?

The short answer to that question is you are not perfectly healthy, you’re just not overtly diseased.  Medical tests are excellent for detecting disease, but health is more than just the absence of outright disease, and medical tests are pretty useless when it comes to determining if you are really healthy. 

 A number of different things can contribute to chronic fatigue, and fortunately most of them can be corrected with a little bit of awareness and effort.  For the purposes of this post, I’ll summarize the major factors and in future posts I’ll discuss each one in detail.

One of the first major causes of chronic fatigue is sleep deprivation.  Some people boast about how little sleep they get, as if it’s some “badge of honor” that signifies how hard-working they are.  While there may be times that one has to miss out on some sleep because of work, school, or family commitments, in the long-run depriving yourself of sleep is counterproductive.

Another extremely common cause of chronic fatigue is stress-related adrenal gland exhaustion.  The adrenals are small, but extremely important glands that are involved in everything from the release of stress hormones, to controlling water and electrolyte balance, to producing certain sex hormones, to participating in fat storage.  The high levels of stress that many people experience in their daily lives can take a big toll on the adrenal glands over time and can reduce their ability to produce the hormones the body needs to handle stress.  This leads to chronic fatigue, lack of mental clarity (sometimes called “brain fog”, weight gain, and even depression.

Another factor in chronic fatigue can be thyroid problems.  The most common type of thyroid problem is hypothyroidism, in which the thyroid fails to produce enough of it’s hormones for normal body function.  One of the primary functions of thyroid hormone is that it stimulates the production of intracellular structures called mitochondria, which are the “power plants” of your cells.  Mitochondria produce energy from the food you eat.  Lack of thyroid hormone results in fewer mitochondria, which means less energy production and less calorie burning (which leads to weight gain). 

Poor diet is another common cause of chronic fatigue.  In particular, eating  a high carbohydrate dieton an ongoing basis, particularly if those carbohydrates are in “empty calorie” foods low in other nutrients, will typically result initially in hypoglycemia – low blood sugar.  Low blood sugar means low fuel for the brain, and reduction in alertness and ability to think clearly, as well as in physical fatigue. 

A lack of exercise will also often cause chronic fatigue.  While it might sem that exercise would only deplete your energy, in actuality it stimulates several hormone systems that increase the body’s efficiency in utilizing foods for energy production.  This not only results in increased energy, but also helps with weight loss.

Finally, using any kind of chemical agent to artificially stimulate you when you’re tired or calm you when you are overly excited or anxious will often lead to chronic fatigue.  For instance, trying to overcome a lack of sleep or poor diet choices with caffeine is effective in the short-term, but usually only adds to the load on your over-worked adrenal glands and results in more and more fatigue.  For many, they attempt to overcome the problem by taking in more and more caffeine (or using other stimulants) to compensate, but sooner or later, the “well runs dry” and chronic fatigue is the result.