- Getting enough sleep but never feel like you got any sleep?
- Dozing off at work?
- Can’t show up for your family the way you want to?
Fatigue is exhausting. It never feels like you can get out from under it or catch up. What are the causes of that fatigue that has been pulling you down like quicksand?
Some causes are simple, others more complicated, but fatigue is generally caused by mental health conditions like:
- Seasonal affective disorder
- Physical health conditions like a hormone imbalance
- Lifestyle factors like grief or stress
Don’t worry, with the help of a doctor, your fatigue, as well as a host of other symptoms you may have noticed, is likely treatable with:
- Lifestyle changes
- New habits combined
- Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)
- Supplements
For any treatment to work, it’s essential to know what you are treating. You are already familiar with the symptoms of fatigue, so let’s quickly take a look at the causes.
How Does Lifestyle Factor into Fatigue?
For example, your activities and other lifestyle choices may be the root cause of your problem. Fatigue can result from:
- Physical exertion
- Lack of physical activity
- Lack of sleep
- Being overweight or obese
- Periods of emotional stress
- Boredom
- Grief
- Taking certain medications, such as antidepressants or sedatives
- Using alcohol regularly
- Using illicit drugs, such as cocaine
- Consuming too much caffeine
- Not eating a nutritious diet
Many of these habits and activities can be turned around daily to help lessen fatigue. To help boost your energy levels:
- Drink enough fluids to stay hydrated
- Practice healthy eating habits
- Exercise regularly
- Get enough sleep
- Avoid known stressors
- Avoid an overly demanding work or social schedule
- Take part in relaxing activities, such as yoga
- Abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs
Mental Health Issues
Mental health conditions can also lead to fatigue. Fatigue is a common symptom of:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Seasonal affective disorder
A doctor’s assistance is required in diagnosing and alleviating these conditions.
Physical Health Conditions
Fatigue can also be a by-product or symptom of a larger health condition. The following medical conditions can also cause fatigue:
- Anemia
- Arthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Infections like cold and flu
- Sleep disorders, such as insomnia
- Eating disorders, such as anorexia
- Autoimmune disorders
- Congestive heart failure
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Emphysema
- Hormone imbalances
Hormonal Imbalances
Let’s take a more in-depth look at the final condition on the list, hormone imbalances. The body produces hormones in the major endocrine glands.
These glands include your:
- Brain
- Thyroid
- Parathyroid
- Adrenals
- Pancreas
- Reproductive glands
Some hormones are even produced in your gastrointestinal tract. For the body and its systems to function properly, your hormones have to be in balance.
Too much here or too little, there will cause a myriad of health issues. Sometimes it takes more than basic lab screenings to get to the root of the underlying imbalance. You may need to do a little more digging.
Which Hormones Can Get out of Balance and Cause Fatigue?
Progesterone and Estrogen
Excess progesterone and estrogen can make you sleepy. Imbalances in progesterone and estrogen most often occur during menopause, which is why women who are going through the stages of menopause complain of feeling tired and draggy.
Thyroid
You have a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck called a thyroid. Literally, every cell of your body needs thyroid hormones.
If it makes:
- Too little thyroid hormone, you may feel drained all the time.
- Too much, you go on overdrive and get burned out.
If you have a thyroid that is off its game, you may experience these symptoms:
- Cold feet, hands, or cold all over
- Need extra sleep to function properly
- Rapid weight gain
- Constipation
- Depression or lack of motivation
- Headaches that start in the morning but subside as the day goes on
- Thinning of the outer third of eyebrows
- Excessive hair loss or thinning
- Dry skin
- Brain fog
There are a host of thyroid problems that won’t show up on standard labs. Thyroid conversion issues, thyroid resistance, and autoimmune attacks against the thyroid (Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease) are among them.
There are a variety of other thyroid-focused lab tests your doctor can order to diagnose these other types of problems.
Testosterone
Both men and women can have low testosterone. Low-T usually occurs during the natural body changes that come from aging, like menopause or andropause, and can contribute to feelings of fatigue.
Cortisol
We usually hear about too much cortisol being the culprit when it comes to health issues. However, although rare, cortisol deficiencies do occur and are a cause of fatigue.
A morning time cortisol level test at your doctor’s office or a lab may be enough to uncover whether or not cortisol is the culprit.
If that test doesn’t do the trick, a more complex short synacthen test can be administered. For this test, the cortisol level in the blood is measured then a hormone similar to pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone is injected into the bloodstream to stimulate the adrenal glands.
After 30–60 minutes, the cortisol level is measured again. This test can also be administered in an outpatient situation.
Insulin Resistance
Many hormone imbalances are about deficiencies or excesses. Insulin resistance does not fit into that category— it is a hormonal resistance pattern.
Insulin resistance means the body is producing insulin, but the insulin is not doing what it is made to do— for example, shuttling blood sugar into your cells where you can use it.
Instead, this ineffective insulin goes through a cascade of reactions that causes several symptoms like:
- Sugar cravings
- If you miss a meal, you may feel irritable or lightheaded
- You may become dependent on coffee
- Feel shaky, jittery, or have tremors
- Feel uncharacteristically agitated, upset, or nervous
- Experience poor memory
- Have blurred vision
- Feel fatigued after eating
You’ve probably heard of insulin resistance concerning type 2 diabetes, but it can also happen in people who are pre-diabetic or have sub-clinical blood sugar imbalance.
As you can see, hormonal imbalances (or in the case of insulin, resistance) can cause a variety of symptoms alongside fatigue.
So, it’s also important to note that because all the systems in the body are interconnected if you have one hormone problem, you are likely to have other ones as well.
When Enough Is Enough
Feeling tired all the time affects your life on all levels. Make an appointment with your doctor if you’re feeling fatigued and you:
- Can’t think of anything that might account for your fatigue
- Have a higher-than-normal body temperature
- Have experienced unexplained weight loss
- Feel very sensitive to colder temperatures
- Regularly have trouble falling or staying asleep
- Believe you may be depressed
- If you’ve made lifestyle changes and addressed what you can address on your own but things still aren’t changing
The doctor’s treatment plan will depend on what’s causing your fatigue, so they will ask you a variety of questions and probably run some tests. Their questions may include:
- When did you start experiencing fatigue?
- Does it get better or worse at certain times?
- What other symptoms have you been experiencing?
- What other medical conditions do you have?
- What’s your lifestyle like and sources of stress?
- What medications are you taking?
So, if your doctor suspects you have an underlying medical condition that’s causing your fatigue, they may order some medical tests like blood or urine tests.
It May Be Time to Take a Whole Approach
For example, maybe you’ve tried a few things or even seen a doctor, but nothing is working. It may be time to take a whole approach.
Our EvexiPEL providers specialize in taking a holistic approach to your healthcare. We are committed to helping you find long-term, sustainable health solutions.
Start by Scheduling a Consultation
Meeting with an EvexiPEL provider can give you insight into the whole picture and what’s going on with your health. Your healthcare provider can help establish actionable steps and shed some light on what’s affecting your health.
Find the Right Supplements
So, depending on what your EvexiPEL provider uncovers, you may be prescribed certain supplements. You may have tried supplements before on your own, but a doctor’s guidance can do wonders for getting the right, high-quality supplements that are perfect for your situation.
Commit to Lifestyle Changes
You may have tried making these on your own, or maybe healthy habits are brand new. Either way, our providers will help you create a fully balanced plan by evaluating your life and offer the tools you need to improve areas and habits around:
- Stress management
- Sleep
- Exercise
Having the right balance of these three aspects is crucial to good health.
We Are Here for You
We’re here to help you get back on track and feeling energetic! Find the EvexiPEL provider nearest to you today to get started!