When is FATIGUE or TIREDNESS considered a SICKNESS?

Everybody has met fatigue periods but what happens when fatigue becomes so intense that our daily activities are affected, that we still feel tired all the time despite rest or that we simply feel 'lazy'?

This sort of severe and disabling fatigue affects a lot of people all over the world. It is not uncommon patients go through great extent to seek help including consulting doctors for severe fatigue.

However when fatigue is intense, when it lasts and affects quality of life, it should be treated because the root of many diseases is due to lack of energy, thus disrupting the normal functioning of our body.

We do get tired, but when is it considered normal or abnormal tiredness? Am I suffering from 'disabling fatigue'?

We suffer from tiredness when we exerts a big physical or mental effort: the body lacks energy and muscle pain appears. Likewise, we find it difficult to concentration after an emotional stress or overwork. However, this tiredness disappears in few days with good rest and refreshing sleep.

Abnormal or disabling fatigue is when the extreme tiredness we experience has no apparent reasons. It has these characteristics:

• It is not directly related to a specific effort or to an increase in activity
• It is prolonged
• It appears after an illness
• It affects normal daily activity
• It impairs quality of life

Am I suffering from 'disabling fatigue'?

Symptoms related to disabling fatigue have diverse origins that we can classify into 2 categories:

• Physical symptoms: lack of energy, lack of strength, difficulty to carry out daily tasks, alteration in cardiac rhythm, including at rest.

• Psychological symptoms: decrease in attention, learning difficulties, tiredness feeling, demotivated, feeling down, sleeping disorders.

What are the causes of 'disabling fatigue'?

• Medical cause:
• Acute infections: due to a virus (e.g.  flu or hepatitis), bacteria (e.g : tuberculosis), parasite (e.g. malaria) or fungus (e.g. ringworm). 50% of all cases of disabling fatigue are caused by infections.
• Chronic diseases (long term diseases) : diabetes, neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, anemia (iron deficiency), cancers etc.
• Post-surgery or post-general anaesthesia
• Hormonal imbalance: during menstruation, menopause
• Physical cause:
• Excessive physical exertion
• Over vigorous sports activity
• Psychological cause:
• Change of life (divorce, relocation, trauma)
• Psychological shock

How the muscles are affected by 'disabling fatigue'?

• Muscles stop working normally and instead of eliminating waste, they accumulate it.
• Consequences are muscular fatigue and cramps.
• If there is no action taken to eliminate waste due to muscular activities, the muscle saturates and an intense and chronic fatigue settles.

How to we treat disabling fatigue?

• Rest is necessary but not sufficient on its own for recovery.
• It is essential you consult your doctor to identify and treat causes of fatigue (infection, chronic disease…) but also to take care of the consequences and eliminate the toxic waste accumulated in the muscles.
• A combination therapy aiming at improving OXYGENATION, BLOOD CIRCULATION, NUTRITIONAL THERAPY and DETOXIFICATION would be able ideal to assist the body to heal completely.
• Come schedule an appointment at DamaiMedic Klinik dan Surgeri, Kota Kinabalu to resolve your disabling fatigue effectively.