Parker/2017
What are the causes of fatigue?
Fatigue is a very common complaint. About 80% of patients, in my practice, state it’s their main concern. Another 15% will complain about fatigue in conjunction with other symptoms. Most people are walking around sleep deprived. Think about quality and quantity of sleep. Do you dream when you sleep? You may be in bed for 8 hours, but only really sleeping 6 of those hours. That is not a sufficient amount of sleep.
Typically, you need 8-9 hours of sleep. There are studies, but nothing is conclusive, about how much sleep humans do need. The amount of sleep is very dependent on your age, stress levels, etc. But aiming for the 8-9 hour window is what works best for most people.
The other thing you need to consider is what is your relationship around your electronics. What is your sleep hygiene? If you are watching TV, texting, or using any other device in bed, this will decrease your brain’s ability to synthesize melatonin. This is the hormone needed for sleep. When you are working on or watching an electronic device right before bed, you’re confusing the signal for sleep and your brain is not going to produce the melatonin it needs to help you fall asleep and stay asleep easily.
What is the quality of your bed and bedding? This can make a difference in your quality of sleep. What about the time you go to sleep? You need to be in bed between 9-10pm. This will work with the natural sleep cycle of your body.
What is a good sleep routine?
First, don’t stay up past 11 pm unless you’re working a night shift. Second, turn down the lights and turn off the electronics 1 hour before bed. Start a ritual that tells your body it’s time to go to bed. You can journal, have a cup of tea, or take a warm bath. This is about nourishing yourself.
What else can cause fatigue?
Lack of exercise. Regular exercise will keep your energy up. What about your digestion? Food can make a difference in how you feel. Regulating blood sugar levels is also essential for keeping your energy levels up. Do you get tired around 3 pm? This could be your blood sugar level not being adequate and this could be a lack of protein in your diet.
Anemia. Anemia is another possible cause of fatigue. It could also be your endocrine system, specifically, your thyroid gland. Its job is to keep metabolism balanced in the body. You could have true hypothyroidism or it could be something called sub-clinical hypothyroidism. This means your labs look normal, but you have a lot of symptoms that indicate your thyroid function might not be optimal. The adrenal glands help regulate minerals, blood pressure, sex hormone, blood sugar, and the fight or flight response. With all the stress that happens in life, it’s an area of the body that can get fatigued. Adrenal fatigue is not something that gets diagnosed by western medicine but can be supported with food, herbs, and nutritional supplements.
The adrenal glands help regulate minerals, blood pressure, sex hormone, blood sugar, and the fight or flight response. With all the stress that happens in life, it’s an area of the body that can get fatigued. Adrenal fatigue is not something that gets diagnosed by western medicine but can be supported with food, herbs, and nutritional supplements.
What are the best tests to get done?
- The Complete Blood Count (CBC) is a great place to start as it shows an overall picture of your blood cells. It can show nutritional deficiencies, anemia, or bone marrow issues. The Comprehensive Metabolic Panel will look at our blood sugar levels and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium. The kidney and liver functions are also shown in this panel and you can see if they are doing their job to get toxins out of the body.
- Hemoglobin A1c is a 3-month look at your sugar levels.
- Thyroid function can look at TSH, Free T3 and Free T4. These are very important to ask for as often just the TSH is tested, but it’s not enough information to find out what is going on throughout the body with your thyroid hormones.
- Another one is B12 and Folic acid. Vitamin B12 and Folic acid are needed to create energy for the body.
- Vitamin D is a marker for immune and bone health. These levels should be between 50-80. Lower levels can affect your mood levels.
- Adrenal glands can be tested with saliva cortisol test where 4 samples are taken through the day. This is a simple and cost-effective test to check the output of your cortisol levels.
I had a patient who was ready to go onto anti-depressants when in reality it was extremely low levels of Vitamin D. Once she got on a pharmaceutical grade Vit D supplement, she was feeling more like her happy self.
What can you do today?
Start by eating whole, organic foods. Drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water per day. This is most likely around 65-85 oz per day. Athletes will need more and if you live in a place like Arizona, you may need more.
Keep blood sugar balanced by eating low glycemic foods. White foods are high on the glycemic scale. If you do eat carbohydrates (grains), make sure they’re complex such as brown rice or quinoa. I like getting most of my carbs from veggies. This will slow down the insulin response. Eat about 60 grams of protein per day. Make sure you have some protein with each meal and snack.
I encourage you to nourish yourself. Self-care is something so many of us don’t do very well. Find time each day to do something that makes you happy. [tweetthis]Start your morning with just a couple of minutes of gratitude and meditation.[/tweetthis]
If you’re doing all this great self-care and eating well, then maybe you need some herbs and supplements to boost your healing process. Nervous system tonics are very helpful at calming everything down so your system is not in constant panic mode. I like a few varieties from Designs for Health. It’s important to get your anti-oxidants as well. These are found in USANA supplements that I use with my patients. If fatigue is your issue, send me an email and I’d be happy to get you on the right supplements for your body.
