Is Your Fatigue Due to Something Else?

Fatigue causes and symptoms

Fatigue causes and symptoms: It is common to feel weakness at some point in your life. Weakness is lack of power to do something or lack of energy, but fatigue is something different wherein a person feels completely exhausted without feeling sleepy or drowsy. Fatigue has some other symptoms as well. Whatever may be the case, fatigue can be due to a variety of reasons – which may include the following:

  • Dehydration
  • Lack of sleep
  • Physical exertion
  • Diet lacking proper nutrients
  • Loss of appetite
  • Deficiency of vitamins and minerals
  • Smoking
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • Excessive coffee intake
  • Long-term illness
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Cancer
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Certain infections
  • Anemia
  • Heart failure
  • Heart disease
  • Autoimmune disease
  • Lupus
  • liver disease
  • Eating disorders
  • Kidney diseases
  • Variety of other infections can also cause fatigue
  • Steroids
  • chemotherapy for cancer treatment
  • Over-the-counter medicines
  • Antihistamines, painkillers
  • Blood pressure medicines

How is Fatigue Different from Weakness?

Fatigue causes and symptoms: Feeling burned out, drowsy, sleepy and lack of energy are not bad if it is not a regular issue. You could be stressed, bogged down and exhausted after some sort of strenuous activities – which is normal. Sometimes, you may feel sleepy, lazy, dull and weak, which is a sign of fatigue but not vice versa. Fatigue is a complete and overall feeling of weakness or tiredness or lack of energy. If you feel fatigued you will not have any energy or motivation to do some work.

Your fatigue may be due to several reasons including your lifestyle choices, environmental factors and certain health conditions. In fact, some diseases and disorders that cause fatigue can range in severity from mild to serious illness. Your lifestyle choices, such as sedentary lifestyle, obesity, poor diet, lack of sleep, your working style, lack of activity, lack of entertainment in day-to-day activities and poor diet can also cause fatigue.

You must seek immediate medical care if your fatigue doesn’t improve after making necessary lifestyle changes such as proper rest, sleep, nutrition and exercise. There may be some underlying health issue – a physical illness or mental health issue behind your fatigue. Therefore, you should see a doctor to know the hidden underlying cause of your fatigue.