Understanding Fatigue
Here at Lake Oswego Health Center, fatigue is one of the most common concerns patients experience. Everyone feels tired from time to time, but fatigue is a feeling of constant physical or mental exhaustion, making it difficult to get through your day. It can have a wide range of causes, and there is no single test to confirm a diagnosis of fatigue, which can make it difficult to isolate and treat. Symptoms may mimic those of other health problems. As we age, we often forget how much energy we used to have, which can make pinning the causes down even more difficult.
Treating More Than One Condition
Many conditions and lifestyle factors can be the cause of fatigue. Changing your habits, such as diet, sleep, and exercise, may relieve your symptoms. If there is an underlying condition causing it, we can help.
Fatigue can fall into several categories.
Types of Fatigue:
- Generalized Fatigue: Sense of low energy or near exhaustion after little energy exertion
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A serious, debilitating, long-term condition making it difficult to perform everyday tasks
- Chronic infection: Continued infectious virus following a primary infection that can be linked to chronic fatigue
Fatigue can also be physical or mental.
- Mental Fatigue: Decreases an individual’s ability to inhibit responses, process information, and concentrate and is one of the root causes of decreased productivity and overall cognitive performance
- Physical fatigue: Tiredness and lack of energy caused by physical exertion, habits, routine, or infection
Fatigue treatment focuses on symptom relief. We will first address the most disruptive and disabling symptoms and then continue treatment from there.
Generalized Fatigue
This refers to a low energy level or a feeling of exhaustion reached after relatively little exertion. It is often accompanied by a decrease in motivation and productivity.
Symptoms
- Usually lasts between 1-6 months
- Muscle weakness
- Headache and dizziness
- Alleviates after rest
- Subsides after treating causative factors
To treat this condition, we will evaluate your sources of stress, sleep quality, nutrition, and exercise routine. Additionally, we will check your blood work to analyze your iron and Vitamin D levels, which can contribute to fatigue, and make sure an under-functioning thyroid is not the issue.
Treatments
- Optimizing hormones
- Digestive testing and treatment
Potential treatment may include optimizing hormones or digestive testing and treatment to improve your energy.
Chronic Fatigue
Chronic fatigue is a serious illness that affects many body systems. If you find yourself spending most of the day in bed or struggling with extreme tiredness for years, these may be signs of chronic fatigue.
Symptoms:
- Those of generalized fatigue
- Lasts longer than six months
- Difficulty thinking and concentrating
- Substantial impairment in activities
- Symptoms worsening following minor exertion
- Unrefreshing sleep
- Depression and anxiety
We will evaluate everything mentioned above and do all we can to treat your illness. We assess your condition and develop a thorough timeline of your health and any issues you’ve had, determining whether you may have a chronic infection and review past dental work to find out if you’ve experienced oral or gum infections (ongoing, untreated infection can be part of the root cause of chronic fatigue).
Treatments:
- Nutrients
- IV therapies
- Medications
- Ozone therapies
- Hyperbaric oxygen chamber
We will often treat chronic fatigue with nutrients, IV therapies, and medications while we are working at discovering causes. Ozone therapies and hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments have also been proven helpful.
Chronic Infection
Chronic infection can be linked to feelings of fatigue and is treated much like chronic fatigue.
Symptoms are almost identical to those of Chronic Fatigue.
The body’s response to an infection may cause inflammation that is hard to “turn off”, causing feelings of fatigue and pain. We evaluate sources, past testing, and treatment approaches to develop a plan that works for you.
Are You Ready to Reclaim Your Energy?
Don’t let fatigue control your life. If you experience constant exhaustion and trouble making it through your day, let the Lake Oswego Health Center clinicians help find the cause of your fatigue and get you back on track. Reach out to us to learn more or make an appointment.