Are You Tired of Being Tired?

Are You Tired of Being Tired?
Fatigue – What To Do About It

It’s late Fall – the weather is still nice enough to enjoy the outdoors.  Soon, we will descend into our typical winter hibernation. Often, decreased activity leads to reduced resilience to stress and insomnia.  We also overeat during the upcoming holidays.

Fatigue is common – those who suffer with it feel exhausted and are less efficient or capable of keeping up with their routines.  They pay a price: decreased productivity and social disconnection – which can lead to a downward spiral.  Those with fatigue may also feel anxiety, depression, insomnia, pain, and/or decreased coordination, motivation, concentration, judgment, and memory.

It’s important to make sure someone with fatigue doesn’t suffer with an undiagnosed condition, such as hypothyroidism, diabetes, depression, cardiac disease, medication side-effects, or other chronic medical problems.

Prevention is key – maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors with optimal self care is critical (see my past blog posts for more!).  But, if/when we first feel fatigued, we get into action, we can minimize the negative consequences and avoid more lasting problems in the future.

Short bursts of aerobic, strengthening, and endurance exercises are helpful – keep your exercise gear in the car and schedule activities with friends and family.  Go to sleep before midnight and follow good sleep hygiene.   Forego the sugar and starch, and seek plant fats, like avocadoes, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, and nuts like walnuts, almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, and macadamia nuts, which feed our mitochondria, the sub-cellular organelles that energize our cells.  Eat more fruit and vegetables.  Limit alcohol consumption.  If necessary, seek cognitive/behavioral therapy from a mental health counselor.  If you are on antidepressant medication or a statin (that treats high cholesterol or triglycerides), ask your doctor if a trial on lower dosage or temporary discontinuation might be indicated.  Skip breakfast on occasion, or consume protein/fruit smoothies in the AM.  You can also read about the benefits of DHA (fish oil), probiotics, Vitamin D3, B Complex, glutamine, and Coenzyme Q10.

You can kick fatigue in the butt, before it kicks you in yours!