Always Exhausted? You Might Have One Of These Conditions
These illnesses may be the culprit behind your heavy eyelids
When your immune system is grappling with a disease, that fight requires energy.
So it’s probably not surprising that almost any disease you can name has fatigue listed among its symptoms.
“Fatigue may be the most common symptom people report, and in and of itself it can’t point you toward a diagnosis,” says Roxanne Sukol, M.D., a preventive medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic.
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Also complicating matters: “There are so many different ways to measure fatigue,” says Anne Cappola, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism.
“Does it mean you’re sleeping more?” she says. “Or can’t exercise as long as you used to? Or don’t have energy at the end of the day?”
Fatigue comes in different flavors. “There’s physical fatigue, but also emotional fatigue and psychological fatigue,” she says.
“People underestimate the effects of psychological stress on energy levels, but in retrospect, after that stress is gone, they realize that was making them so tired,” Dr. Cappola says.
Whenever a patient sees Dr. Cappola for fatigue, she says she talks with them about reasonable expectations.
“Our society builds this belief that you should be on the run all the time, but that’s not sustainable for many of us,” she says. “If your schedule’s changed or you haven’t been sleeping enough or something else is going on, feeling tired is natural.”
All those caveats aside, there are a number of diseases for which fatigue is the main symptom.
Here are 8 of them, plus the associated symptoms that can help you identify one from another.
Related: 7 Reasons You’re Tired All the Time
An underactive thyroid can cause fatigue.
Dr. Cappola says this is one of the two fatigue-related conditions she sees most often.
Your thyroid is a small gland located at the base of your neck that regulates everything from your energy levels to your metabolism and immune function.
Thyroid issues are also common; 11 million people in the U.S. suffer from hypothyroidism.
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While a lack of energy tends to be the first and most prominent symptom of an underactive thyroid, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, and feeling cold all the time are associated symptoms to watch out for.
“I would also look for skin with a doughy appearance,” which comes from a thyroid-related imbalance in skin chemistry, Dr. Sukol says.
Adrenal insufficiency can cause fatigue.
While this condition is less common than hypothyroidism, Dr. Cappola says it’s the second endocrine disorder she looks for when a patient complains of fatigue.
“This is a disease where the adrenal glands don’t work well, and so you don’t make enough cortisol,” she explains.
She says light-headedness, weight loss, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and hyperpigmentation—or patches of skin that are a little darker than the rest of your skin—are all associated symptoms.
Chronic fatigue syndrome can cause fatigue.
The hallmark of this disease, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, is extreme fatigue.
Like, the kind of fatigue that makes almost any daily task—going to work, running errands—impossible.
Roughly 25 percent of sufferers are house- or bedridden by the disease. Aches, pains, and foggy thinking are also common symptoms among sufferers.
Experts think the condition may have to do with out-of-control inflammation triggered by even light activity.
Related: 12 Things No One Tells You About Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Anemia can cause fatigue.
Anemia is a condition in which the blood does not have enough healthy, oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
“There are many types of anemia, all of which are linked with fatigue,” Dr. Sukol says.
She mentions iron or B12 deficiencies or polyps as common causes of anemia—each coming with its own form of treatment. Along with fatigue, a pale complexion is also a common anemia symptom, Dr. Sukol says.
So are brittle nails, a racing heart, dizziness, and headaches.
Diabetes can cause fatigue.
Along with excessive thirst and frequent urination, fatigue is often one of the first and most persistent symptoms of diabetes.
Your body is struggling to manage the amount of glucose in your blood, and that can result in severe exhaustion, Dr. Sukol says.
Related: This Disturbing Chart Shows How Diabetes Rates Have Skyrocketed In 20 Years
Clinical depression can cause fatigue.
Depression is a brain disorder that can result in low mood and crippling fatigue.
“The biology of depression is not well understood, so it’s hard to say exactly what is causing the fatigue,” Dr. Sukol says.
But she says the fatigue associated with depression can make it hard for people to leave their homes or summon the energy for even simple daily tasks. Sadness, loss of appetite, and problems concentrating are all associated symptoms.
Related: 9 Surprising Depression Symptoms
Endocarditis can cause fatigue.
“This is an infection or inflammation of the heart,” Dr. Sukol says.
The infection or inflammation comes from bacteria in your blood attaching to the inner lining of your heart, according to a study in Circulation.
People who have existing heart damage or who have artificial heart valves are most at risk. Fevers and chills are also common symptoms.
Treatment includes antimicrobial therapy, as well as surgery in some cases.
Related: 5 Signs Your Heart Isn’t Working As Well As It Should
Sleep apnea can cause fatigue.
Thanks to constricted or blocked airways, this disorder shows up as shallow breathing or extended pauses in breathing during sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Those pauses can last up to a minute, and tend to resolve themselves with a snort or cough.
While the condition isn’t life threatening, all those breathing interruptions disrupt your sleep, which leaves you feeling tired during the day.
Heavy snoring is a related symptom. But it’s really something only a bedmate could help you identify.
The article 8 Diseases That Have Fatigue As The Main Symptom originally ran on Prevention.com.
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