Fatigue: Causes, Tests and Treatments

Is fatigue slowing you down? Sixty million Americans are so fatigued that it interferes with their daily activities and prevents them from achieving their goals. Emotional causes account for 40-80% of the cases, while physical causes account for only 20-60%.

Causes of Fatigue

The first step to finding relief from your fatigue is to take inventory of the things that might be responsible for your fatigue. In my 25 years of practice, I have found the following four main categories to be the principal causes of fatigue.

Life Choices & Challenges:

1) Lack of Sleep

2) Stress

3) Poor Diet / Dehydration

4) Lack of Exercise

5) Caffeine, Alcohol, Drugs

Nutritional Deficiencies:

1) Iodine (required for Thyroid hormone production)

2) Chromium (regulates blood sugar and prevents low blood sugar and sugar cravings)

3) L-Tyrosine (the precursor of Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Epinephrine)

4) Vitamin C (required for the conversion of Dopamine into Norepinephrine)

5) CoEnzymeQ10 (requires B2, B3, B5, B6, B12 and Folate) (responsible for energy generation within most cells of the body)

Hormone Deficiencies:

1) Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4)

2) Adrenal hormones (Aldosterone, Cortisol)

3) Male & Female Hormones (Testosterone)

4) Energy Neurohormones/Neurotransmitters (Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Epinephrine)

5) Sleep Neurotransmitters (Serotonin, GABA)

Thyroid hormone deficiency causes you to feel tired when you wake up and when you are resting. The feeling of fatigue decreases as the morning goes on and you get active, but comes back as soon as you sit still. With adrenal Cortisol deficiency you feel profoundly tired in the afternoon and evening, wiped out after any stress and lightheaded every time you stand up from a seated position. With a Testosterone deficiency, you feel tired all of the time, with muscle and joint pains and fatigue that gets worse with any exertion, low sex drive and a no sense of well-being.

A deficienciy of Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Epinephrine cause you to feel fatigued, depressed, blah and apathetic. Low Serotonin and GABA will cause you to have significant difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, with runaway thoughts that you cannot turn off so you can’t sleep. All of these cause fatigue. Determining which ones are deficient will enable you to take the nutritional building blocks to rebuild your levels and climb out of the fatigue doldrums, regain your energy and feel alive again.

Medical Conditions:

1) Anemia (Iron or B12 deficiency, blood loss, or anemia of chronic disease)

2) Diabetes

3) Cancer

4) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

5) Emphysema

6) Heart disease

7) Kidney Failure

8 ) Liver Failure

9) Restless Leg Syndrome

10) Sleep Apnea

TESTS

1. Complete Blood Count (CBC): Blood test for Anemia (most commonly Iron or B12 deficiency)
2. Thyroid Blood Test: TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), free T3 and free T4.
3. Adrenal Cortisol: Saliva hormone test collected 4 times during the day between 7AM and 10PM.
4. Neurotransmitters (Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Serotonin, GABA): Urine test.
5. CoQ10: Blood Test measures the principal nutritional marker for energy generation by the body.

Click here to take the Comprehensive Fatigue Assessment to score your most likely, non-medical, causes of fatigue.

TREATMENTS

Top 5 Anti-Fatigue Supplements

1. Peak Advantage High-Potency Multi-Vitamin
2. Replenish
3. Succeed
4. Isocort
5. CoQ10 MAX