Read This if You’re Tired all the Time

Fatigue…

• … is an incredibly vague symptom and therefore has few to no statistics.

• … is a not-so-subtle, phenomenological shift that your mind normalizes as a coping mechanism.

• … tends to be misdiagnosed as depression, leading to incorrect treatment, leaving the real problem unresolved.

• … can be treated.

On this page:

• Chronic fatigue is not our baseline

• What causes low energy and chronic fatigue?

• A case study

• Misdiagnosing fatigue

• Naturopathic treatments for low energy and chronic fatigue

• Anti-fatigue breakfast smoothie

Chronic fatigue is not our baseline state

Occasional exhaustion means that you’re exerting yourself. Good for you! Keep challenging yourself mentally and physically; the higher you push your bar, the more growth you will experience in every aspect of your life.

Constant exhaustion, however, means that simple things are as profoundly taxing on you as complicated things. This state precludes health and happiness. Persistent low energy is not our natural state, so if you feel tired every day, or become more tired than usual for no discernable reason, then keep reading.

What causes low energy and chronic fatigue?

In short, occasional fatigue is normal. Chronic Fatigue is typically a symptom of other ailments, while Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has no known cause.

First, there is the regular kind of fatigue. This is your tiredness after any mild, medium, or extreme physical, mental, or emotional exertion. I won’t label this sort of fatigue as good or bad because doing so would presuppose the contexts of you and your life. An athlete and an obese person, for example, both feel this type of fatigue, just after (wildly) varying degrees of activity.

The next two – Chronic Fatigue (CF) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – are irregular, and therefore more challenging to treat.

Chronic Fatigue is typically a symptom of other ailments, while the Syndrome has no known cause.

Chronic Fatigue is persistent tiredness that haunts you for months to even years. This means that you feel tired 80-90 percent of the time, but now and again, you get a great night’s sleep and wake up refreshed, eager, and excited to live your life.

Chronic Fatigue may be a standalone problem, or it may be a symptom of conditions like candidiasis, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, Hypothyroidism, adrenal dysregulation, depression, anemia, insomnia, diabetes, digestive malabsorption, vitamin deficiencies, or food and environment allergies. Research also links CF to lifestyle factors like nutritional deficiency, insomnia, physical exhaustion, depression, hormonal imbalance, or reactions to medication.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, however, is perpetual tiredness that is not caused by other medical conditions and cannot be relieved by resting more. Some research even suggests that the Epstein Barr virus or Human Herpes virus-6 may be responsible for CFS, although causation is still unproven.

Symptoms and consequences

Some common symptoms of both CF and CFS are headaches, low-grade fever, difficulty concentrating, irritability, joint pain, muscle weakness, muscle pain, loss of memory, lymphatic congestion, and throat irritations.

Besides the actual empty-and-heavy feeling of CF and CFS, extreme tiredness may indicate an advanced rate of brain aging.

A case study

I have a 25-year-old female patient. Her energy levels were nonexistent. She would feel lethargic after sleeping 16 hours a day. Simple things like taking the garbage out to the curb were a challenge for her. Keeping up with school and holding a job seemed impossible. Her social life vanished. She had sensitivities towards most foods, would show digestive symptoms, and felt even more tired when she ate. Medical doctors diagnosed her with:

• IBS
• “Oral food allergies”
• Spastic colon
• Depression
• Asthma
• Anorexia

None of her specialists could pinpoint the cause of such severe fatigue. The doctors focused exclusively on her digestive symptoms, which lead them to miss the real reason for the fatigue robbing her of her life.

It was a slow process, but through continual adrenal support, her energy slowly returned.

I realized that her fatigue derived from adrenal exhaustion when I checked her cortisol levels. They were low in the morning and high in the afternoon – the opposite of how they should be. And yet, conventional medicine does not treat adrenal exhaustion.

So I concentrated on her adrenal glands, revitalizing them with botanicals, vitamins, adrenal extracts, and IV infusions. It was a slow process, but through continual adrenal support, her energy slowly returned. Her confidence came back, and her digestive issues receded. She now lives a healthy, productive, and happy lifestyle.

She still sees me twice a year to maintain her new baseline, and I am happy to say that her future looks bright.

Misdiagnosing Fatigue

I find that conventional, specialized medicines often misdiagnose CFS as a result of their fragmented conception of the body. They obsess over labelling you, the patient, as a collection of separate parts; the diagnosis is based on an incomplete picture of the body that does not account for communication between the systems of your body.

Depression is the most common misdiagnosis of CFS. It makes sense – imagine you were startled awake at 4:30 AM, and that is how you feel for the entire day. Depression is not an implausible diagnosis, but it may be a false positive. After all, depression is often a psychological condition, while fatigue is a physiological condition.

So, you would be prescribed anti-depressants – but you are not depressed, you only test like it. The result: patients are mistreated, discouraged from fully understanding their health, and left to manage their symptoms as they continue seeking resolution.

All that said, because the symptoms of depression and Chronic Fatigue are nearly identical, the following techniques (that combat fatigue) will alleviate the symptoms of depression. Still, they will not solve the psycho-philosophical underpinnings of depression.

Treating fatigue

Intravenous (IV) therapy is by far the most efficient and immediate technique to get you feeling 12-hour rested in one to two hours.

Alternatively, if you’re among the needle-averse, then we can restore you with a course of oral supplements. Supplements like:

• Multivitamins
• B-Complex
• Iron (if your levels test low)
• Adrenal extract
• Ginseng extract
• Vitamins C & D
• Licorice
• Eleutherococcus (Siberian Ginseng)
• Rhodiola
• Ashwagandha
• Astragalus

We offer the online purchase of supplements through our digital dispensary exclusively to existing patients.

Internal medicine is not the only way to treat CF and CFS. You can also integrate new activities into your day-to-day life.

Lighter activities like Tai Chi, yoga, walking, and deep breathing exercise are fantastically easy practices to incorporate into your day.

I do, however, always tell patients to pace themselves and avoid more taxing exercises like running, weight lifting, or intense cardio. Exercise is great, but too much too soon will leave you more exhausted than you were.

Naturopathic treatments. for low energy and chronic fatigue

Medically speaking, fatigue is a complicated symptom. You may feel fatigued because of your stressful work environment, or because of adrenal exhaustion, or because of an underlying psychiatric condition, or because of long-term depression.

We collect information about your body before and during initial appointments. This includes a selection of self-report questionnaires and an Electro-Interstitial Scan.

The treatment we suggest for you will entirely depend on what we discover through our appointments and assessments.

While everyone is different, some initial treatments for low energy commonly help. We may suggest dietary changes to include healthful foods, like those high in vitamins and fatty acids, and exclude harmful ones. We might also recommend better sleep hygiene, supplements and a better sleep hygiene routine. These can help to boost your energy levels by providing the proper nutrients to the body.

Together, we can align your physiology with your health goals to stop your symptoms at the root.

Anti-fatigue breakfast smoothie

If you like smoothies, look for an easy-to-clean blender to ensure that your smoothies are smooth and blending is streamlined.

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy. Serves 2