Fatigue
Iâm starting to see more and more people coming in where fatigue is the primary reason theyâre coming in to see me. It used to be that it was on the list of things they wanted to address, but not the primary reason.
As with so many things, fatigue is on a spectrum from âIâm feeling a little tired today, I could use a cup of coffeeâ to âIâm utterly exhausted and all I want to do is sit down. I just have no motivation Iâm so tired.â  And there are many possible contributing factors that can lead to fatigue. Iâm going to share six of them with you today.
Possible Causes of Fatigue
- Poor Digestive Function – Especially if youâre tired after eating, or you bruise or bleed easily. When your body canât digest and absorb the nutrients you need, you get tired, your arms and especially your legs can feel heavy and tire easily. If those kind of symptoms are predominant for you, then digestive function is likely contributing to your fatigue.
- Poor Sleep â Weâll look at behavioral issues like blue light late at night from a computer or phone causing an excitatory response and interrupting your circadian rhythm and melatonin production and keeping you from sleeping, or it could be a physiological problem like anemia or dehydration based on whether itâs difficult for you to get to sleep, or stay asleep will give me information about how to treat the problem.
- Low Thyroid Function â I have a separate video on this, but if youâre cold most of the time, have a body temperature of 97.8 or less, have high cholesterol, your hair is brittle, falls out easily or the outer third of your eyebrows is thinning or missing, any combination of these issues could indicate low thyroid function is contributing to your lack of energy.
- Low Adrenal Function â Again, I have a separate video on this and there are multiple stages to adrenal function problems, but in general, if you canât tolerate stimulation like loud noise, or people arguing, or bright sunlight is hard on your eyes, then adrenal problems are likely contributing to your lack of energy.
- Anemia or what Chinese Medicine calls Blood Deficiency â this is what I struggled with after a really stressful job, and then a C-section delivery of my son, I was very blood deficient and for me not only was I exhausted, but I ultimately became depressed. Some of the key signs we look for are pale nail beds, pale face, and pale tongue, difficulty falling asleep, poor night vision, or floaters in your visual field. These things tell us to look at blood deficiency to overcome your fatigue.
- Infection â Any time your immune system is under stress, it can result in fatigue. Infections can be viral, bacterial, or fungal and include things like sinus infection, dental infections, skin infections, cellulitis, UTI, candida, and colds and flu. The more chronic the infection, the more drain there is on the immune system and the more likely it is to cause fatigue.
Ways We Treat Fatigue
So clearly, weâll treat each of these situations a little differently, based on the specific signs and symptoms youâre experiencing and in some cases we might also do some lab tests to help further clarify the issue. But, some of the ways we might treat these situations would include:
- Behavior modification like a wind-down routine before bedtime, reducing or cutting out stimulants like caffeine and sugar.
- Herbal medicine to either tonify the body in cases like digestive, thyroid, or adrenal problems or blood deficiency anemia, or overcome infection in cases of viral, bacterial, or fungal infection.
- And of course microcurrent acupuncture to give your body the voltage you need so you can heal. And it might consist of body points, ear points, or scalp points, possibly cupping, or moxa, depending on whether we are building up the bodyâs resources or getting rid of excess.
I hope that gives you some insight into how we would address fatigue.
Frequently Asked Questions
The number of treatments and frequency of sessions differs for each person and depends on the condition, how long youâve had the condition, and your overall health. More chronic and complex conditions can require 2-3 weekly treatments for 2-4 months. Acute conditions in an otherwise healthy person might require as little as 6-10 visits.
Having multiple sessions weekly in the beginning of your treatment plan allows us to boost your internal resources and kick-start your bodyâs natural healing abilities. This not only helps resolve your current condition faster, but helps keep you healthy long term.
We operate as an out-of-network provider. If you have a PPO plan that includes acupuncture, we will provide you with the appropriate superbill to submit to your insurance for reimbursement.
