Vital Rx Chronic Fatigue Archives

If you find yourself feeling tired all the time, you’re not alone. Life can be insanely busy in this day and age. Many people tend to skip out on sleep to get more done, so it’s no surprise tiredness is so prevalent. However, there is a difference between feeling tired and feeling fatigued. One happens after a long and stressful week, while the other is often chronic and results in exhaustion no matter what you do.

Getting to the bottom of your excessive tiredness can be difficult because so many different things could be at play. To help, here are 11 possible reasons you may be feeling tired.

What causes fatigue?

Various things can cause fatigue, such as the following…

1. Sleep Quality

Most people assume that a lack of sleep is the culprit behind their tiredness, but that’s not always the case. Getting the recommended seven to nine hours a night is important – but you might as well be pulling an all-nighter if your sleep quality isn’t where it needs to be. Sleep quality is more important than quantity. As you cycle through the sleep stages, your body uses that time to repair and rejuvenate itself. Without good quality sleep that allows you to go through all of these stages, you’re going to feel tired. End of story.

2. Diet

What you eat plays a huge role in your energy levels. If you find yourself consuming a diet that lacks essential nutrients, your body is going to feel it. This leads to excessive tiredness. Some nutrient deficiencies are more closely connected to energy, such as:

Iron
B vitamins
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Magnesium

Imbalances in your diet can also contribute to chronic fatigue. For example, if you undereat, your body doesn’t get all the calories it needs to function. When it lacks calories, it lacks energy.

woman yawning — *Image by Debashis RC Biswas on Unsplash: Why am I always tired and have no energy?*

3. Stress

Being chronically stressed will severely deplete your energy levels. Research shows that people with chronic stress can develop stress-related exhaustion disorder. This disorder is marked by – you guessed it! – high levels of stress that cause severe tiredness. Learning stress reduction techniques can help combat this.

4. Medical Conditions

Not all medical conditions will lead to fatigue. However, some can zap your energy levels and keep you running on empty a lot of the time. If you feel tired all the time, you could simply have an undiagnosed disorder. Conditions such as sleep apnea, anxiety, and diabetes can all deplete your energy levels.

5. Caffeine

Many people drink caffeinated beverages to wake themselves up. But depending on the amount you drink, you could be doing yourself a disservice. Drinking too much caffeine throughout the day affects how well you sleep at night. This makes you more tired the next day. Then, you drink more caffeine to help wake up again – and the cycle continues. Reducing your caffeine intake can help break the cycle.

6. Dehydration

Staying hydrated is important for a variety of reasons. When it comes to fatigue, hydration (or a lack thereof) could play a large role. As the day goes on, the body uses its stores of water to help keep things running properly. If you fail to replenish yourself, your body has to work harder to perform those same functions. Because of that, you’re going to feel tired.

7. Weight

If you are carrying some extra weight, you may feel fatigued a lot of the time. This is because obesity can actually increase the risk of developing chronic fatigue. It also plays a role in other health disorders that could hinder your ability to get good quality sleep. Mood disorders, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea are all connected to obesity and sleep quality.

8. Drugs and Alcohol

Using drugs and alcohol or suffering from dependence can cause you to feel tired all the time. People who are dependent on substances are far more likely to suffer from fatigue than those who are not.

person experiencing fatigue — *Image by Christopher Lemercier on Unsplash: What are the main causes of tiredness?*

9. Work Schedule

The body runs on an internal clock that is set to daylight and nighttime hours. When the sun goes down, the body readies for sleep. When it comes back up again, your body gears up for another day. That’s all well and good for people who keep a typical 9–5 schedule – but for people who have varied hours, the body’s internal clock gets disrupted.

This internal disruption can lead to sleep disorders that drive excessive fatigue. When the circadian rhythm in the body isn’t cycling as it should, your body and mind will suffer from excessive tiredness.

10. Lifestyle

People who live sedentary lifestyles are often subject to chronic tiredness. Research has found that daily movement can make a big difference in your energy levels. In some cases, exercise can even improve symptoms of fatigue.

Basically, people who move more experience better energy levels, while people who fail to exercise regularly are often lacking in the energy department.

11. Medications

Medications are often behind chronic tiredness. Of course, this depends on the type of medication you take. Blood pressure and mood disorder meds are notorious culprits behind excessive tiredness. When looking at antidepressants, studies show that they can hinder sleep and lead to fatigue.

Feeling tired all the time is not fun and it can make even the simplest of tasks that much more difficult. If you’re suffering from chronic fatigue or tiredness, the best thing you can do is make an appointment with your doctor, who will be able to investigate further. When they come to a conclusion, you can work on restoring your energy levels.

Featured image by Mel Elias on Unsplash

Feeling fatigued is normal for everyone at some points in their lives. Between demanding schedules, inadequate nutrition, and lack of good quality sleep, it’s no wonder that we can get overwhelmed and experience general tiredness.

But when the seasons are changing – from winter to spring in particular – those feelings can creep in with renewed vengeance, causing ongoing fatigue and lethargy. It might be hard to imagine unless you’ve experienced it, because most people are excited to be able to get out and do more when the weather gets warmer. However, there’s a reason why the changing season can lead to these unwanted symptoms, and it’s called spring fatigue disorder. So what is spring fatigue disorder, exactly? And what can you do to alleviate or avoid its symptoms?

What is spring fatigue disorder?

When the cold, dark days of winter begin to change into the longer, warmer days of spring, most people look forward to having more energy, getting outside, and enjoying the new season. Sometimes, though, people can actually experience feelings of fatigue, tiredness, and lethargy. Other symptoms that may occur are similar to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and include depression, dizziness, and headaches. These symptoms are not uncommon, with many people experiencing the physiological changes the body goes through during this season transition. This is what is known as spring fatigue disorder.

The disorder itself is not categorized as a medical or psychological disorder; however, that doesn’t mean it isn’t real or doesn’t cause symptoms. Some people may refer to spring fatigue disorder as reverse seasonal affective disorder, but reverse seasonal affective disorder typically occurs in the summer months. There are many reasons why a person may experience spring fatigue that have nothing to do with mental state. They are more so attributed to physiological changes in the body.

woman tired outdoors in spring — *Image by nrd on Unsplash: Why do I feel so tired when the weather changes?*

What causes spring fatigue?

One of the main causes of spring fatigue disorder has to do with daylight savings time. Daylight savings time occurs in many of areas of the world, and involves clocks being turned forward an hour in the spring, resulting in more daylight and a loss of an hour that first day. This small time change may seem insignificant, but that one-hour difference can have a big effect on the body. On the first night of daylight savings, people typically lose an hour of sleep. It also results in less light in the morning, which can affect how people wake up. This adjustment to less daylight in the morning and a lost hour of sleep can last a week or more.

Another reason that spring fatigue happens is because of seasonal allergies. When flowers begin to bloom and pollen counts become higher, people with seasonal allergies begin to experience symptoms such as congestion and itchy eyes. Other symptoms that have been associated with seasonal allergies include general fatigue and mood changes. These allergy symptoms can make it more difficult to sleep at night, which leads to tiredness the next day. The combination of seasonal allergies and the adjustment to daylight hours, along with a thrown-off sleep schedule, can lead to spring fatigue disorder.

How do you deal with spring fatigue?

For those who suffer from spring fatigue, it can be difficult to cope with the symptoms of lethargy and tiredness. Since there is nothing a person can do about daylight savings time in their area, it can be hard to avoid that first change that causes effects to their sleeping schedule and thus their overall levels of alertness throughout the day.

To help combat springtime fatigue that is caused by daylight savings time, you can adjust your sleep schedule ahead of time. By establishing a good bedtime routine, you can help your body adjust better to the change and be prepared for it when it comes. To help your body’s natural cycle adjust to daylight savings time, it might also be helpful to spend some time outside in the natural light, which can help to recalibrate your sleep-wake cycle.

woman outdoors with seasonal allergies in spring — *Image by Andrey Zvyagintsev on Unsplash: Allergies can play a big role in spring fatigue disorder.*

Exercise has been proven to help with fatigue. And with the warmer weather, it’s also easier to exercise outdoors. Getting adequate exercise is important all year round, but if you suffer from spring fatigue, it can help to improve your mood and enable you to get better-quality sleep. When your mood is lifted and you are having better sleep, you will feel less tired throughout the day.

When it comes to seasonal allergies, medications can be taken to help combat the symptoms. Antihistamines can be found over the counter or through a prescription, and can help relieve congestion and other symptoms of allergies so you can get a better night’s rest and feel more alert the next day. To help combat seasonal allergies in your home, you can keep allergens out by closing windows and doors and turning the AC on to reduce pollen exposure.

Spring fatigue remedies

Aside from spending more time outdoors or treating your seasonal allergies, there are other ways you can combat spring fatigue. Since diet plays a large role in energy levels, eating a diet rich in nutrients from seasonal vegetables can help to combat tiredness. Staying hydrated is also key when it comes to spring fatigue. The increased light that happens when the days get longer in the spring can cause headaches, which can often be relieved by drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated. Hydration has also been shown to help remedy general fatigue.

If you suffer from spring fatigue disorder, it might be difficult to combat the feelings and symptoms that you are experiencing (especially when everyone else seems to be enjoying the seasonal change). However, there are ways to cope with the disorder, and it typically only lasts a short time.

Featured image by Mel Elias on Unsplash

Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized as extreme tiredness or fatigue that doesn’t get better with rest. The syndrome is unlikely to be attributed to an underlying medical condition, so it can be hard to pinpoint where it’s coming from and how it started in the first place. It is sometimes referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis or systemic exertion intolerance disease.

Since the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome isn’t easy to determine, treatment options can also be difficult to attain. Some research suggests that the condition can be caused by various ailments, including viral infection or chronic stress. The only way to diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome is by ruling out other conditions, making the illness rather difficult to diagnose and treat.

Does chronic fatigue syndrome affect the immune system?

In people with chronic fatigue syndrome, the immune system can become compromised. This is because when chronic fatigue takes a hold of the body, it can lead to a prolonged immune response where none is needed. This results in the immune system attacking the body’s own healthy tissues.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is not an autoimmune disease per se, but it does share a significant amount of features with such conditions. Researchers believe that is affects the immune system in several ways, including the overproduction of cytokines; lowered ability of natural killer cells to defend against pathogens; and changes in T-cell activation.

Vital RX - depression — *Image by Who Is Margot on Pixabay: Chronic fatigue is hard to diagnose, but people who suffer from the condition could benefit from thymosin alpha-1 treatment.*

What is thymosin alpha-1?

Thymosin alpha-1 is a naturally occurring fragmented peptide. This means that is a smaller version of a protein molecule. It is made up of a 28-amino acid chain that is derived from a larger protein known as prothymosin α. It is created in tissues throughout the body, the most notable being the thymus gland.

Peptides such as thymosin alpha-1 are microscopic, but play vital roles in how well the body functions. They are the regulators of a myriad of specific bodily functions. The regulation of T-cells and immune response is thymosin alpha-1’s specific function. The thymus gland plays a big role in T-cell health as they grow; when they reach maturity, thymosin alpha-1 acts a cell signaler for the T-cells so that they know when to fight off pathogens.

What does thymosin do in the body?

Researchers have found many important processes can be affected by thymosin alpha-1. As mentioned above, one of the peptide’s biggest roles is to regulate and cell-signal for proper functioning of the immune system. It does this by directly affecting the action of the innate immune system in response to pathogens. It also regulates both the adaptive immune responses and the inflammatory response. The release of thymosin alpha-1 has been shown to increase lymphocytes to help the body ward off illness.

Thymosin alpha-1 also has the ability to heighten the body’s chances at fighting off infection. In one particular study on the effects of the peptide against COVID-19, researchers found that it could significantly reduce the risk of mortality of the viral infection by restoring T-cell numbers and reversing T-cell exhaustion.

Other conditions that have seen benefit from the use of thymosin alpha include:

Hepatitis B and C
HIV/AIDS
Some forms of cancer
Autoimmunity
Cystic fibrosis
Lyme disease
DiGeorge’s syndrome

For many conditions that require a boost in the immune function, thymosin alpha-1 has been an effective supplemental treatment.

Vital RX - immune cells — *Image by Swift Science Writing on Pixabay: Immune cells are designed to fight off infection, but sometimes they need a little boost to do their job properly.*

What are the benefits of taking a thymosin alpha-1 supplement?

Because thymosin alpha-1 can help regulate and boost both immune and inflammatory processes, the benefits of supplementation can lead to a higher ability to fight off infection and avoid further illness.

When the peptide stimulates T-cells, it leads to an overall better response against viruses, bacteria, and tumor cells. It gives the immune response the boost it needs to become stronger against pathogens, which leads to a better immune function overall. It has also been shown to regulate inflammation caused by diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus, and erythematosus. Other studies have shown that the peptide has the ability to increase the efficacy of vaccinations by supporting its ability to keep infection at bay.

Overall, the benefits that can be achieved by taking thymosin alpha-1 include:

Strengthened immune system
Lowering of widespread inflammation
Increase in the number and efficacy of T-cells
Eradication of damaged and unhealthy cells to hinder multiplication
Prevention of the spreading of disease throughout the body
Aid in recovery from chronic fatigue
Protection against oxidative stress

Other promising research has shown thymosin alpha-1 to be effective in treating a wide variety of cancers, although more study into the area will need to be conducted in terms of what it lacks when it comes to tumor targeting.

Is thymosin alpha-1 safe?

Thymosin has been used in the treatment of viral infections and immune disorders for over four decades, and it is generally considered to be a safe and effective supplement for boosting immune function, warding off illnesses, and improving the symptoms of other chronic conditions.

Vital RX’s Immune Health Subscription Box includes thymosin alpha-1 to help boost immune function. Without a properly functioning immune system, the body is susceptible to chronic disease, illness, and infection, so if your system needs a boost, supplementation might be the answer.

Featured image by Dimitrisvetsikas1969 on Pixabay

11 Reasons You May Be Feeling Tired