Chronic Fatigue
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There’s that low energy feeling that shows up after too much fun or work or too little caffeine that most people think of as fatigue, it’s passing and hopefully well deserved. But, for folks who’ve been dealing with chronic fatigue- every day can be a battlefield that has to be limped through slowly and painfully. This can happen in flares or it can be a longterm adaptation for a body that is overwhelmed by inflammation, hormonal, or nervous system and immune stressors.
Getting through a day can be exhausting, and can lead to a disruption in our circadian rhythms. This keeps the cycle going where the very hormones needed to recuperate with deep restorative sleep are in low supply or are released at the wrong time. This is why many people with chronic fatigue have chronic sleep issues where they never enjoy the stages of sleep that are important for the surveillance of inflammation, and the stages of repair which are thought to be most available in the first 4 hours of sleep. Instead, the sleep is marked out in small sections of time, and this perpetuates the cycle- sense of malaise and fatigue. A sense of never feeling refreshed.
The causes of chronic fatigue can range from chronic insomnia to chronic infections, anemia, hypothyroidism, Lyme disease, and a habitual or recent response to stress or trauma. Most of us in the modern world experience the sense of overwhelm- that fight or flight mode that is constantly switched on instead of the intended setting of only activating when there is immindent danger. Unfortunately, with the mass negative media hurled at us we are constantly under attack in our imaginations- and it is exhausting and stressful. Whether, your fatigue is from a deeper underlying cause, a transitional period in life, like menopause, or from the persistent stress of modern life there’s not only hope there’s help. With the appropriate testing, and practical treatment options Good Natured Medicine can provide you with a holistic approach to help you pull yourself back into a more solid sense of energy and direction.