Episode 3: Causes of Fatigue Generally and Chronic Fatigue Specifically

Show notes

Fatigue can be complex and multifaceted, with many possible combinations of contributing factors, and every case is different! In this episode, Anna talks through the framework she uses in clinical practice to narrow down the causes of fatigue for each client.

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Causes of Fatigue Generally and Chronic Fatigue Specifically Causes of Fatigue Generally and Chronic Fatigue Specifically

Hello, and welcome back to the chronic fatigue and burnout recovery podcast. I am your host Anna Marsh. And today, we’re going to talk about the causes of fatigue generally and chronic fatigue specifically.

I wanted to talk about general causes of fatigue because very often, even if someone has a chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis or has burnout, it’s very common for them to have underlying imbalances, which are general causes of fatigue as well. So, for example, someone with chronic fatigue syndrome or burnout may have nutrient deficiencies, they may have blood sugar imbalances, they may have what I would call oxygenation issues or poor red blood cell health. When we’re working towards helping someone increase their energy and become more well, irrespective of the complexity of their case, we always want to ensure that all areas are covered.

So these are the areas I will discuss in this podcast today. I will move through them in sequential order, starting from the most basic and obvious and then moving into the most complex. So this podcast is for you. If you have chronic fatigue syndrome or burnout, or you don’t know why you feel so tired, or maybe you’re actually quite a high functioning, but you’re just struggling with a little bit of fatigue, there will be information in this podcast that will be really, really useful to help you get to the bottom of things.

Then further down the line, there’ll be another episode on testing so that you can begin to explore these things for yourself or know where to begin to explore these things for yourself if you want to dig a little bit deeper. So let’s just go straight in. This is the sequence or the, I guess, the sequence of my thinking when I’m working with a client.

The very first thing we want to consider when we consider fatigue is the overall energy balance, which is that very simple scientific equation of energy in versus energy out. And essentially, is this person with fatigue? Or are you fatigued, doing too much, and not eating enough calories?

Very, very typical for women, very typical for busy women, especially, who are just running like a million miles an hour, maybe there are kids, maybe there’s a career, maybe they’re very involved in work, or they have other life pressures, and they’re just not eating enough. There are a lot of demands, whether that is mental demands, physical demands, or emotional demands. All of these things take energy to cope with. And if we’re not eating enough and not resting enough, we’ll feel tired.

Having previously run a successful weight loss program, sometimes this is something I asked my clients to check, do you feel that you’re eating enough? And we can use something like an app like My Fitness Pal, not forever not to become dependent on external apps. But just to say, let’s just check in and put you...