Immune system fatigue is a serious condition that impacts many Americans. Beyond leaving you feeling tired all the time, it can destroy your quality of life. So knowing the signs to look out for and how to treat them is always important.
Chronic fatigue could be a result of an autoimmune condition or constant stress. It can also come from something else entirely. By knowing the warning signs, it becomes possible to know the treatments.
One thing is for sure, sleeping it off usually won’t work. Read on to discover ten things you should know about treating immune system fatigue.
1. You’re Always Tired
One of the significant symptoms of chronic fatigue is that you are always tired. No matter what you do, you can’t feel refreshed or well rested. It feels like your body is almost always exhausted.
This can cripple your daily life. It can feel challenging to work or do things around the house.
Many long-haulers during the pandemic know exactly how this feels. It is important to note that chronic immune system fatigue is not necessarily tied to the quality of rest or sleep you get. Various factors can cause the onset of this condition and make it worse.
That said, thinking you can treat immune system fatigue by only sleeping more is wrong. The sooner we rid ourselves of that notion, the sooner we can tackle the other things on this list.
2. It Could Be Autoimmune
Immune system fatigue could also mean that it’s autoimmune. There is a particular condition known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS. It calls goes by the name myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME.
CFS/ME is hard to pin down, but the fatigue experienced is extreme. Often it can last for months at a time, with a minimum of 6 months being quite common. No one knows the exact causes of chronic fatigue in each person, but there are strong theories.
One of them is that CFS is an autoimmune disease. It’s thought to get triggered by infections or serious mental stress. This causes your immune response to kick into high gear.
The problem is that sometimes your immune system goes overboard. It either attacks itself or otherwise healthy cells or doesn’t know when to shut off. This leaves your body fighting what it thinks is a disease for far longer than any actual disease is in your body.
Symptoms of CFS include poor sleep, trouble with focus and memory, and sudden dizziness when getting up quickly. You might also see swollen lymph nodes on your body, such as your neck or under the arms. This, in particular, is a solid sign that you might be experiencing an autoimmune condition.
Most of the symptoms in this article pop up in CFS/ME. That doesn’t mean your chronic immune fatigue is 100% related, but the chances are pretty high. This is especially true if it lasts for several months.
3. Stress Is Not Your Friend
Stress is not your friend when it comes to chronic fatigue and immunity. This is true whether your condition is autoimmune or not. Mental and emotional stress can exhaust you and make existing fatigue worse.
When you get stressed or have an anxiety attack, your body has to respond. Your heart beats louder, and your blood pumps faster, especially to vital organs. It’s like you’re experiencing a fight or flight response.
This can leave you out of breath and feeling drained. If you often subject yourself to these kinds of situations, you could easily throw yourself into an endless loop. Not every case of chronic immune fatigue results from a stressful job, for example.
That said, stress doesn’t help. However, limiting stressful situations, at least until you get a handle on things, is a good first step. It could help give your body a chance to get out of the cycle of stress and fatigue.
4. Flu-like SymptomsÂ
The way your immune system functions is simple. When you get sick, it detects what’s causing it and attacks it. In the process, it heats up and consumes energy as a by-product of your body’s war with the illness.
For example, when you get a fever, that isn’t caused by the disease. It’s your immune system burning the disease out. The harsher the disease, the harsher measures your body will take against it.
This, of course, takes a toll on you as well. Well, a common symptom of chronic fatigue is flu-like symptoms. Things like fevers, head colds, and muscle soreness are all common.
Whether you have an autoimmune condition or not, your body reacts to threats. When your immune system is weak, or you feel fatigued, you’re more prone to getting sick.
Sometimes the flu-like symptoms are a result of getting sick. Other times your immune system overreacts. Either way, you should treat your flu-like symptoms as if you were sick.
Bed rest, hot soups, cold and flu medication, and your usual flu-season routine will be your friends. Do everything you can to help your body recover so you can break the chronic loop.
5. Digestive Issues and Nausea
A pretty common symptom is also digestive issues. Stomach pain and cramps, bloat, and gas are all possible. When you feel exhausted, your body doesn’t run the way it should.
If you can’t rest or sleep well, you can’t digest well either. You might experience acid reflux or tummy discomfort. Nausea is also quite common for some patients.
Your digestive issues and nausea could come from many factors. For that reason, consulting a doctor is still a good idea. However, serious tummy issues could result from an autoimmune condition, such as celiac disease.
Keep this in mind if you notice fatigue mixed with digestive issues for longer than a few weeks.
6 Trouble Sleeping
An inability to sleep isn’t that uncommon. When you do sleep, chronic fatigue stops you from feeling well rested. You’ll wake up groggy, tired, and irritable.
You’ll feel exhausted all day and might try to nap it off to recharge. However, you wake up with no improvement. Worse, you end up with the added issue of destroying your sleep schedule.
Life doesn’t stop for you when you suffer from chronic immune fatigue. This becomes frustrating as the stress and fatigue make it hard to get any sleep. You can become too exhausted to sleep and develop something like insomnia.
Fixing your sleep schedule is super important. Improving the quality of your rest will also go a long way but might not be a 100% fix. Any chronic fatigue treatment in Mt. Airy Maryland will take your sleep into account.
7. Non-stop Infections
Another common symptom of chronic immune fatigue is non-stop infection. Think about it. If your immune system is always weak and you’re always tired, then you get sick more.
If you get non-stop infections, then that’s a sign your immune system isn’t operating at 100%.
If you always have some bug or illness keeping you down, then that isn’t normal. Most people with good immune systems might only get sick once or twice a year. If you are always sick, you should seek chronic fatigue treatment in Maryland.
8. Try to Boost Your Immune System
An important treatment for chronic fatigue is to do what you can to boost your immune system. Proper diet and nutrition are vital and are a good place to start. Getting all of your vitamins and minerals can help give your body a fighting chance.
You need to help your body and immune system get back up after it’s kicked down. Make sure to get a properly balanced diet and to maintain a good weight. Avoid smoking and try to stay as active as your condition allows.
Stay away from alcohol and caffeine. You want your body to recover and your immune system to get a boost. Drink orange juice and eat things rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants.
Stay hydrated and try to minimize heavy foods that drain your energy.
9. Wear a Mask and Practice Good HygieneÂ
A chronic fatigue doctor in Maryland can do a lot. However, it is up to you and your body to meet the treatments halfway. Wearing a mask and practicing good hygiene can help.
The pandemic might be almost over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn some lessons from it. Wearing a mask during flu season can minimize your risk of getting sick. When treating chronic immune fatigue, this is super important.
Wash your hands, cough into your elbow, and do what you can to stay healthy. Your body needs a run of good health to recover from chronic fatigue.
10. Consult a Doctor
The final part is knowing when to consult a doctor. Everyone’s condition and circumstances will vary, but there are a few signs to look out for. If your chronic immune fatigue is destroying your quality of life, then it’s working looking up “treatments for fatigue near me.”
If your condition is affecting your job or family, then it might be worth a consultation. Fatigue that lasts longer than a few weeks is not normal. You could be fighting a serious illness or suffering from CFS/ME.
If, after reading these points, you find yourself nodding to at least half of them, you shouldn’t delay. Look up chronic fatigue treatment in Elkridge Maryland, today.
What You Need to Know About Immune System Fatigue
Immune system fatigue comes in many forms. It could be autoimmune or a result of lots of stress and press. By knowing what causes chronic immune system fatigue, you know how to fight it.
It always helps to have trusted medical professionals to help on your journey. At Shakthi Health and Wellness, we believe in putting the patient first. So contact us today to get the care you deserve!