Our modern lifestyles have a huge bearing on the quality of our wellness. With changing roles, women now manage home and work, often juggling multiple responsibilities. Most of them are bound to face career stress and work-related exhaustion, while trying to handle both home and office.
• Feel extremely tired, exhausted or at a loss of energy, throughout the day?
• Feel your daily routine is not to blame for this?
• Do you feel tired, even after adequate rest and relaxation?
If the answer to the above questions is yes, it is time you take a break from your routine and think about the cause behind your extreme tiredness.
Feeling constantly tired, sluggish and worn-out is not uncommon, owing to the busy and stressful lives which most of us have. This tiredness and lack of energy gets relieved, once we take proper rest and have a decent night’s sleep. However, this may not be the case in many others, in whom the tiredness constantly remains and begins affecting day-to-day affairs and even a simple task like climbing stairs, says Dr Anupama Nagaraja speaking to City Express.
Persistent tiredness may be the symptom of an underlying health problem, which you may be unaware of. It is important you do not ignore your health, and seek the advice of your family doctor for the same.
Here are five common health conditions that could be the cause behind your extreme tiredness.
Anaemia: Iron-deficiency is the most common form of anaemia and occurs when there is some form of blood loss from the body. This is generally seen in women who suffer from heavy monthly periods, those do not consume a nutritious diet or those who have an excess requirement of nutrition, like in pregnancy. These can cause inadequate iron in the body that helps make haemoglobin - a part of the red blood cells which supplies oxygen to body cells. This deficiency of iron causes tiredness and weakness in women.
Overcome this by: Eating iron-rich foods including green leafy vegetables, beans, nuts, meat and dried fruits can help restore the iron levels in the body. It is important to be aware that tea, coffee and certain dairy products interfere with the body’s ability to absorb iron. In cases of severe deficiency, iron supplements may also be prescribed by the doctor to get the iron levels back to normal. If anaemia is due to blood loss, you need to find out why it is happening and get treated for the same.
Vitamin D deficiency: Vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) is important for making bones strong and healthy. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium from our diet and a deficiency of this would result in bones becoming soft and prone to fractures. Vitamin D deficiency gives rise to symptoms like severe tiredness, bone pains and muscle weakness.
Overcome this by: Adequate exposure to sunlight is the best way to get Vitamin D. Also, eating certain foods like fishes - salmon and tuna, cheese, egg yolk and taking supplements (if required and prescribed by a doctor) can also help in getting back your levels to normal.
Thyroid problems: It is very common for women with thyroid problems to feel tired, sluggish, run down, low on mood, at a loss of energy and increased menstrual bleeding. These could be due to an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) problem.
Overcome this by: It is important you visit the doctor and get yourself checked. The condition can be managed by giving a tablet every day. Along with medications, it is also important to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Depression: Depression is a mental illness which can give rise to feelings of sadness, loss of hope, anxiety and restlessness. Depressed women generally tend to lose out on sleep and appetite, thus making them feel physically tired, lethargic and mentally stressed out throughout the day.
Overcome this by: It is important to first seek medical advice if you are experiencing these problems. Along with that, it is important to build healthy relationships, give up on negative thoughts and most importantly make certain positive changes in your lifestyle (healthy diet, daily exercise and good sleep) to improve your condition.
Diabetes: It is a condition characterised by increased levels of glucose (energy source for body cells) in the blood, which occurs due to the inability of the body to either produce insulin or use insulin.
Insulin is an important hormone that keeps a check on the level of glucose in the blood.
It helps glucose in the blood to enter into cells and thereby produce energy. When glucose is not utilised by the body cells to produce energy, it results in people feeling tired, lethargic or fatigued, and with disturbed sleep patterns. Also there would be issues of weight loss, excessive drinking of water, excessive urination and excessive eating.
Overcome this by: It is important to be up-to-date with your health check-ups, especially if any of parents/family members have diabetes. Also, pay attention to your diet, exercise regularly and follow a consistent sleep pattern.
It is definitely a big challenge, in trying to strike a balance between your house-hold duties and your office responsibilities. However, ignoring your health in this process can have a negative impact on both.
As it is known that stress in itself can be a contributory factor for some of the above mentioned problems, it is best to take breaks in between, replenish your energy levels and de-stress yourself, such that you can integrate your activities in a much better way.