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American Medicine

Let your doctor know if you have fatigue

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in people. When fatigue is severe or constant, many doctors do not spend enough time trying to diagnose and treat the problem, leading to poor quality of life in the person suffering from weakness and lack of energy.

Here are some tips for getting to the cause and treating this common condition:

• Ask your doctor to do a complete workup looking for all causes
• Suggest your doctor include evaluation for cardiac causes, lung problems, endocrine abnormalities (thyroid, calcium, adrenal), blood problems (anemia, deficiencies of iron or vitamin B12 etc.), chronic inflammation, unsuspected liver disease, virus infections (hepatitis, HIV, CMV, EBV) or bacterial infections (urinary or other), sleep disorders, depression, or unsuspected tumors.
• Ask for help with fatigue symptoms by considering exercise, vitamins, nutrition, and/or sleep aids.
• Suggest your doctor consider psychological support, complementary medicine treatments (yoga, meditation), and also acupuncture (see the article by Dr. A. Molassiotis in J Clin Oncol 30: 4470, 2012).

If you don’t get better see Chapter 7 in my book Surviving American Medicine for more tips on communicating your needs to your doctor and getting the right answers. Don’t be satisfied until you are better.