Are you constantly feeling tired and exhausted? Doctors at Parkland Health and Hospital System say it could be your body giving you a message.
“If you are getting about eight to nine hours of sleep [and] you are drinking enough fluids and you are still exhausted, then that is really a time to make an appointment and see your health care provider,” Dr. Banafsheh Thomas said.
Thomas suggested getting 24 hours of rest, eating better and getting lots of fluids as a bit of a reboot. If you still remain tired, your doctor may be able to help.
“Setting up a physical and getting some basic blood work done,” Thomas said. “We have multiple resources that can help you with that. We can send you to a nutritionist and nutritional counseling.”
Possible health-related reasons for fatigue can include anemia, high blood pressure, thyroid issues, pre-diabetes, heart disease or depression.
Thomas said do not ignore constant fatigue and many of the illnesses that cause fatigue are treatable.
Sudden fatigue is something that could be a sign of a more serious health concern.
“Acute blood loss; something is happening to your GI system and you have a lot of bleeding – that’s going to make you exhausted,” Thomas said. “There are some cancers such as leukemia that causes exhaustion. You want to make sure that your blood pressure is under control or with that exhaustion you aren’t having chest pains or shortness of breath because that could be a sign of cardiac symptoms."
