Sunday Thoughts: Dealing with Fatigue

You may have noticed that things have been a little bit quiet here over the last month or so and the reason behind this has been my ongoing battle with fatigue. Sometimes even though I don't want to take a break or slow down, my body just surrenders itself and tells me I'm doing far too much and recently, everything has been an ongoing struggle. I've suffered from fatigue for as long as I can remember, but it hit me the most when I first started university. I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, anemia and a multitude of chronic health problems including biliary problems and autoimmune arthritis, it simply knocked my body out of whack and unfortunately fatigue isn't that easy for doctors to fix.

When you mention fatigue to people, they generally just think that you are tired,  but it is far more than tiredness. It is brain fog, the inability to think straight, dizziness, feeling weak, aches and pains and constantly craving energy that you struggle to muster up. There are days that I get tongue tied because I can't put words together and other days when I struggle to lift my body from the sofa and those are days when I'm not having rheumatic flare ups or struggling with my stomach problems. 

I'm not looking for sympathy, I just want to reach out to the people who are struggling and to let them know that they are not alone and to also open up to my readers so that they know what I'm going through when blog posts aren't as frequent like they have been over the last few weeks. 

If you are struggling with fatigue or you're just feeling a bit run down, here's a few of my tips on how to combat it and give yourself a much needed energy boost - sometimes we all just need some T.L.C.

Exercise

As hard as it is to drag yourself from the sofa, exercise is one of the best remedies for fatigue and feeling tired. It releases endorphins to make you feel better about yourself and subsequently give you the energy buzz you need. If you are really struggling with fatigue, try not to push yourself too much by going on a heavy gym session, just go for a nice long walk or a few short walks to keep yourself energised.

Eat healthy

The food we eat can have a huge impact on our energy levels, with fast and unhealthy food often leaving us feeling sluggish. To give your body a boost try eat plenty of fruit and vegetables rich in nutrients to ensure your body is giving get enough vitamins. The best food to help keep you energised are slow releasing carbohydrates, iron rich food such as spinach and nuts like almonds which contain magnesium.

Drink plenty of water

Not drinking enough water is probably my downfall as I know I drink nowhere near the recommended allowance, however upping your water intake is a must to help fight fatigue. Dehydration is known to leave your body feeling weak and can zap the energy out of the most healthy of people. Make sure you try to drink the recommended eight glasses a day.

Digital detox

These days it is almost impossible for most people to go even an hour without looking at some sort of digitised screen and it is really bad for our health as it can lead to eye strain, tiredness and headaches. If you're feeling the effects of staring at your computer all day, consider taking a digital detox.  If you spend all day at work on a computer, cut down the hours you spend outside of work looking at a screen and also try to limit the amount of time you spend on your digital devices before bed as they lead to a disruptive sleep.

Rest

Finally, if you are feeling really tired, it is probably your body telling you that you need to rest and sometimes that is the only way for your body to recover. Cut down your social schedule for a week to ensure your body can get as much rest as it needs, get plenty of early nights sleep and do things that help you relax, such as having a nice hot bath or reading your favourite book on the sofa. 

                                                               Do you suffer from fatigue?