Tiredness Flashcards
What are 10 medical reasons for feeling tired?
- Anaemia
- Sleep apnoea
- Underactive thyroid
- Coeliac disease
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Diabetes
- Glandular fever
- Depression
- Restless legs
- Anxiety
What is Anaemia?
- iron deficiency anaemia
- ulceror takingnon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), pregnancy, heavy periods - muscles feel heavy, and you get tired very quickly.
- possible to have too much iron, which can also cause tiredness, when it’s known as iron-overload disorder (haemochromatosis).
- rare inherited condition that affects men and women between the ages of 30 and 60
What is Sleep apnoea?
- throat narrows or closes during sleep and repeatedly interrupts your breathing.
- Results inloudsnoringand a drop in your blood’s oxygen levels.
- difficulty in breathing means you wake up often in the night and feel exhausted the next day
- most common in overweight middle-aged men
- Drinking alcohol and smoking makes it worse
What is an underactive thyroid?
- too little thyroid hormone (thyroxine) in your body. -This makes you feel tired.
- likely to put on weight and have aching muscles and dry skin
- most common in women and happens more often as you get older.
What is coeliac disease?
- lifelong disease caused by the immune system reacting to gluten
- Gluten is a protein found in bread, cakes and cereals.
- Other symptoms of coeliac disease, apart from tiredness, are diarrhoea, bloating, anaemia and weight loss
What is chronic fatigue syndrome?
- (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME) is a severe and disabling fatigue that goes on for at least 4 months
- may be other symptoms, such as muscle or joint pain
What is diabetes?
- One of the main symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is feeling very tired.
- Other key symptoms are feeling very thirsty, peeing a lot (particularly at night) and weight loss
What is glandular fever?
- common viral infection that causes fatigue, along with fever,sore throatandswollen glands.
- Most cases happen in teenagers and young adults.
- Symptoms usuallyclear up within4 to6 weeks, but the fatigue can linger for several more months.
What is depression?
- As well as making you feel very sad, depression can also make you feel drained of energy.
- It can stop youfalling asleep or cause you to wake up early in the morning, which makes you feel more tired during the day.
What is restless legs?
- This is when you get an overwhelming urge to move your legs, which can keep you awake at night
- You might also have an unpleasant crawling sensation or a deep ache in your legs. Or your legs might jerk spontaneously through the night.
- Whatever your symptoms, your sleep will be disrupted and poor quality, so you’ll feel very tired throughout the day.
What is anxiety?
-Feeling anxious is sometimes perfectly normal.
-But some people have constant uncontrollable feelings of anxiety that are so strong they affect their daily life.
-Doctors call this generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
-It’s a common condition, affecting slightly more women than men. As well as feeling worried and irritable, people with GAD often feel tired.
Read more aboutanxiety.
What % of patients with fatigue receive a diagnosis?
around 66%
What % of patients with fatigue receive a diagnosis through blood tests?
<10%
What are symptoms of hypothyroidism?
- Slow heartbeat
- Cold intolerance
- Dry skin
- Fatigue
- WeIght gain
- Consitpation
What is a mechanism by which the immune system attacks thyroid cells?
Hashimoto’s disease
