Chronic Fatigue

With the holidays approaching, much of our time will be devoted to shopping, traveling and holiday gatherings. Don't let the extra pressures and activities of the "Season of Giving" take away your health. Here are some tips for preventing burnout and chronic fatigue so you can enjoy the holiday with your friends and family.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease estimates that 500,000 Americans have been diagnosed with some form of chronic fatigue this year alone. According to Western science, chronic fatigue is caused by a viral infection such as mononucleosis or Epstein Barr.

However, there is a different way to look at chronic fatigue. From the Eastern way of approaching health and healing, chronic fatigue is the accumulation of long-term burn out. Think of it like this: your energy is similar to a credit card that you keep charging items on, knowing that you have no money to pay off the growing balance. After a long enough time, your balance far exceeds your means and you are forced to declare bankruptcy. Chronic fatigue is like bankruptcy. Your energy expenditure has far exceeded your reserves.

Chronic fatigue is both physical and mental exhaustion. Eastern medicine treats chronic fatigue by taking an assessment of your past lifestyle and examining how you might be overtaxing your system in the present as well. By figuring out what you knowingly or unknowingly do to deplete your body, you can learn how to reverse those habits.

Here are some early warning signs of chronic fatigue:

Signs of Mental Exhaustion
• Upon waking you feel groggy or "in a fog." It is difficult to clear your head or to "wake up". You are not sleeping soundly. Your brain is active even in your sleep, occupied with dreams, worries, etc.
• You don't jump out of bed like you did when you were a child. You are sluggish. The energy is not there.
• You have slowed down. Everything you do seems to take longer than it has before.
• You cannot relax or rest. If you feel like you have too much energy to relax and rest, you are in the danger zone of using your energy reserves. Your body is in overdrive with minimal gas. Your internal "checks and balances" are off; you are so burned out that you are in survival mode and the adrenal gland is overworking to keep you pumping.

Signs of Physical Exhaustion
• When you touch your body you are colder than normal.
• Your temperature gauge is off. You are hot when you should be cold (you can run around the house barefoot and in shorts when it is freezing outside) and cold when you should be hot (you wear sweaters when the temperature outside is 90 degrees).
• You cannot take a deep breath. You have a feeling of tightness in your chest area. You feel like you just pushed yourself too hard.
• Weight gain. You are not eating enough for the amount of energy you put out so your metabolism slows down as do your other internal functions.
• Constipation also leads to weight gain. You have problems with elimination and carry extra toxins.

If you have any of these symptoms or feel you might be suffering from chronic fatigue, contact Dr. Wonson's office at 415-544-9104 or send us an e-mail at drwonson@drwonson.com.

Written by: Dr. Wonson, DC, LAc