Extreme tiredness is often a fact of life for many women. The strain of juggling a career, children, plus a million other stressful responsibilities, can leave women exhausted at the end of every day with no respite in sight. But whereas a certain degree of exhaustion is expected, excessive fatigue is a recognized medical condition. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is characterized by extreme tiredness that usually worsens during normal activities, but fails to improve with adequate rest, so if you think this applies to you or somebody you know, learn how to recognize excessive fatigue in women.
For many years, excessive fatigue syndrome was not a recognized condition as the symptoms are very difficult to measure, but today doctors have begun to accept that the symptoms of excessive fatigue do exist and they now take the problem much more seriously. Although the condition does affect men, women are four times as likely to be diagnosed with excessive fatigue. It is most comply seen in the 40 – 60 age bracket, but it can and does affect women of all ages.
Symptoms of excessive fatigue often come and go with no discernible pattern. This is one of the main reasons why the condition often goes undiagnosed and many sufferers often attribute the signs to other vague disorders and medical problems.
How to recognise excessive fatigue in women:
The most obvious sign of excessive fatigue in women is a bone crushing fatigue that does not go away with adequate rest. Sufferers struggle to undertake even normal everyday activities in the face of extreme exhaustion. Eventually the condition can worsen to the stage whereby women do not even have the energy to climb out of bed.
Memory loss or an inability to concentrate: chronic fatigue affects cognitive thinking and many women suffering from the condition struggle to string two thoughts together coherently. They can become irritable, easily confused, and very forgetful.
Sore throat: chronic fatigue can cause viral-like symptoms, including a sore throat, but instead of clearing up within a few days, the sore throat lingers on. Symptoms can also include painful lymph nodes in the neck or armpit, plus vague muscle and joint pains.
Unexplained headaches are also common in women with excessive fatigue syndrome.
The main problem with diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome is that the symptoms are easily applicable to many other medical conditions including low blood pressure, viral infections, depression, anaemia, immune system problems, allergies, hypoglycemia, plus a multitude of other causes.
What are the causes of chronic fatigue syndrome and how is it treated?
Most of the time, the causes of chronic fatigue syndrome are unknown, which makes treatment extremely difficult unless there is an underlying medical condition at the root of the extreme fatigue. There are various prescription medications that can help, but many patients rely on a series of lifestyle changes to help them cope with the symptoms of this debilitating condition. These can be simple tactics such as using paper plates to cut down on housework, or having shopping delivered to avoid the need for a trip to the supermarket.
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