Addressing the Root Causes of Chronic Fatigue and Brain Fog
Chronic fatigue is common, but it’s certainly not normal. It’s common, in that many people experience it on occasion. But a healthy body doesn’t naturally feel worn out — even when dealing with a fairly hectic lifestyle.
In fact, if you’re unsure about the underlying cause of your brain fog or fatigue, you shouldn’t be feeling that way. For example, if you’re working 12 hours a day and your baby or your neighbor’s dog is keeping you up all night, you have a clear reason to be fatigued.
However, if you’re eating healthy foods, remain physically active, get six to eight hours of sleep each night, and you still feel tired or unfocused during the day, something’s wrong. And you most likely have a medical condition that requires evaluation and treatment.
In this blog post, I discuss how to move away from brain fog and fatigue and toward increasing focus, energy, and vitality. You and your doctor need to take it seriously, acknowledge the problem, and work together to identify the root cause(s), with the end result being solutions intended to restore your energy and mental sharpness.
The take-home message here is this: Solutions exist. Stay focused and be persistent until you receive treatment that makes you feel your best.
Where Conventional Medicine Falls Short
If you have read any of my other blog posts, you already know what I think about the conventional medical approach to treating chronic health conditions, including thyroid disease, chronic fatigue, depression, menopause, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Conventional medicine focuses on diagnosing illness and treating its symptoms —typically with medication. It rarely identifies or addresses the root causes of these illnesses. These often include:
- Poor nutrition
- Too much, too little, or the wrong types of exercise
- Exposure to environmental toxins
- Poor sleep
- Leaky gut
- Other lifestyle and treatment options we have influence over
Imagine entering your doctor’s office and complaining of fatigue or brain fog. Your doctor orders some blood tests and tells you the results show no cause for concern. According to your doctor, you’re perfectly healthy.
Or, you go to see your doctor complaining of fatigue and brain fog, and you’re treated for high blood pressure or high cholesterol, neither resulting in a resolution to your fatigue issues. You have digestive issues, so you’re referred to a gastroenterologist who treats you for acid reflux or irritable bowel disease, but again your fatigue remains untreated. Why is this? Because none of the “solutions” were the Continue reading…