What is Fatigue, And Why Does Everyone Have It?

Fatigue, which is a feeling of extreme tiredness, weakness, or exhaustion is the first symptom of almost every medical problem, including MTHFR. It can be linked to almost every body system, and it is the most general symptom we have. It is also linked to a number of common gene SNPs, including MTHFR, , fast MAOA, fast COMT, and many more. It is also tied to lifestyle factors like poor diet, lack of nutrients, poor or not enough sleep, and stress. So actually, in light of all of that, it is a bit surprising that any of us don't feel fatigued.

Fatigue is Your First Symptom

Your body is designed to get tired every day so that you will take a break from your hectic life and go to sleep. Otherwise, the motivation to stop everything is pretty minimal. Because you are trained from birth to respond to the feeling of fatigue, your body uses it as a tool to help you understand when your body's physical needs aren't being met, which we'll talk about in just a minute. Also, if you are low on resources in any way, the natural consequence is fatigue. This could be physical resources like nutrients, hormones, or neurotransmitters. It could be mental or emotional resources – the energy you use to think, make decisions, process emotions, do tasks, concentrate, learn, remember, and also interact with and meet the needs of others. It could also be the resource of the actual energy generated by your cells.

Modern life is not easy on many of those resources. Nutrients are depleted in the soil by modern farming practices, and so even when eating the best diet, it can be challenging to get enough micronutrients. Also, we tend to have calorie-dense but nutrient-poor diets that don't help this situation. Sleep is a challenge for pretty much everyone. According to the Sleep Foundation, over one-third of US adults get under seven hours per night, and 4.8/10 US workers say they're regularly tired throughout the day. Also, between 50 and 70 million people in the US have been diagnosed with ongoing sleep disorders. So, sleep is a thing. Plus, anybody fighting with any other chronic health situation is using extra resources for that health situation and is more likely to feel fatigued more quickly.

Emotionally, modern life is a challenge as well. Chronic stress is rampant, as well as general dissatisfaction, chronic stress, and feelings of non-belonging. It's no wonder we're all exhausted.

In all of these circumstances, fatigue is the first symptom that will appear – the first red flag to attend to, and it is crucial that you do attend because we can turn fatigue around. I promise. We're going to spend this entire season talking about it.

Fatigue is Often Generated By Your Body

Fatigue is a hallmark of something called "sick behavior." I'm not a huge fan of this term because to me, "sickness behavior" sounds very judgey and blaming, but it's not. Sickness behavior is your body's natural response to help protect you when you need protection, especially when you encounter a pathogen like a virus or bacteria. Your body is clever, and it knows that as a human, it is hard to prioritize taking care of yourself over, say, hunting and gathering, or the modern equivalent, which is going to the office, the coffee shop, or the bar.

Sickness behavior includes fatigue, but it can also include depression, malaise, loss of appetite, increased sensitivity to pain, etc... It's basically the feeling of wanting to stay on the couch or in bed and not be bothered with much else. These symptoms aren't actually caused by the virus or pathogen, they're caused by your body in a well-educated attempt to get you to stop doing things and just rest. Also, since we're social animals, it signals other humans to want to take care of you.

Interestingly, sickness behavior has been found to be linked to pro-inflammatory cytokines and many researchers have noticed that major depressive disorder and sickness behavior look pretty close to identical. Some of them theorize that MDD is actually a maladaptive response to abnormal circulating cytokines.