OH! Magazine - Australian Version September 2015 | Page 23

NARDIA
NORMAN

SICK AND TIRED
OF FEELING SICK AND TIRED?

http://nardianorman.com

(Women’s Health)

Nardia Norman explores fatigue and its most common causes.
ow did you wake up this morning?
Did you open your eyes before the
alarm feeling refreshed and ready to
take on the day? Or did you force yourself
out of bed after hitting the snooze button
a few times, with the thought of coffee
being the only thing coaxing you out
from under the covers? Do you seem to
move through each day shrouded in a
cloud of fatigue that leaves you neardesperate to get back into bed at night?

H

Tiredness is a common ailment these
days and while it is normal to suffer
from fatigue now and then, there is a
point in which that TAT (‘tired all the
time’) feeling becomes abnormal.
The first step to combating tiredness is
to address lifestyle factors. It only takes
a couple of weeks of focusing on specific
lifestyle factors to restore your energy
levels. These include reducing stress
levels, removing excessive sugar and
food irritants from your diet, cutting
stimulants, improving your amount of
daily movement and going to be bed
earlier.
So what if you’ve done all these things
and the TAT feeling won’t go away?
Us women are notoriously good at
pushing through the ‘tired;’ we power on
through our endless task list, all the
while managing a job, family and tending
to the needs of everyone else.
Feeling tired is something that we have
been taught not to take seriously, and
societal attitudes towards fatigue
support this; yet when it starts to
interfere with a women’s ability to

function it should not be ignored.

hand-in-hand with depression

Often, tiredness is your body’s way of
telling you there is a problem. It is not
an illness per se, but fatigue can be a
symptom of an underlying issue. This is
particularly true if the TAT is
accompanied by other changes in the
body, or where other symptoms are
present. If you are TAT and you have
improved those lifestyle factors, then it
is time to go to the GP for further
investigation. Some common underlying
issues that may be causing your TAT
feelings:

4. Chronic fatigue: ‘Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome’ is a complicated disorder
characterised by extreme fatigue that
can’t be explained by any underlying
medical condition. In other words, it is
not clear why Chronic Fatigue occurs
(theories include underlying genetic
issues or psychological stress), and nor
is it clear how to treat it effectively.

1. Thyroid dysfunction: The thyroid gland
is a small butterfly-shaped gland that
sits in front of your neck and is
responsible for your metabolism and
overall feeling of wellness. According to
Thyroid
Australia
over
85,000
Australians
suffer
from
thyroid
dysfunction. Thyroid dysfunction affects
more women than men, and is heavily
influenced by genetics, environmental
factors and chronic stress.
2. Anemia: Another ailment that is
common to women is anemia, which is
where the body does not produce enough
healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen
around the body. The result is that the
cells of the body do not get adequate
oxygen and therefore, cannot function
properly.
3. Depression: One in five women will
experience depression at some point in
their lives. There are different types of
depressive disorders, which range from
mild to severe. Quite often, fatigue and
chronic fatigue-related symptoms will go

5. Food intolerances: If you are intolerant
to certain types of food it may cause a
cascade of reactions, which produce
physical symptoms such as bloating and
gas, but also fatigue and tiredness.
6. Sleep apnea: People with sleep apnea
think they are sleeping but they actually
have a broken sleep pattern, with pauses
in their breath that can last from a few
seconds to minutes at a time. This
typically happens repetitively throughout
the evening and sufferers often wake up
feeling tired and fatigued as a result.
All of these factors have the potential
to severely affect your health and
wellbeing and as such, require medical
intervention. Listen to your body, tune
into what it is telling you, and instead
of pushing aside your TAT feelings,
stop and take stock. Remember if you
currently suffer from tiredness and
fatigue you have become accustomed
to it, and as such it has become your
new norm – but just because it is
normal does not mean it is right! We
are not designed to feel sluggish, tired,
fatigued and slow all the time – we are
meant to live with energy, clarity and
vitality!

( OH! MAGAZINE ) SEPTEMBER 2015

23