Extreme Fatigue And No Appetite

How Long Does Cancer Fatigue Last

Everyones experience with cancer fatigue is unique. For some people, fatigue lasts a few weeks. Others may feel exhausted for years. You may feel better when your cancer treatments stop, but often fatigue lingers.

• Bone marrow transplants can cause prolonged fatigue that lasts up to a year.
• Radiation therapy fatigue often gets worse as treatments progress. Fatigue should lessen a few months after you stop treatment.
• Surgery tends to cause temporary fatigue that goes away after you recover.
• Systemic treatments can cause fatigue that comes and goes. These treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. You may be exhausted while taking the medications and feel better during the recovery phase . When treatment resumes, you feel exhausted again. You should have more energy when you finish the treatment.

Unexplained Weight Gain And Fatigue: Underlying Conditions

• Congestive Heart Failure

Weight gain and fatigue are common issues that almost everyone grapples with. They are natural consequences of dealing with everyday stressors and a lack of sleep, but unexplained weight gain and fatigue can sometimes be symptoms of an underlying condition. However, they are nonspecific symptoms and many diseases could manifest these symptoms, so it may be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause. If you are eating a healthy diet and sleeping well but experiencing weight gain and fatigue, talk to your healthcare provider to find out what may be happening.

How Can I Ease Abdominal Pain And Loss Of Appetite At Home

In addition to following your doctors recommended treatment plan, some home care strategies may help.

For example, staying hydrated is very important. It can help reduce potential complications of abdominal pain and loss of appetite. Eating small frequent meals with bland ingredients may be less likely to upset your stomach. Some examples of these ingredients include:

• cooked fruits without seeds, such as applesauce
• plain oatmeal

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How Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treated

There’s no known cure for chronic fatigue syndrome. But experts say that these lifestyle changes can help:

• Include regular, carefully planned exercise in your daily routine. Exercise can increase energy and make a person feel better. People with CFS should pace themselves while doing any physical activity that requires exertion. Talk with a doctor what’s right for you you don’t want to overdo it and get discouraged. Studies show that “graded exercise” is very helpful in CFS recovery.
• Follow stress-management and stress-reduction techniques. A doctor or therapist can teach these they’re great ways to take control of some aspects of the illness.
• Ensure good sleep habits to overcome CFS-related sleep problems.
• Work on ways to keep track of important things, such as keeping lists and making notes, you have problems with concentration or memory.

Meeting regularly with a therapist or counselor can help in CFS treatment. The main goals of therapy are to help people cope with the illness and to change negative or unrealistic thoughts or feelings into positive, realistic ones.

Having a positive feeling that you can get better is very helpful. Therapy and support groups can also help teens with CFS and their parents deal with the academic or social challenges brought on by the illness, such as missed school, falling grades, or withdrawal from friends and social situations.

Doctors may suggest over-the-counter or prescription medicines for some of these symptoms.

How Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diagnosed

Right now, there’s no test to tell if someone has chronic fatigue syndrome. Doctors ask a lot of questions . They also will do a thorough physical exam.

Doctors also usually order blood, urine , or other tests to check for conditions that cause similar symptoms. They may send a person to see other specialists to help with the diagnosis.

A doctor may suggest meeting with a psychologist or a therapist who can see whether mental health disorders might contribute to or mask CFS.

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What Causes Abdominal Pain And Loss Of Appetite

Your abdomen houses many organs, including your stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver, pancreas, spleen, gallbladder, and appendix. Abdominal pain may be related to problems with one or more of these organs. Sometimes abdominal pain and loss of appetite have mental causes, rather than physical ones. For example, stress, anxiety, grief, or depression can potentially cause these symptoms.

Make Sleep A Priority

Getting enough sleep helps boost a persons energy levels throughout the day. Sleep requirements vary from person to person, but most adults need 79 hours per night. People may be able to improve the quality of their sleep by:

• sticking to a regular sleep schedule
• developing and maintaining a relaxing bedtime routine, which may involve reading or having a hot bath
• ensuring a relaxing sleep environment that is dark, quiet, and cool
• avoiding caffeine and other stimulants close to bedtime

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Loss Of Appetite In Elderly: Symptoms Causes And Natural Treatment

Disclaimer: Results are not guaranteed*** and may vary from person to person***.

Some believe that loss of appetite in the elderly is a normal part of aging. In part, this is due to a decrease in physical activity and resting metabolic rate associated with getting older. However, loss of appetite can also be an early warning sign of a greater health problem, while also increasing the chance of death.

The medical term for appetite loss is called anorexia, and it simply implies that a person has no desire to eat. Although it is has a similar name, this should not be confused with the eating disorder common with teen girls and young women, anorexia nervosa. With this disorder, the person is hungry, and yet, they deliberately restrict food consumption because of concerns about weight gain.

It is crucial to understand that weight loss is not a normal part of aging, but it is a common symptom with the loss of appetite in the elderly population. There comes a point where the weight loss is life-threatening. In fact, nursing home patients that lost 10% of their body weight had a significantly higher death rate in six months after their weight loss, according to research published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Make Your Day More Fibro

Take a fibromyalgia education program to learn healthy behaviors and how to tweak everyday activities for less stress.

If you work outside the home, talk to your employer about things that might help you do your job:

• Take breaks more often
• Change your work schedule
• Switch to a different position that better matches your abilities

A psychologist or neurologist may be able to suggest more adaptations, or use biofeedback or cognitive behavior therapy to boost your focus. An occupational therapist can show you how to make physical changes, from a better workstation to stretches you can do at your desk.

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What Causes ‘your’ Fatigue

Many physical and mental illnesses, as well as lifestyle factors, can cause your fatigue, and that can make it hard to diagnose. In some cases, it might be something simple and easy to fix, like having caffeine at bedtime. But other causes, like heart disease or COPD, are serious, and you may need to start long-term treatment right away.

Your doctor can help you sift through your health issues, as well as diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits, in order to zero in on the cause and help you on the road to recovery.

Body Aches Or Pains Decreased Appetite Fatigue And Weakness

• Medical Author: Dan Brennan, MD

Reviewed on 6/15/2020

These symptoms can be part of many medical conditions, including viral and bacterial infections. If your symptoms are not improving, you should contact your doctor.

While the list below can be considered as a guide to educate yourself about these conditions, this is not a substitute for a diagnosis from a health care provider. There are many other medical conditions that also can be associated with your symptoms and signs. Here are a number of those from MedicineNet:

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What Can I Do To Manage Covid Fatigue

Fatigue can drain your energy and keep you from doing day-to-day things when youre down with a viral sickness like COVID-19 or long-haul COVID-19.

To manage your health and ease fatigue symptoms while youre sick or post-COVID, you should:

• Accept that fatigue is a real side effect of having COVID-19.
• Make sure to get a good nights sleep. This can help your body preserve energy.
• Try relaxation techniques like mindful meditation, aromatherapy, yoga, and tai chi. These can help to reduce stress and fatigue symptoms.
• Plan ahead on what you can get done with limited energy.
• Prioritize the tasks that are important. This will help you spend energy on only those things that need to be done.
• Delegate certain tasks to others who can complete them for you. This can include activities like grocery shopping or cooking.
• Try to stay active. A viral infection can knock your energy out, but moving and light exercise can energize you.
• Keep a diary on all things that either trigger your fatigue or make it worse. This will help you steer clear of energy-draining activities.
• Eat foods that give your body energy.
• Stay hydrated.

Can Sleep Be Improved To Reduce Cancer Fatigue

Sleep is an important part of wellness. Good sleep can improve your mental and physical health. Several factors contribute to how well you sleep, and there are things you can do to improve your sleep, including:

• Doing relaxation exercises, meditation or relaxation yoga before going to sleep.
• Avoiding long afternoon naps.
• Going to bed only when sleepy. Use your bedroom only for sleep and sexual activities.
• Setting a consistent time to lie down and get up.
• Avoiding caffeine and stimulating activities in the evening.
• Establishing a relaxing pre-sleep routine.

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How Can I Prevent Cancer Fatigue

You cant do much to prevent cancer-related fatigue. But these strategies may help minimize the problem:

• Adopt healthy sleep habits: To build better sleep habits, keep phones and TVs out of the bedroom, go to bed at the same time every night and sleep in a dark, quiet room.
• Ask for help: Let family and friends run errands, fix meals or help with housework or child care.
• Cut back on caffeine:Caffeine provides a temporary pick-me-up. But it can also keep you up at night.
• Drink plenty of fluids: Its important to stay hydrated and eat nutritious foods.
• Set priorities: Be realistic about what you can do. Save your energy for the things that matter most.
• Stay physically active: Go for a walk or try yoga or tai chi. Dont exercise too late in the evening. The activity may make it harder to fall asleep.
• Take 30-minute rest breaks: During the day, dont sleep longer than 30 minutes or you could have trouble falling asleep at night. Rest breaks can help if you have an upcoming event that requires a lot of energy.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

A chronic illness like cancer can bring many unwanted challenges. Cancer fatigue is one of them. It makes sense that fighting off cancer can tire out your body. Cancer treatments can also be physically and mentally exhausting. Still, you shouldnt hesitate to let your healthcare provider know how cancer fatigue is affecting your life. You can take steps to bring more energy back into your days.

References

Pathophysiology Of Fatigue In Liver Disease

The pathogenesis of fatigue in general is poorly understood and this holds true for fatigue in the setting of liver disease . However, given that altered neurotransmission within the CNS drives central fatigue, and that central fatigue is the predominant issue in the setting of liver disease, any discussion of the possible etiology of fatigue in the context of liver disease must relate to these potential changes in neurotransmission within the brain . Therefore, the discussion of the pathophysiology of fatigue in liver disease must incorporate two main concepts:

Moreover, this discussion must also be placed in the context that fatigue in patients with liver disease is manifest in the setting of a diagnosis often holding an uncertain outcome and often associated with societal taboos. Therefore, the diagnosis of chronic liver disease encompasses complex interactions among biological, psychosocial and behavioural processes, which can all significantly affect the clinical expression of fatigue in a given patient.

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What Is A Loss Of Appetite Like In Covid

Even though skipping meals is a less well-known symptom, our data shows that one in three people with COVID-19 lose their appetite.

Skipping meals was first spotted in care homes. Carers noticed their residents were off their food and they also often lost their appetites during their illness. A loss of appetite is a normal part of being unwell and can be caused by feeling too sick or tired to make or eat a meal.

Having no appetite is always a sign of ill-health and should be looked out for in older relatives or people you are caring for.

Work With A Nutritionist Or Dietitian

A dietitian or holistic nutritionist can also help seniors develop healthier eating patterns that provide adequate calories and nutrients while helping to treat any potential root cause of the appetite loss as well. Nutritionists or dietitians can also help set an eating schedule, encourage a diet diary to keep track of eating habits, and recommend nutritious foods that taste good and are easy to swallow. Ginger and other foods can also help stimulate appetite.

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What Is Pots And Why Does It Cause Fatigue

POTS is a group of symptoms resulting from dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system regulates functions we dont consciously control like sweating and blood circulation.

In people with POTS, more blood collects in the lower body when standing upright. The heart beats faster to pump it up to the brain, but with little success. The causes of POTS are unknown, but the problem is thought to lie in the communication breakdown between the brain and the cardiovascular system.

POTS-related fatigue is physical in nature and the mechanism behind it is not fully understood. It may have several causes, including your body working harder to move the blood.

How Can I Conserve Energy When I Have Cancer Fatigue

Plan and organize your work

• Change storage of items to reduce trips or reaching.
• Delegate when needed.
• Combine motions and activities and simplify details.

Schedule rest

• Balance periods of rest and work.
• Rest before you feel tired.
• Frequent, short rests are beneficial.

Pace yourself

• Do not hold your breath.
• Wear comfortable clothes to allow for free and easy breathing.

Identify anything in your environment that may contribute to cancer fatigue

• Avoid extreme temperature.
• Eliminate smoke or noxious fumes.
• Avoid long, hot showers or baths.

Prioritize

• Use your energy on important tasks.

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Avoid Other Fatigue Contributors

When you dont get enough sleep at night, youll likely feel fatigued the next day. Your COPD can make you feel even more tired.

Get regular sleep every night and your body will have the energy it needs to work, despite your COPD. If you still feel tired after getting eight hours of sleep each night, talk with your doctor.

You may have obstructive sleep apnea, which is common among people with COPD. Sleep apnea can also make your COPD symptoms and fatigue worse.

When Should I Seek Medical Help

Seek immediate medical attention if youre vomiting blood or you have bloody or tarry stools along with abdominal bloating and loss of appetite. Call 911 if youre experiencing chest pain, dizziness, sweating, and shortness of breath. These are symptoms of a heart attack, which can mimic GERD symptoms.

Make an appointment with your doctor if youve experienced sudden, unexplained weight loss or youre consistently losing weight without trying. You should also see your doctor if you experience abdominal bloating and loss of appetite on an ongoing or recurrent basis even if they arent accompanied by more serious symptoms. Over time, loss of appetite can lead to malnutrition.

This information is a summary. Always seek medical attention if youre concerned that you may be experiencing a medical emergency.

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What Else Causes Fatigue

Some lifestyle habits can make you feel tired. Here are some things that may be draining your energy:

• Staying up too late. A good night’s sleep is important to feeling refreshed and energetic. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
• Having too much caffeine. Drinking caffeinated drinks like soda, tea, or coffee late in the day can keep you from getting a good night’s sleep. Limit the amount of caffeine you have during the day and avoid it in the evening.
• Drinking too much alcohol.Alcohol changes the way you think and act. It may also interact with your medicines.
• Eating junk food. Say “no thanks” to food with empty calories, like fried foods and sweets, which have few nutrients and are high in fat and sugars. Choose nutritious foods to get the energy you need to do the things you enjoy.
• Getting too little or too much exercise. Regular exercise can boost your energy levels, but dont overdo it.