Fatigue – feeling tired

About fatigue
How to describe fatigue to your doctor
Treatments

About fatigue

Associated drugs: most HIV medications include fatigue as a potential side effect

Fatigue is a general feeling of tiredness that does not really go away, even after you have been able to rest.

With physical fatigue you are not able to be as active as you used to, even with simple tasks like going up stairs or carrying shopping.

With psychological fatigue, you are not able to concentrate as well as normal or you lose the motivation to do things.

Fatigue can be caused by many things including:

HIV.
HIV drugs.
Lack of sleep.
Poor diet.
Stress.
Depression.
Antihistamines (used to treat hay fever) and flu and cold remedies.
Alcohol and recreational drug use.
Underlying HIV-related illnesses.

Fatigue can also be caused from being more active than you are able to manage.

It can also be caused by a hormone imbalance such as low testosterone or DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) levels in both men and women.

If you are feeling very tired and have any of the other symptoms associated with lactic acidosis (vomiting, nausea, sometimes pain in the stomach and/or liver, unexplained weight loss, difficulty breathing etc) it is very important that you report this to your doctor.

How to describe fatigue to your doctor

Fatigue can build up slowly, and build up without you realising it. To be able to describe this to your doctor it helps to be able to give specific examples of which activities make you feel more tired.

If you can compare how you feel now with how you felt six months or a year ago, this will also help.

Describe how often you are tired or out of breath for example. As fatigue can be related to poor sleep, include information about your sleep patterns.

Treatments

Person, fast asleep, safe and sound Blood tests can check whether your fatigue is caused by anaemia (low red blood cells). This can be a side effect of AZT and can be treated easily with medication or with a blood transfusion in more serious cases.

You may be feeling more tired because you are not sleeping properly, and one study found this explained fatigue in over 60% of cases. There is more information about difficulties with sleep.

If you are not eating a balanced diet – ie not getting sufficient calories and nutrients for your body to function normally – this can leave you feeling more tired.

Multivitamins can be prescribed by your doctor, and supplements of vitamin B12 can sometimes help you feel more energetic.

You can also ask to be referred to a dietician who can help you assess and plan changes to your diet.

Psychostimulants like methylphenidate (Ritalin) and pernoline (Cylert) used in low doses, have sometimes been used to treat HIV-related fatigue but side effects include hyperactivity, addiction, loss of appetite and liver toxicity.