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 insufficient sleep, and stress. So, actually, in light of all of that, it is a bit surprising that any of us don't feel fatigued.

Why are we all so tired?

Fatigue is Your First Symptom

Your body is designed to become tired every day, allowing you to 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 include physical resources such as 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 actual energy generated by your cells.

Modern life is not easy on the human body. Nutrients are depleted in the soil by modern farming practices, making it challenging to obtain enough micronutrients even when following a balanced diet. Additionally, we often have calorie-dense but nutrient-poor diets that exacerbate 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 of sleep per night, and 4.8 out of 10 US workers report being 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 appears - the first red flag to address, and it is crucial that you do so, because we can turn fatigue around.

Fatigue is Often Generated By Your Body

Fatigue is a hallmark of a condition known as "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. The virus or pathogen doesn't cause these symptoms; your body causes them in a well-educated attempt to get you to stop doing things and rest. Also, since we're social animals, it signals to other humans that you want to be taken care of.

Interestingly, sickness behavior is 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 a maladaptive response to abnormal circulating cytokines.

In this context, fatigue is the healthiest state for your body to be in, but we encounter problems when viruses become chronic, inflammation becomes overly high, or those cytokines remain elevated for other reasons.

Fatigue and Your Lifestyle

Lifestyle factors make a huge difference in fatigue, and in the grand paradox of human nature, these are the things that are most within our control, yet feel the hardest to change. The big four are:

• Sleep - lack of it, lack of attention to it, poor sleep quality, and the general sore spot that is sleep for so many of us.

• Sedentary lifestyle - this forms a fatigue hell-loop in which you're exhausted and so sedentary, but being sedentary keeps you exhausted.

• Chronic stress - (the modern way of life.)

• Diet - nutrient deficiencies, calorie excess, blood sugar instability, and food sensitivities all come into play here.

We will delve into these factors in more depth at various points this season, as fatigue is a multifaceted issue. The key is that everything you do to benefit your body will help. I find that to be a hopeful thought - that every small step you or I take in the direction of health is boosting your body's ability to have good energy and come back into balance. It's like the idea that all roads lead home.

Gene SNPs and Fatigue

I've mentioned it before and will again, but fatigue is the number one symptom that people with MTHFR gene SNPs report. It is hard to say whether this is caused by the gene itself or the personality traits that go along with MTHFR polymorphisms. These can include workaholism, perfectionism, and ambition. MTHFR is not the only SNP that contributes, but the research is strangely absent. Fatigue secondary to a major illness, such as cancer or an autoimmune disease, is well studied, but fatigue that occurs without a known cause remains a case of crickets chirping in empty research spaces. There is so little research it is almost laughable.

We can talk about categories of gene SNPs; however, that logically lead to fatigue, although this is educated guessing more than it is science-based, because again, crickets. These big categories of gene SNPs include:

• SNPs that impair the production or function of excitatory neurotransmitters - like COMT fast, which metabolizes norepinephrine, dopamine, and epinephrine extremely quickly, MAOA fast, which gobbles up dopamine and norepinephrine, and MTHFR, which can impair neurotransmitter formation.

• SNPs that impair the function of nutrients - like MTHFR, which impairs folate activation, MTR and MTRR, which slow down B12 recycling; and VDR, which affects vitamin D receptors.

• SNPs that lead to impaired blood oxygenation or circulation - like NOS3, which can impair vasodilation, and TMPRSS6, associated with low iron status and hemoglobin function.

• SNPs associated with higher inflammatory states - like LRRFIP1, which is associated with inflammation-related adiposity.

• SNPs associated with chronic fatigue - especially WASF3 or WAVE3 as it is often called, that helps regulate brain cytokines.

  
  

This is not a comprehensive list, and the research hasn't been done, so take this as a theory and not a fact.

Fixing Fatigue

Fixing fatigue comes down to taking all of those small steps and narrowing down the root of the problem. For me, most problems stem from MTHFR, but I know myself so there is also a smattering of chronic stress and workaholism thrown into the mix and so those are the things I prioritize when working on fatigue. For you, the priorities might be different. Maybe you know sleep is a weak area, or you may suspect your adrenals are fatigued, or you know you need to tidy up your lifestyle. The aim is to give you some options for working on your fatigue. I suggest you take a good look at yourself and apply brutal honesty to determine your priority areas.