Weakness & Fatigue - Causes and Treatment

Weakness or Fatigue is not a disease but a symptom that could be related to or caused due to a disease. Weakness and fatigue reduces general efficiency and hence affects output levels substantially. Fatigue can exist even without physical exercise and this is due to mental exertion and stress which we call psychological or mental fatigue. We will also deal with this today.

As fatigue is commonly associated with many diseases, certain symptoms must be taken seriously, if noticed. These are 

1. Loose motions - A lot of people have constant loose motions wherein the stools are loose or not well formed. This is one of the main reasons behind weakness and can be cured by using these simple home remedies if not then visit a doctor immediately.

2. Sudden Weight Loss - If you have witnessed a sudden drop in weight with weakness and fatigue then immediately see a doctor and get yourself tested for TB.

3. Constant and Excessive Coughing - If there is constant coughing and weakness associated with it, meet with a doctor immediately and again get yourself tested for TB.

4. Dizziness and blackouts - If there is dizziness, blackouts and fainting, it could well mean that your blood pressure has a habit of staying low or suddenly falling. Use and keep packets of "electral" powder with you and whenever you feel dizzy drink it with water. Also get your blood pressure monitored and correct treatment taken.

5. Constant on-and-off mild fever or feverish feeling - This is known as jeerna jwar in ayurveda, wherein a mild lingering fever constantly exists in the body. This fever may not reflect on the thermometer but exists in a dormant stage. Immediate treatment for this kind of a problem is required by an ayurvedic doctor.

Apart from these cases, regular weakness and fatigue can be dealt with easily.

Ayurveda mentions 4 general reasons why there is weakness and fatigue in the body.

1. Excessive exertion - Over exertion causes weakness and fatigue and this is true for both the mind as well as the body, hence stress related psychological weakness is also a part of excessive exertion. Try and calm the mind down by using simple meditation techniques. Shirodhara and pranayamas (except for kapalbhati) is extremely useful for this.

2. Less intake of food - A lot of times due to work or due to an incorrect lifestyle we reduce our intake of food. It could also be that there might be indigestion causing a nauseating feeling that subsequently reduces our food intake. How to find out whether it is indigestion or not and if it is, then how to treat it is mentioned in this video. Using these home remedies appetite will automatically increase.

3. Less amount of sleep - Insomnia also causes a lot of weakness. It is of two types - disturbed sleep and decreased duration of sleep. In the former, the patient sleeps on time and for the full duration but keeps waking up hence not allowing enough rest to the body and the mind. The other type is where sleep does not come at all and the patient is lying awake. Treatment for insomnia is mentioned in this video.

4. Tissue wasting - If none of the factors seem to be true then this could be a probable factor. If so, please visit an ayurvedic doctor immediately.

Some medicines boost the energy levels naturally and I would recommend using the home remedy given below as a booster for giving and maintaining high energy levels throughout the day.

Ayurvedic Energy Drink - 

This is an all natural easily available energy drink that can be used by all age groups and is extremely safe and effective. It gives not just instant but also long lasting energy.

Acidity - Causes and Treatment

Acidity is one of the most common yet one of the most harassing problem faced. The reason I say it is so harassing is that once you have it, it constantly keeps resurfacing despite all the medication you take for it. A little change in diet, one late night or just some minor change in routine triggers acidity and the patient is never at ease. Interestingly acidity has become incurable with modern medicines these days, very similar to diabetes. If a strict lifestyle or diet is followed the symptoms don't show and medication, if started, is taken perpetually. The reason I say this is because the root cause of acidity is not dealt with at all and treatment prescribed increases the problem at the root while giving symptomatic relief.

Associated symptoms commonly seen with acidity are

• Headache
• Hairfall
• Sleep deficiency
• Red spots on the back and shoulder
• Anger and Irritation
• Acne
• Redness of eyes
• Burning urination
• Burning of palm of hands and soles of legs

Causes -

• Increased intake of sour, spicy and fermented food
• Increased intake of water
• Intake of stale food
• Long gap between meals
• Late nights
• Increased stress levels

Pathophysiology -

Acidity is originally formed from indigestion. The indigestion could be because of excessive water intake diluting the gastric juices or could be because of overeating or eating heavy to digest foods regularly. It is also seen that this indigestion comes as a result of eating a lot immediately after fasting.

This indigestion stays in the body in the form of "aam" or a sticky fermented product stuck to the intestines. It does not clear even on purgation. Think of it as a chewing gum stuck to the intestines. The only way to remove it would be to completely digest and disintegrate it.

This "aam" being acidic in nature increases the overall acidity levels in the stomach. For simplicity purposes let us call the acid generated by the human body in order to digest the food "good acid" and the acid caused due to "aam" as "bad acid".

The good and bad acid increase in overall acidity levels in the body causing "Acidity". We usually try to treat this by a number of ways

1. We take something that is alkaline in nature like "eno" or "digene" etc. This gives us relief as it neutralizes the acid.

2. We eat sweet, heavy and cold food. A very common example is cold milk, or sweets.

3. We drink even more water to dilute the acid.

4. We start medication from something like a rantac to a pan-40 to an omez etc.

The problem with these steps is that none of them help digest this "aam" but in-fact increases the "aam", forming a vicious circle. In the first step, the neutralization does not differentiate between the good acid and the bad acid hence weakening our digestion causing further indigestion. In the second treatment, the indigestion definitely increases causing further problems. In the third treatment, the dilution of acid itself does not allow proper digestion and in the fourth one the medicines do not allow good acid to be formed hence giving the same result as the 3 above.

Generally once the acidity medication starts, it keeps increasing in dose and the patient gets hooked onto it and eventually cannot start his/her day without it.

This is the reason I say that acidity these days has become an incurable disease.

Treatment - 

To treat acidity the patient must suffer from increase in acidity and related symptoms. For curing acidity we increase the acid levels in the body especially the good acid levels which in turn digest the long-standing "aam" in the body. Once this "aam" is digested the formation of bad acid stops and a permanent solution to acidity is found. Ayurvedic doctors these days also give medicines to suppress symptoms of acidity but very few really cure it as it increases the symptoms.

For home remedies please refer to this video

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