In severe cases, anxiety disorders can cause you to feel afraid to do normal activities like going to work or out shopping. You might feel achy, dizzy, jittery, or tired all the time. Your pulse might be elevated. You may even have difficulty breathing. If this sounds familiar, trust me, you are not alone.
One of my patients recently moved from his sea level home here in Florida to the desert mountain city of Santa Fe. He called me shortly after he moved—he hadn’t found a new doctor yet—reporting that he felt awful. He was tired all the time and grew short of breath easily. I realized at once that he was being affected by the altitude gain. He’d moved from sea level up more than 5000 feet and the thinner air was taking its toll.
If you’re like many people, the winter months are rough. Less light and cold weather makes you feel tired, sad, even depressed. You might find that it’s more difficult to get up in the morning, that you have a harder time enjoying the things that you usually do, and that you don’t feel as productive at work.
This is known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and it affects millions of Americans every winter. In mild cases, it is merely unpleasant. In the most serious cases it can lead to serious health problems including insomnia, weight loss, fatigue, and even suicidal thoughts.
How are you feeling right now? If you answered, “tired,” then you may be one of the 2.2 million Americans who have experienced prolonged fatigue, according to the Centers for Disease Control. We all lose sleep now and then, whether it’s due to a hectic schedule or trouble sleeping at night, but chronic fatigue is … Read more
What if you get plenty of rest every night, but still feel exhausted during the day? This may be a sign of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a mysterious illness that causes a lot of common misconceptions. For instance, patients sometimes think they can’t possibly have CFS because they were never depressed. Though depression can be one … Read more