“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
One of the many health issues some people begin to experience as they advance through middle age is being chronically tired.
We tend to laugh it off as part of the aging process, but when being tired becomes a badge of honor (or worse, begins to impact your productivity and how you think), don’t accept this as the norm.
I hope this article becomes a pattern interrupt for you and you decide to look into why you are so tired.
Being chronically tired is not a normal part of aging. If you are experiencing energy problems to the point it’s affecting your relationships, productivity, and mental health, it is vital to seek medical attention to get to the cause of your fatigue.
What This Article Covers
In this article, I’ll outline the options you can consider as you choose the path to treating your symptoms of being tired.
- Types of Doctors to Consider.
- Two Approaches to Consider.
Types of Doctors to Consider
Generalists
Primary Care Physicians - People should first discuss their fatigue symptoms with their primary care physician, who is the first line of defense generalist in their overall medical care.
My physician has managed our family’s medical care for over 30 years. Thus, we have a lot of trust in his recommendations.
Primary care doctors are trained in general internal medicine or family medicine. Primary care physicians focus on diagnosing and treating common medical conditions. This is the best place to start if you need your insurance to pay for medical services because you do not have the discretionary income to invest in more proactive healthcare.
An alternative to a traditional primary care physician is to find and see a local functional medicine doctor.
Functional medicine is a systems biology-based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.
Functional doctors are also board-certified and licensed to practice medicine in their state. You can find a functional doctor practicing primary care by clicking here.
If you have discretionary income to invest in your health, this could be a good solution. Functional doctors are primarily paid privately, outside of insurance payors. This gives them the freedom to test for root causes.
Specialists
The specialists listed below can also investigate your fatigue symptoms of concern and provide a diagnosis. Your symptoms may warrant evaluation by two or more specialists who combine their findings to reach a diagnosis.
Some primary care physicians have additional training in geriatric medicine - specialized care for common conditions of those over 65 years of age.
These physicians are trained to manage multiple medical conditions. It may be beneficial to see a mental health professional to rule out other causes of fatigue, such as depression.
If you are chronically tired and in your mid-60s, this type of physician could be a good choice.
A growing trend in healthcare is to see a licensed physician with significant experience working with fatigued individuals who also practice a root-cause approach to medicine called Functional Medicine. Under this category of doctors are those with additional training, access to advanced testing, and the experience to develop a treatment plan based on the mosaic of testing data from your labs.
These specialists have the tools and experience to assess the root cause drivers of fatigue, review clinical data, and develop a personalized treatment plan to address the drivers of your symptoms.
Two Approaches to Consider
Allopathic Medicine (also called biomedicine, conventional medicine, mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, and Western medicine) is a system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery.
An important point to consider if you pursue the allopathic route to treating your chronic fatigue is that, in general, practitioners in this arena do not recognize preventative or restorative treatment methods as effective.
Allopathic doctors will utilize prescription drug therapy if a diagnosis warrants such action. If not, given the limitations insurance payors place on their practice, they most often will not be able to test in such a way as to find an excellent solution to your fatigue problem.
The above was my experience. This is not a criticism of allopathic doctors, as it is the system that limits and prevents them from doing everything they would like to do in the treatment process.
Functional Medicine is a systems biology-based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.
Certain functional medicine doctors have received specialized training in the testing and treatment of common issues such as being chronically tired.
These practitioners understand the many pathways to fatigue, know how to measure the biomarkers, and support the drivers of feeling energetic into the optimal range.
As these pathway drivers are treated through disciplined lifestyle change and supplementation, symptoms of fatigue can resolve entirely or, at a minimum, improve.
Next Steps to Beat Tiredness
While many assessment and treatment options are available, based on the research and treatment results I’ve learned, our recommendation is to start with an appointment at your local primary care physician.
Your primary care doctor will likely determine if your symptoms warrant further investigation. Then, you’ll need to decide on the approach based on your financial situation and the severity of fatigue symptoms.
Our recommendation at Tiger Medical Institute is to work with a functional medicine doctor, trained and certified, in assessing, treating, and resolving fatigue symptoms. These complex conditions require understanding the root causes to form an effective treatment plan unique to you.
The licensed physicians at Tiger Medical Institute are trained in assessing and treating complex drivers of common conditions such as fatigue utilizing a root-cause functional approach.
Tiger Medical Institute utilizes genetic and biomarker testing to determine what is causing you to feel tired all the time.
I have experienced a medical transformation, resolving a multi-year fatigue problem with complete recovery by working with Tiger doctors.
To learn more, review these additional articles on cognitive disease:
Book a call today if you want to move forward and speak to a professional at Tiger Medical Institute to learn even more about your options.
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