According to the Oxford dictionary, fatigue is extreme tiredness, especially due to mental or physical exertion or illness. Most people infected with hepatitis C may experience fatigue, although it's still common for some to be tired by busy lifestyles, stress or other factors. Fatigue may or may not be linked to over exertion or lack of rest. Here are just some common factors that cause fatigue:
- Immune system function
- Weakened liver function through poor diet, alcohol and other toxic substances
- Lack of rest
- Drug use
- Stress
- Medical treatments
Feeling fatigued over time can affect many aspects of life such as relationships, work and other activities. To manage it, you may need to adjust different aspects of your everyday life and/or seek counselling. Receiving support may prevent depression.
Many people with hepatitis C have fatigue; it's the most common single symptom. Fatigue associated with hepatitis C can be irregular and mild, but patients with more advanced chronic active hepatitis and abnormal liver function tests may have more severe symptoms of fatigue. But the severity of your fatigue is not a reliable measure of your disease's progression.
Fatigue may be caused by a number of factors and/or a combination of them such as:
- The immune system's response to the virus. HCV directly damages liver cells and the immune system fails to combat the virus
- The liver's metabolic function. Liver disease of any kind interferes with the liver's normal functioning. Hepatitis C hurts the liver's ability to function normally, allowing toxic substances to build up in the liver. These toxic substances can then leak into your body. The immune system recognizes the toxic substances and tries to combat them, leading you to feel fatigue.
Ask your health care provider or public health department about ways to manage fatigue.
Stress is a normal response to lifestyle, work and the general challenges
of life. A certain stress level is normal-sometimes even necessary to be productive.
There are positive and negative sides to stress. Positive stress helps people
reach their full potential in work and personal life. Prolonged stress and
feeling you've lost control produces negative stress. This often leads to
physical symptoms such as irritability, anxiousness, nervousness and fatigue.
* There are various ways to cope with stress. Ask your health care provider
or public health department for tips on how to manage it or check Peel Health's
Web site:
http://www.region.peel.on.ca/health/commhlth/coping/copstr.htm
