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Feeling of weakness - causes, treatment and illnesses
Everyone knows weakness - temporarily. As a rule, we know the reasons for this. We have revised ourselves, our relationship is in crisis, we have lovesickness or stress in the job. Apart from these psychological causes of weakness, we can also easily assess many physical causes: A cold is starting or a flu-like infection. Weaknesses can also announce a serious illness. We feel lossless, impotent, dull and often drowsy.
contents
- Where do we feel weak?
- General weakness
- causes
- General feelings of weakness
- Physical diseases
- blood pressure
- heart disease
- Diseases of the lungs
- kidney disease
- liver ailments
- Gastrointestinal
- alcoholism
- Diabetes mellitus
- allergies
- Psychosocial consequences
- What can you do?
- The way out of weakness
Where do we feel weak?
We can feel weak all over our body or just in one place. On individual parts of the body, we can clearly differentiate a feeling of weakness from weak muscles. If a muscle is too weak, we can not lift an object - we realize that it is too heavy. With a feeling of weakness, we can not lift - nothing easy.
A feeling of weakness can affect the whole body and e.g. make sure that we can not lift anything anymore. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com) Depending on where we feel this weakness, the hip sags away when we strain the corresponding leg, with a weakness in the legs, the knees fail. With a weakness in the back we have to sit down or lean on, with a weakness in the neck we can not hold the neck upright.
The weakness in the body regions is often due to tension in the connective tissue of the skin. This is so tense that the muscles can not work; they are so tightly packed that they do not move.
General weakness
A general feeling of weakness without mental triggers or basic diseases is usually due to wrong breathing. If the respiratory muscles are so tight that the lungs can not expand, the body does not get enough oxygen and thus too little energy.
causes
Feelings of weakness can have a variety of causes, and therefore, other symptoms are important to make a diagnosis. Natural triggers are a jet lag or a change of weather or travel in an unfamiliar climate.
Fatigue is also a typical symptom of serious illness, such as anemia. This can be easily determined by the doctor by measuring the iron content in the blood.
Persistent weakness is also a classic symptom of depressive illness. At the same time, depression occurs as a comorbidity of other serious illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and Parkinson's disease. All of these diseases are also associated with a general feeling of weakness.
If the feeling of weakness persists permanently, this may indicate a depressive disorder. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia.com) Depression is easily recognized by other symptoms. For example, those who feel weak for a jet lag or a cold do not lack self-esteem, and they are not plagued by guilt or compulsive anxiety. However, they are classic for depression.
In addition, someone who feels weak without a mental disorder does not lose interest in pleasurable activities, neglects his friendships, or loses his hobbies. On the contrary, people who feel weak, for example because of a change of weather, are usually annoyed that they can not do what they want to do.
In women, menstruation and premenstrual syndrome are often the cause of a general weakness that usually persists until the third day of the period. Other changes in the hormone balance are accompanied by feelings of weakness, namely menopause and puberty.
Parents despair about pubescent children lying around unwashed in bed for hours, "out of their shoes" or claiming to be too tired for a weekend outing they wish for themselves. Although this is also due to the age-typical change of mood, but this "capricious" behavior may in turn have to do with real feelings of weakness.
General feelings of weakness
General feelings of weakness often have a psychosomatic cause. At the present time, a major trigger is negative stress, that is the feeling of being physically, mentally and emotionally overwhelmed. This is often one with precarious living conditions.
Lack of exercise clogs the vessels, as a result, the brain is less supplied with blood. Affected suffer from lack of concentration, general feelings of weakness and learning disabilities. Decreases the performance with the lack of exercise, those affected are considered unsportsmanlike and no longer participate in the physical testing of their peers.
The lack of exercise also leads to a vicious circle. As a result of general weakness caused by a lack of exercise, the weakness, in turn, results in those affected becoming increasingly unable to move and, as a result, the feeling of weakness continues to increase.
In the end, there may be chronic, poor sensitivities that develop into serious problems: insomnia, alcoholism, or depression.
With many physical illnesses it belongs to the normal complaint that one feels weak. (Image: Elnur / fotolia.com) Physical diseases
Various diseases are accompanied by feelings of weakness. Typical are: cold, gastrointestinal flu, rheumatism, myocarditis, hyperthyroidism, stroke, low blood pressure, hypertension, intestinal inflammation, ulcerative colitis, kidney and liver diseases, endocrine disorders, autoimmune diseases, lung diseases and cancer (especially intestinal, lung, Pancreatic, liver, kidney and brain tumors).
Colds and flu-like infections are the first symptom of weakness. There is also itching in the nose and throat, headache, shivering, hoarseness, sore throat, runny nose, cough, body aches and fever. The fatigue increases in the course of the disease.
In glandular fever, general weakness is accompanied by swollen lymph nodes in the neck and neck, as well as fever and sore throat.
In case of sinusitis, fatigue is accompanied by a feeling of pressure in the nose and forehead, chronic cold and headache, hoarseness and coughing.
Anemia shows in addition to fatigue with a pale facial skin, dizziness and sensitivity to cold.
blood pressure
High blood pressure leads to general weakness as well as low blood pressure. Those who suffer from low blood pressure, especially in the morning feels weak. In the daytime he gets tired quickly. There are also cold feet and hands, as well as depressive moods and sleep problems.
High blood pressure goes unnoticed for longer than it does lower. In addition to a general weakness, dizziness when getting up or bending over, breathing difficulties and heart palpitations, nosebleeds and sleep disturbances are early signs.
Both high and low blood pressure can be the cause of fatigue, fatigue and fatigue. (Image: Kurhan / fotolia.com) heart disease
For heart failure, general feelings of weakness and fatigue are a leading symptom. Because weak heart functions affect most of the other organs, and so cause various insufficiently working parts of the body to weakness.
If the left half of the heart works too weak, it shows up in difficulty breathing, coughing at night and asthma-like problems. When the right half of the heart is affected, the feet swell and the blood builds up in the jugular veins. People who are ill gain even if they eat little, and the digestive system is disturbed.
Any weakness of the heart is accompanied by nocturnal urgency, heartbeat disturbances, damp and cold skin, insomnia and unreasonable fears.
Too slow heartbeat (bradycardia) starts with a general feeling of weakness, which increases to severe attacks of weakness and even leads to a short unconsciousness. There are also sweats, shortness of breath and chest tightness.
Heart muscle inflammation caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi is manifested by general weakness, shortness of breath and heart rhythm disturbances. In addition, the heart, chest and muscles hurt.
Diseases of the lungs
Lung diseases, whether pneumonia or lung cancer, mean that breathing is disturbed. We absorb too little oxygen and therefore we feel weak. Even bronchitis leads to exhaustion and exhaustion. Diseases of the lungs, in addition to general weakness, include respiratory distress, cough, fever, headache and body aches.
In diseases of the kidneys, a feeling of weakness is one of the typical symptoms. (Image: ag visual / fotolia.com) kidney disease
Feelings of weakness are also a leading symptom of kidney disease, especially kidney inflammation and chronic kidney failure. A kidney inflammation is shown in addition to fatigue with edema on the face, eyes, hands and feet, in addition to head and limb pain.
Renal failure is associated with frequent and uncontrolled urination, kidney pain, fatigue and paleness. There are also visual disturbances, itching on the skin, nausea, loss of consciousness and a strong bad breath after dried urine.
liver ailments
The liver produces hormones, organizes metabolism and eliminates pollutants. Therefore, liver damage affects the entire organism. Diseases of the liver are associated with general weakness. These include alcohol heptatitis, alcoholic fatty liver, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis for overweight, viral infections, poisoning and drug side effects.
To exhaustion comes listlessness and lack of appetite. The stomach puffed up, in the upper abdomen feel the affected a feeling of pressure. The feces are very light or very dark, the urine assumes a dark yellowish brown color.
Gastrointestinal
Working stomach and therefore inadequate, then suffer the sufferer from heavy exhaustion, abdominal pain and diarrhea. In diarrhea, the weakness is compounded by a lack of potassium.
In diarrhea, the weakness is often due to the increased excretion of minerals particularly pronounced. (Image: absolutimages / fotolia.com) Crohn's disease, stomach ulcers and intestinal inflammation often lead to anemia. This in turn leads to a lack of vitamin B12 and folic acid and manifests itself in chronic fatigue.
Even those who suffer from stomach upset, because he can not tolerate certain foods, tired quickly and feels flabby.
alcoholism
Alcoholism has both physical effects and psychosocial consequences, and both are associated with feelings of weakness. The poisoning of the entire organism and damage to important organs such as brain, liver and heart weaken the performance as well as the increasing despair of the patients.
They increasingly isolate themselves to hide their addictions. Apart from other victims, nobody wants to have anything to do with them at any time, because they talk confused things, do not appear on dates or are hopelessly drunk.
The patients can not control their emotions, project their problems onto other people, are hypersensitive to criticism, express joy, anger, grief and anger too violently. The addiction also leads to indifference to former hobbies, friendships and family.
While some alcoholics try to curb the effects of excessive exercise in the early stages of their illness, their general weakness is often not apparent to other people. But the more the physical decline progresses, the less the general weakness can be denied. Eventually, those affected just manage to stagger to the kiosk to get the next dose of their addictive substance.
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetics are well-versed in weakness, and fatigue puts a strain on them. Often the weakness is a very early symptom. Those affected then realize that they have a problem because they do not get out of bed in the morning because of hypoglycaemia.
allergies
When the immune system reacts hypersensitively to certain substances, medicine calls it allergies. Rash, asthma, cough and runny nose, swelling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and circulatory problems are typical for allergy. Common weakness is often associated with an allergy.
Psychosocial consequences
Persistent weakness often leads to mental health problems and can trigger depression. The people affected are severely limited in their everyday lives, pleasurable activities tire them. When their friends go to parties, when the family wanders, when they want to see a foreign city on a weekend break, they go limp.
Many sufferers despair and think "I'm always sick". Worse: Neither they nor their environment at some point between mental crises and physical lows can be distinguished. Often sufferers have the reputation of being simulants, who always feel "weak" when they do not feel like doing anything.
Affected individuals often get stuck at home, are listless and no longer engage in activities with others. (Image: nikodash / fotolia.com) Without treatment, occupational disability can also be the result. Added to this is social isolation. Anyone who goes to the birthday party after an hour because he feels weak, the friends invite sometime only pro forma and in the end no longer.
Are organic diseases the cause, then they can find out from a doctor. If the weakness has psychological reasons, these are harder to recognize, but the psychiatrist, psychologist or psychotherapist also helps here.
A healthy diet with enough vitamins will not hurt, and if a vitamin or mineral deficiency is the cause, the weakness will soon go away.
What can you do?
Check your living conditions: Are you under a lot of negative stress? Do you eat unhealthily, do you move too little? Do you ventilate your apartment sufficiently? Do you move outdoors? Do you suffer from severe overweight? These are all triggers for general weakness.
In any case, reduce your consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and coffee. But do not use self-treatment if an avoidable cause of her condition is not obvious. If basic diseases are present, you can make things worse with a "self-medication", even with supposedly clear findings. In depression, for example, you need long psychotherapy except for antidepressants, possibly blood transfusion for anemia.
In mental causes, the feeling of weakness can often only be counteracted by means of appropriate therapy. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com) In general weakness due to extreme overweight, it is not enough with a "Hauruck diet", but you have to long term change their diet and systematically select appropriate sports. For example, switching from zero to 180 and running for miles every morning can, first, cause cardiovascular and second, bone problems.
In nested psychophysical feelings of weakness self-treatment helps only in rare cases, because you have become accustomed to the role of the "weak" and build up, even if the physical means work, a new self-image.
The way out of weakness
This is not without difficulties. For example, her family and friends may have become used to her weakness. If you are the one who presses for a walk through the forest in the morning, it will make you crazy about a roller system that works - also for your environment. Such changes are not without conflicts.
Some sufferers also have problems with the fact that they no longer get "extra care". Although they were not simulants in times of weakness, they have become accustomed to the "stronger" taking decisions from them.
Last but not least disappear some false friends who built their "strength" by the weakness of those affected. Taking care of someone also gives you power. If such "friends" now note that they no longer need their "help," they may try to keep you dependent. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)