Fatigue and low energy

Fatigue is normal after a busy day, physical exertion or a period with little sleep. Usually your energy recovers once you get enough rest. When fatigue persists for a long time, returns regularly or is out of proportion to what you have done, however, it can have a considerable impact on your daily life.

Fatigue can present both physically and mentally. Moving may take more effort, you may find it hard to get going in the morning, or you may notice that you cannot concentrate as well. Some people mainly feel heavy and sluggish, while others feel exhausted despite sufficient rest.

The possible causes vary widely. That is why, with persistent fatigue, we first consider whether medical investigation is needed. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can then be used as a complement, tailored to the cause, the type of fatigue and your general health.

How can fatigue present?

Not everyone experiences fatigue in the same way. The moment at which the fatigue occurs and the complaints that go with it can provide important information about the possible cause. You may, for example, experience:

Complaints such as feeling cold, dizziness, shortness of breath, headache, muscle aches, sleep problems or digestive complaints can also go together with fatigue.

Western causes and conditions

Fatigue is a non-specific symptom: it can occur with many different physical and mental conditions. Sometimes the cause is clear, for example after a period of sleep deprivation or illness. With long-standing fatigue, further investigation may be needed. Possible causes and conditions include:

Diet, alcohol use, little exercise or, conversely, prolonged heavy physical strain can also affect your energy level.

Persistent, severe or unexplained fatigue is therefore not automatically a complaint that should be treated with acupuncture or herbs alone. It is important to have possible medical causes investigated, especially when the fatigue is new, clearly increasing or accompanied by other unexplained complaints.

What can acupuncture do for fatigue?

An acupuncture treatment is tailored to how your fatigue presents and which other complaints are present. Someone who is tired and feels cold may, within Chinese medicine, have a different pattern than someone who feels heavy and sluggish or someone who is not recovering well after illness.

Depending on the overall picture, the treatment can focus on:

Acupuncture does not replace treatment of an underlying medical cause. With anaemia, a thyroid condition or sleep apnoea, for example, treatment or supervision for that remains important.

What can Chinese herbal medicine do for fatigue?

Chinese herbal medicine can be used when fatigue is part of a recognisable TCM pattern. Which herbs are used therefore depends not only on how much energy you have, but also on your sleep, digestion, sense of temperature and other complaints, for example.

Depending on the pattern, a herbal treatment can focus on:

Herbs are taken daily and can therefore also be used in between acupuncture treatments. The composition is adjusted to the individual picture of complaints and can change during the course of treatment.

How does Chinese medicine view fatigue?

Within Chinese medicine, fatigue is not a pattern in itself. We look at which functions are insufficient according to TCM, or why energy is not properly available.

An important concept here is Qi. Qi describes various functional activities of the body and is associated among other things with energy, movement, breathing, digestion and recovery. When insufficient Qi is available, this can present as fatigue, weakness and reduced capacity.

Various TCM organ systems can play a role as well. These are not the same as the anatomical organs from Western medicine, but describe groups of bodily functions. The Spleen is associated among other things with the processing of food and making nutrients and energy available. The Lungs play a role in breathing and Qi. Within TCM the Kidneys are associated with the constitutional foundation, recovery and the body's reserves, and can be particularly relevant with prolonged exhaustion.

In addition, Blood deficiency can go together with fatigue and insufficient nourishment of tissues, while a shortage of Yang is rather accompanied by feeling cold and little activity. With Yin deficiency, fatigue and insufficient recovery may instead go together with restlessness, dryness or warmth. Fatigue also does not always have to arise from a deficiency: according to TCM, Damp can cause a heavy and sluggish feeling.

A recognisable combination of these features is called a TCM pattern. Several patterns can be present at the same time and not everyone with the same pattern has all of the symptoms mentioned. The pattern is established on the basis of the overall picture of complaints.

Common TCM patterns with fatigue

Qi deficiency

In Chinese medicine Qi is associated among other things with energy, activity and recovery. With Qi deficiency, a general lack of energy and strength is most prominent. Ordinary activities can take more effort and rest often helps temporarily.

Common symptoms:

This pattern can occur, for example, during recovery after illness or a prolonged period of strain.

Spleen Qi deficiency

When the Spleen Qi in particular is weakened, fatigue often goes together with digestive complaints. According to Chinese medicine, food is then processed less well and converted less effectively into the substances the body needs for energy and recovery.

Common symptoms:

This pattern can occur when long-standing fatigue goes together with functional stomach or bowel complaints.

Blood deficiency

In Chinese medicine Blood has a nourishing function for, among other things, muscles, eyes, skin and mental functions. When insufficient Blood is available, fatigue therefore often goes together with other signs of insufficient nourishment.

Common symptoms:

A TCM diagnosis of Blood deficiency is not the same as anaemia. Anaemia can cause fatigue and must be medically investigated and treated where necessary.

Yang deficiency

In Chinese medicine Yang represents among other things the warming and activating functions of the body. When Yang is insufficient, clearly feeling cold is often prominent alongside fatigue.

Common symptoms:

With long-standing complaints, the functions of the Spleen and Kidneys in particular may be involved.

Yin deficiency

Yin represents among other things the nourishing, moistening and cooling functions of the body. With Yin deficiency someone can be tired but at the same time have difficulty truly settling and recovering.

Common symptoms:

This pattern can occur with prolonged strain and in periods in which hormonal changes go together with fatigue and sleep problems.

Damp

Not all fatigue is seen within Chinese medicine as a shortage of energy. With Damp, the central feeling is that the body feels heavy and slow. The Spleen often plays a role here, because this system is involved in the processing and distribution of fluids.

Common symptoms:

Damp can occur at the same time as, for example, Spleen Qi deficiency, so that someone can experience both low energy and a clearly heavy and sluggish feeling.

Fatigue after illness or prolonged overload

After an infection, operation or other period of physical strain it can take some time before energy and capacity fully return. Chinese medicine then looks at which functions were weakened during the illness or recovery period and which complaints are still present.

With prolonged stress or overload the picture can be different. Sleep, mental tension, physical exhaustion and digestion can influence one another. The treatment is then tailored to the combination of complaints rather than to the feeling of fatigue alone.

With Long COVID and ME/CFS, extra caution is important when exertion leads to a clear and sometimes delayed worsening of complaints. This is called post-exertional malaise (PEM). In that case the aim is not to keep building up activity despite worsening; treatment and daily load must take individual capacity into account.

Prognosis

How quickly fatigue improves depends greatly on the cause, the severity, how long the complaints have been present and your general health. Fatigue after a short period of sleep deprivation, illness or overload generally follows a different course of recovery than fatigue that has been present for months or years or is part of a chronic condition.

At first treatment usually takes place regularly, and we look at how energy, sleep, capacity and any additional complaints respond. The treatment frequency can then be adjusted to the recovery.

With chronic conditions such as ME/CFS or Long COVID the aim is not simply to build up capacity as quickly as possible. The treatment plan is tailored to the individual situation and conventional medical supervision remains part of the treatment where necessary.

Contact

Do you suffer from long-standing fatigue or low energy and would you like to know whether acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine can mean something for you? During a first consultation we discuss in detail how the fatigue presents, when it started and which other complaints are present. Sleep, exertion, recovery, digestion and relevant medical diagnoses are taken into account as well. On that basis a treatment plan is drawn up that suits your personal situation. You can book an appointment online right away or get in touch for more information.

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