More than just fatigue: 8 signs that you have asthenia

Asthenia is a loss of physical and emotional strength, constant feeling of weakness, lack of energy for everyday activities. It can manifest itself against the background of certain diseases and mental conditions, leading to a gradual depletion of the body’s resources. It is possible to distinguish signs of asthenia from accumulated fatigue. Here are 8 characteristics of this condition.

Rest doesn’t make you feel better

For example, you have been doing general cleaning all day, and you are exhausted. You went to bed – and the following day, you felt refreshed and full of energy. This is an example of the usual fatigue that goes away after exercise. The same is with the mental: after 4 hours of writing an essay, you can get a good sleep and wake up with renewed vigor.

With asthenia, rest does not give such an effect at all. You can sleep 12 hours after a day on the couch watching TV series and still feel overwhelmed. The passive state does not go away for a long time and does not depend on the saturation and activity of the day.

Mental activity is difficult

At the end of the working day, we get tired and less productive – this is quite normal. With asthenia, a person experiences constant difficulties with concentration – regardless of how much time he spent at work. It is difficult for him to concentrate already in the morning, and this continues until the evening. And the usual ways to focus don’t work.

Memory problems can also arise, even if they were not common before. And these are not isolated cases when we do not take something important with us or do not reply to letters because we have forgotten about them. Absent-mindedness and difficulty in remembering to haunt a person with asthenia in all areas of his life.

Psychological problems appear

It is normal to feel sad from tiredness if it happens infrequently and for certain reasons. In people with asthenia, this can become permanent. They also experience anxiety and fears and are depressed daily, often without serious reasons for depression. Mood swings and new phobias can be added to negative emotions.

People with asthenia become hypersensitive

Combined with constant fatigue, asthenia may cause hypersensitivity to sounds, smells, and tastes. For example, before, you were not bothered that your son was chomping at the table, but now you are ready to pour the soup right behind his collar. And the smell of tobacco smoke in the entrance suddenly seems extremely nauseous.

Asthenia is true, in many cases, accompanied by hypersensitivity, which was not there before. You must admit that ordinary fatigue is unlikely to cause a sharp disgust for anything – this is the difference.

Headache comes on more often than usual

With asthenia, a headache can occur even in those who are completely healthy or have rarely experienced it. A person encounters it quite often, regardless of the degree of his physical or emotional stress, as well as the time of day. With ordinary fatigue, especially mental fatigue, the head can also ache – but this is an isolated phenomenon.

With asthenia, lymph nodes may hurt

Swollen lymph nodes in the neck and armpits can also speak of asthenia. When examining this symptom, it is important to exclude other diseases associated with the lymphatic system. If they are not there, then your fatigue is not at all accidental.

Muscles and joints ache for no reason

Often people with asthenia go to the doctor because of sudden onset of pain in the joints – and the examination does not find any changes or diseases. Muscles can also ache, and discomfort in the heart, abdomen, and spine can occur – for no clinical reason.
Since a person with asthenia is very tense and his nervous system is in constant agitation, such manifestations in frequent pain attacks are psychosomatics. The pain has quite natural causes with ordinary fatigue – for example, a sprain after a vigorous workout.

With asthenia, immunity decreases

If fatigue for several months is complemented by viral diseases that follow one after another, this may be a symptom of asthenia. Symptoms of chronic diseases such as asthma may also increase.

We want to add that if one or more symptoms of asthenia are found in oneself, one should consult a doctor. It usually does not go away on its own, and delaying treatment can contribute to developing more severe forms of the disease.

Asthenia also usually occurs against the background of other diseases. The sooner you understand why it appeared, the faster you can improve your health.