What Ails You: Many conditions contribute to that ‘run down' feeling

How often have you caught yourself saying, “I just don’t feel like myself”? Maybe you complain that you feel like a foreigner in your own body. You can’t quite put your finger on what is wrong, but you know you don’t feel right. 

“Malaise” describes a generalized feeling of lack of well-being. Your skin doesn’t seem to fit right. You feel ill whether or not you have actually been sick recently. If you were recently sick, you think you should be over it by now, but you are not.

You are tired, but you don’t feel rested after you sleep. Maybe you take forever to get to sleep and then you toss and turn.  Maybe you have no trouble dropping off to sleep, but whereas you used to sleep soundly for six or seven hours, now you have trouble staying asleep for four. 
You find yourself wandering from activity to activity, but you feel like you are just going through the motions. You feel disconnected. Things that used to make you feel good about yourself don’t have that same affect. You just feel blah.

Forgive me for getting personal, but how’s your sex life? Are you having trouble getting in the mood? Does the whole idea seem somehow distasteful, even though it wasn’t that long ago that you enjoyed intimacy? Loss of libido is a significant indicator that something is not right in your blood chemistry. 

Malaise can, but does not often, occur in isolation. The cluster of symptoms that surround it can be subtle. You may not realize that the exhaustion you feel, your muscle aches, the vague pains in your joints or back, or that nagging cough or constant yawning because you can’t get enough air, are all connected. Bronchitis, pneumonia, kidney and liver disease all cause malaise.
One of the most common causes of malaise is hormone imbalance. It seems at times that, especially as women, we have a difficult time getting our medical professionals to take our complaints seriously. That is why I am writing this column for you today. I want you to be armed with the information you need to get the attention your condition demands. 

Hormones are the chemical messengers of the body. Without them, nothing happens. Very few diseases cause a hormone system to shut down completely, but there are many which cause them to be out of balance. Too much or too little of any one or a combination of hormones can wreak havoc on your body.

Menopause changes the levels of estrogen and testosterone in your system. Most of us can recite the symptoms of menopause, but let’s talk about one symptom in particular: hot flashes. A hot flash is a sudden, intense, hot feeling that turns your face and chest embarrassingly red and drenches you in sweat. A hot flash may be accompanied by a racing heart and panic. It lasts 15-20 minutes and then resolves as quickly as it started and often with a chill. Hot flashes may come in waves throughout the day, but they are not constant. Estrogen can be the culprit if you are having hot flashes.   

Instead of flashes of intense heat, do you find that you are constantly warmer than the rest of the world. Are you complaining that the AC just can’t be working properly while everyone else is wearing jackets and mittens? Or maybe you are the one in jacket and mittens while others around you are fanning themselves. Your body’s poor temperature control may indicate a thyroid imbalance. A thyroid imbalance is diagnosed by blood test.

Malaise is only one of dozens of symptoms that can indicate insulin resistance or Type II diabetes. To rule out diabetes, you will need a glucose tolerance test. Because diabetes can be disabling or even lethal, it is imperative that you take the risk seriously. If your tests are positive, you must learn everything you can about the disease to aggressively manage your symptoms. 
Have you recently had a cold or flu that left you with a nagging cough. Do you yawn frequently? Do you feel out of breath? You could have pneumonia. A chest x-ray may be appropriate. Because so many bacteria today are resistant to antibiotics, it may take more than one type and more than one course of antibiotics to finally clear a persistent infection. 

Do your muscles ache? Do your joints hurt? Malaise accompanied by these complaints could indicate an inflammatory disease.  Although they should not necessarily be the first medications you try, you may need a course of steroids to get you back on your feet. 

Asthma is a condition that causes chronic inflammation in the lungs. Even when you think you are feeling well, the inflammation is there. Do you find yourself reaching for your rescue inhaler more than once or twice each day? Do you have a wheeze that can be heard more than 10 feet away? You cannot have energy without sufficient oxygen and asthma makes it difficult to breathe.  Malaise is a frequent problem for asthma patients. You may need a change in medication or a short course of steroids to clear your lungs. 

Malaise is a non-specific symptom which means it is difficult to describe. When you talk with your doctor, tell him everything that concerns you. Don’t try to decide for yourself which symptoms are important and which are not. While a single symptom may not indicate any particular problem, several together become a syndrome which may clearly point toward the underlying problem. 

Malaise accompanies a number of diseases which might be endocrine (hormonal), systemic (disease throughout the body) or infectious (pneumonia, for instance). If you have been experiencing malaise for more than two weeks, please, call your doctor now. You could be back to your old self in a matter of days. 

ABOUT THE WRITER:
Jackie Randa is a physical therapist who owns Back on Track in Barstow. She can be contacted at jranda@aol.com