Lethargy - Symptoms, Causes and Remedies

Well, I am sure we all have bouts of what we think of as lethargy [means feelings of lack of energy, drowsiness or tiredness], we love to spend a day doing nothing but veg., mainly on the couch watching TV, only getting up for bathroom breaks and to feed a grumbling stomach. Take note this is just the way our bodies get us to slow down after a hard week at work and get a good day of rest under our belt. Actually, lethargy has a few serious causes, which I will touch on after giving you the symptoms that go with this problem.

Symptoms

* Change in appetite - the person will tend to be too lazy to eat and will just pick at his or her food
* Change in bowels movements - due to being inactive the bowels will also become sluggish
* Difficulty in concentrating - unable to focus for any length of time
* Fatigue - always wanting to lie down
* Difficulty in performing daily chores - usual daily tasks seem impossible to do
* Aches and pains - generally all over
* Problems with falling asleep - though tired will lay awake for hours while trying to go to sleep
* Inactive - finds exercise uninteresting and is to fatigued to do any
* Sluggish - body feels heavy, especially the arms and legs
* Lack of interest - no interest shown in anything that would normally interest the person

Causes

1) Depression - one of the main causes of this problem
2) High blood pressure
3) Low blood pressure
4) Head injury
5) Alcohol abuse
6) Drug abuse
7) Diabetes
8) Constipation
9) Poor nutrition
10) Thyroid gland disorders
11) Adrenal gland problems
12) Measles
13) Mononucleosis

Remedies and suggestions

* Herbal teas - especially tea made from basil
* Sprouts - ensure they fast at least once every second week and only consume fresh sprouts on that day
* Citrus - grapefruit and lemon juice mixed in equal portions should be sipped through-out the day
* Encourage the patient to do exercises that are more regular
* Get some natural sleeping pills
* Avoid alcohol during this period
* Ensure they get a healthy balanced diet at this time and try getting them to actually eat

Lethargy is nothing to scoff at and could become a serious problem, if you feel that depression is the main problem here, please contact your doctor for advice or take the patient to see him. Depression needs medical treatment as soon as one suspects the condition. The patient may even need to get some sleep therapy to get them through this phase.