Question by SciFiGuy: Need some help figuring out what these fatigue symptoms mean… WebMD no help
Ok, this is definitely a bit long, but I made it as detailed as I could to narrow down what it might be. If you think you can help please read it all the way through.

To start, I’m a 24 year old male 5 foot 8 158lbs. I’ve recently gotten into great shape through a workout program P90X, coming down from 195 lbs in mid March. Daily (since March), I take a 1-a-Day multivitamin, a post workout recovery formula, and I eat 5 times a day on a schedule An example of my daily eating so we can rule in or out my food intake:

Breakfast – 1 cup Total cereal 8oz Skim Milk
Snack – Banana, Apple, or Nature Valley Granola Bar
Lunch – Variety of Campbell’s healthier soups or a Veggie Wrap
Snack – Egg Beaters (weight lifting day) or apple/pear etc (cardio day)
Workout
Dinner – Beef, Chicken, Fish, Whole Grain pasta etc, always with a side of 2 -3 veggies
I rarely drink anything other than water, V-8 and Crystal Light, but mostly just water and I drink plenty every day (by my first snack my urine stream is almost clear and stays that way all day)

When I was losing weight I took in around 1200-1500 calories a day, now I take in about 1750-2000. I wouldn’t say I sleep like a baby, but I generally get 6.5-7.5 hours and very rarely 6 or less. Now onto the symptoms

Recently, I’ve been getting very very fatigued out of the blue. This has happened to me on and off all my life, usually 5-15 times in a 3 month to 1 year span and then disappearing again for months or years. The earliest I remember it is around 6 years old. This time around it’s much more pronounced. First I’ll get what seems similar to post-menopausal women’s hot flashes. It’ll feel like the room is suddenly(over a 5 minute span) 20 degrees hotter and stuffy and I’ll break out into a light sweat just sitting there. Soon I feel slightly dizzy, but mostly it’s a keen sense of rubbery, shaky legs and elbows. My hands are usually surgeon-still when I hold them up but in this state they’re slightly shaky. I’m not tired or sleepy whatsoever, but I’ll feel totally exhausted like if you’re up 36-40 hours straight or got 3-4 hours of sleep a couple nights in a row. It’s that same deep-bone weariness. The weak feeling lasts 3-6 hours and departs as suddenly as it arrived, over about a 5-15 minute span. Usually when this has happened I’d just ignore it or take a break from playing (when I was a kid) but this time around it’s real bad, I went home from work because of it last night and also this time I felt really ‘wrong’. I can’t describe it better, it just seemed something worse was going to happen, like I’d faint or have a seizure or something. My chest felt almost fluttery, but I checked my heartbeat and it was strong, slow and regular during this ‘episode’. (64 beats a minute, timed twice for 15 seconds) The fatigue usually hits mid day, yesterdays came about 3 hours after I’d gotten up.

To finish – I have no food allergies(also I’ve noted what I ate previous to these ‘episodes’ and I don’t think it’s something I’m eating). I don’t smoke or use any illegal drugs. I drink very little, usually 1-2 beers or 1-2 mixed drinks less than once a week. I’m not on any prescription medication. The only other pills I take are aspirins for occasional headaches. I do technically have asthma, but I haven’t had a true attack in almost 7 years and I only use my inhaler 3-4 times a year just to catch my breath if I feel a shortness of breath. I have no medical history that stands out and other than a severe reaction to poison ivy years ago, my trips to the hospital have all been injury related. My last physical was 4 months ago for a new job and everything checked out fine. I’ve never fainted, passed out, has a seizure, panic attack or anything like that. I’m not stressed out, depressed or unhappy. I’d best describe my mental and physical state (other than this fatigue thing) as ‘normal’. Other than when fatigued I usually feel great.

I’d simply go to the doctors about this but I became dissatisfied and left my primary care physician 3 months ago and due to a very busy schedule I haven’t had time to find a new one. An E.R. visit is over 100 bucks with my insurance and I really can’t afford it unless I really need to go.

Thank you in advance for reading this short novel and thank you for any advice you can give!

Best answer:

Answer by SandyKIT
Take a look at your blood sugar. Quesiness that you described is one of the symptoms when it’s out of wack. Young folks with pretty good health can be affected by sugar spikes (and your diet is chock full of sugars/carbs).

The other factor is — stress. Seems you’re the active type who over regulates (got symptomology down to a science!). Stress affects the body in 1001 ways, from what you described to more descrete signs (and most folks don’t even realize it until stress takes it’s toll). Starting a new job is additional stress, compounded with the stress of changing your diet and pushing yourself to keep on it and exercise, even.

See how you feel with a more sugarless/reduced carb diet (and give yourself an indulge day — not over board, but a slice or two of pizza or so routine), and detuning from the “active” life for a week or two. Maybe that’s all that you’ll need, some “down time” so the body can heal itself.

Remember this also about dieting: food monotony (same o’ same o’) can literally kill (why survivalists are very keen in maintaining a variety of food, not just the basics that “good for you”). Vary your meals, as your body will grow tired of the same food, and you’ll be robbing it of the micronutrients it can get from a cross section of foods.

If the symptoms don’t go away, do go see a doctor. Many heart aliments are difficult to find even with routine stress-testing and nuclear imaging (been there, done that). You may get a clean bill of health, only to be plagued by an apparently self-correcting issue that comes and goes at random.

Just don’t stress yourself out trying to find out what’s what, defer some of that responsibility onto a medical practicioner. Two minds work better than one, afterall!

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!