The Healthy Celiac Podcast

Causes of Fatigue with Celiac Disease Ep. 68

July 25, 2022 Belinda Whelan Season 1 Episode 68
The Healthy Celiac Podcast
Causes of Fatigue with Celiac Disease Ep. 68
Show Notes Transcript

Fatigue often goes hand in hand with Celiac Disease. But what happens when you have got a hold of your Celiac diagnosis, you're eating gluten free and you are still struggling with fatigue?
In today's episode I am talking about some of the other reasons you could be struggling from fatigue and how to get some answers.

Learn more about Eliminate here
belindawhelan.teachable.com/p/eliminate

Episodes Mentioned in today's Episode:

My Story With Depression - thehealthyceliacpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1720208/9306149-my-story-with-depression-and-celiac-disease

20 Incredible Reasons Your Body Needs Water - thehealthyceliacpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1720208/9759388-20-incredible-reasons-your-body-needs-water


Learn more about Ultimate Celiac System here
 
www.belindawhelan.com/ultimateceliacsystem

 Join my free community and grab your copy of 11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free here www.belindawhelan.myflodesk.com/11mistakes


And I would love to connect with you on Instagram thehealthyceliac

If you have a  spare moment, please pop over to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review. Thank you!



Music Credit bensound.com 



Speaker 1:

So on today's episode, I'm talking all about fatigue and talking about some of the reasons why you may still be suffering from fatigue, living with celiac disease. Now I wanna send a shout out to Carol who messaged me and requested that I talk about fatigue on the show. So massive. Thank you to Carol. Hello, thank you for listening and sending through your request for this episode. I hope that this gives you some answers and helps with learning a little bit more about fatigue and what could be causing it. All right. So we're gonna talk about some of the main causes and also give you some ideas on how to perhaps change the way that you are feeling. I guess that's the, the main outcome that we wanna achieve is not having that fatigue. So there's a number of different reasons, and we're gonna go into those, but to start off with fatigue as a definition. So the definition of fatigue is a feeling of tiredness and exhaustion, both physically and mentally caused by exertion. But as you, and I know we do not get exerted when we have gluten, do we, that is nothing to do with exertion. So I hate that definition. I think it's a load of rubbish. I don't think it makes any sense with what we deal with as people living with celiac disease. Because as you know, you can be doing hardly anything, no exertion whatsoever. You have a little bit of gluten accidentally and you are so fatigued. So that one is the first one. So obviously gluten causes, many of us living with celiac disease to fuel fatigued. So we wanna make sure that 100% I, I bang on about this all the time. We wanna make sure that we do not have any gluten sneaking into our system. So if it's very early days for you after your diagnosis and you still feel fatigued, your body is probably still healing. And we'd probably just assume that it is because of the gluten. It is because you've got a recent diagnosis diagnosis, and you're just healing. So if you are very new to living with celiac disease and you still feel tired all the time, and you still feel that you've got that horrible fatigue, it could just simply be your body is taking its time to heal. But if not, it could be one of these many other reasons that we're gonna chat about today. All right. So there's a couple of things that happen to us when we aren't eating the right amounts of food or getting, um, I guess enough absorption. So again, in the very early days, because our Villa is still healing, we may not be absorbing the nutrients from the food that we are actually eating. So you could simply be low in vitamin B. So making sure that you're taking a really good quality supplement that is making sure you're getting all your vitamin B is important, or you could be low in vitamin D. Now, vitamin D you can take a supplement four and you can get it from the sunshine as well. So depending on where you are living, what time of the year it is, sometimes it can be quite hard to get your vitamin D levels. So it, again, it can be worth having a supplement for that, speak to your doctor, your primary caregiver about this as well. This is something that you can get tested for and see where your levels are at and just make sure that that's something that, you know, it could just be as simple, as simple as taking a multivitamin and making sure that you've got your, you know, your, your levels up. So that's as simple one that you can very easily look into. You could even be anemic. So perhaps from low iron or even again, problems in absorption of nutrients because of celiac disease. So if you are anemic, there are so many causes that, um, can lead to anemia. So I guess it's, again, it's going to your doctor and it's getting a blood test and finding out, you know, where you're at with that. So again, it, it's, it's hard to pinpoint unless you really know, you cannot just go out and take an eye and supplement and just, you know, think that that's okay, because you do not want to overload on iron. It's something that you only should be supplementing with if your body needs it. So that is definitely something that you need support with and find out from your doctor, whether or not you need it. But when, when you are anemic, that is a huge cause of fatigue. Um, my son struggled with that majorly when, um, in the lead up to his diagnosis of non celiac, gluten sensitivity, before he got diagnosed, he was very anemic and he just looked terrible all the time. The poor kid was so with withdrawn and fatigued, and once we got an iron supplement into him, once he was healing, he just improved so much. His energy came back. He was just a whole new kid. So yeah, that's definitely one that's worth looking into. All right. And the next one, even though it sounds obvious, sometimes it's not obvious enough and it's basically sleep issues. And when we talk about sleep issues, it can be as simple as not getting enough sleep, or it could be that you have sleep apnea and you don't know about it. So there are two things that you can look into further if none of these other things that we talk about today, make any sense to you and you don't feel it's them. It can be worth checking out how much sleep you're getting. It can be worth seeing if you've got sleep apnea and working out. If those things are causing issues for you now, getting enough sleep is hugely important. That is when our bodies heal. That is when our bodies have time to regenerate and, and it just makes everything so much easier overall in life. I'm, you know, you probably heard me talk about sleep and lack of sleep on multiple episodes now because we're coming out. I think we're coming outta the tail end now of our children, maybe starting to sleep through the night, but I don't wanna drink. So, so we're not gonna go there, but yeah, when, when you are getting interrupted sleep or you're not getting enough sleep, that can cause serious fatigue. So if that's as simple as it is, and you can improve that, then that is, I guess, that it's an easy fix for some people, but people like me with kids that just continue to wake me up.<laugh> not so easy. And if that's you and you've got little ones, I feel for you, I really, really do. Now working shift work is another one that causes fatigue because it messes with your body because you are not getting enough daylight for your body's rhythm to understand what's going on. So if you are a shift worker, it absolutely a hundred percent makes sense that you are fatigued no matter how much sleep you get. So that can be a simple answer for you right there, depending on what job you are working, whether you can change from working shift work and only work daytime shifts, it could be something you could request or trial. I don't know what your situation is, but that's just something to be very aware of that it can cause major issues with fatigue. All right, the next one is stress. We probably have all been feeling a lot more stress the last couple of years than we have perhaps in the past because of, you know, all different reasons, jobs, um, the cost of living, you know, having a wear mask, all these different things, stressing that we're gonna get sick, just so many things that have been causing that, just that extra layer of stress. So stress does cause fatigue. When we are stressed, we are constantly thinking about things that perhaps in the past we weren't, and it just causes us to feel worn out and worn down. So where can you improve your, your mental health, I guess, and where can you add in some more self care so that you aren't so stressed? What is causing the stress and can that layer of stress be removed from you? So for me, my son started school this year. He's in what we call reception here in south Australia. And I was finding that my mornings were highly stressful and I was so highly strong within the first hour of waking because no one was listening, no one was getting ready. Everyone was just taking their sweet time, doling, not getting in the car, getting the school rush. And I was just so flustered and stressed out of my mind that I had to take action to improve our mornings. So I implemented some steps to make the morning smoother. They don't always run smoothly, but just getting up a little bit earlier myself and getting ready before the kids get up, making sure I've got as much packed in my son's lunchbox the night before laying out all the things that I need for breakfast in the morning. Just things like that, just to make my mornings run a little bit smoother, has taken that layer of stress away from me. So, oh, should I say for me? Yeah, for me. So, you know, where is it in your life that's causing you stress and where can you remove that layer? That can be quite helpful as well. So another one is you may have another issue such as perhaps chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia or even hypothyroidism. So some of these things can overlap with our symptoms of celiac disease and they can go unchecked and unnoticed for such a long time because we just put it down to celiac disease. So, so let's say for instance, you've been living with celiac disease for, you know, five years. Your body should have healed by now. You should be well underway with eating gluten free safely. You should know how to read labels. You should know how to be looking after your body in the right ways. And if you are still feeling fatigue, there is something going on and you need to get to the bottom of it. So if, if you can't work out, what's going on, it is worth going to your doctor and getting checked and mentioning all of these things that I'm talking about today and getting a check on them. Because if it is one of these issues, then you know, you can get support in those areas. Another one that to think about is diabetes. Diabetes goes hand in hand with celiac disease as well. So many people get celiac disease and then get diagnosed with diabetes. So that can cause fatigue as well. So that's worth getting checked for, and even heart disease. So heart disease not necessarily linked to celiac disease, but heart disease in general can cause fatigue. So that is definitely worth the looking into all right. The next one is very simple for, um, all of us and it's dehydration. Dehydration is a major, major, major factor in fatigue. And I've talked about this when I did an entire episode on reasons that your body needs water. And when you are dehydrated, you are tired. Your body is needing that water to thrive, go back and listen to that episode. I'll put a link below to that one as well. And in the show notes, because when you are hydrated, you are so much more energetic. When, when you are sitting there, just say, you work in an office and you are feeling tired and you're starting to kind of, uh, I guess, zone out. Let's just say, you're in a meeting and you zone out, you just take a sip of water and you'll start to feel better. It's insane. I remember learning about this many years ago and I was like, wow, this is just such a simple thing. And so I love that schools here now encouraged that kids have their water bottles on their table with them and they're encouraged to drink it. Whereas when I was a kid, our water bottles were only allowed in our school bags and we weren't allowed to have them unless it was recess or lunch breaks, which is just insanity to think that kids are going that long without water. So try it, try getting more water into you and seeing how much of a difference that can make to the way that you feel. All right. The other one is a lack of exercise. So I know it sounds crazy that when you are fatigued, the last thing you wanna be doing is going and doing exercise, but it does make you feel better if, if it's none of these other issues and it's simply that you're not getting enough movement into your life. Once you start moving and getting your body going, and you know, you start doing different types of exercise, it does give you more energy. So if you're a bit of a couch potato, and none of these other issues are, you know, causing you fatigue, it could just be that you need to get your body moving and just get the blood pumping. So if you don't exercise and that sounds terrible to you, it could be just going for a 10 minute walk. It could be something very simple like that. Or even if you wanna just do a home workout, you know, find something on YouTube, a 10 or 15 minute workout on YouTube and do a free workout home where you don't even need equipment. You don't have to go to a gym. Um, you don't have to go out in the cold weather or the hot weather depending on where you're living. And that can make a massive difference to the way that you feel as well. Now, food intolerances. So you are here because you have celiac disease, you know that you can't have gluten, but you may have other food intolerances as well. Many of you know that I also have lactose intolerance. And for some time, all I did was cut out lactose and I was still eating, um, dairy products. So I was eating lactose-free dairy products, but I've discovered that in general, dairy just does not work for me at all. So I've gone back to eating completely dairy free. So I'm back to just, nah, I'm done with it.<laugh> this is very recent for me, but I'm, I'm even not even having, I'm not even having the, the things that are lactose free anymore, and I feel so much better for it. And my body is thriving way more without any dairy. So it it's a matter of finding out which foods work for you and which foods don't, um, and cutting out those ones that don't work for you because yeah, unfortunately there's certain foods that don't agree with us. So there are ways of discovering that. Um, I do recommend my program eliminate, um, you can find that on my website, Belinda wheelin.com and I'll pop a link to that below because that program is an in just, oh my God, it's just the easiest way to work out. What's going on with your body and, and discovering which foods work for you and which foods don't. So have a look at that. That might be of interest to you now, not enough nutritious, Ugh, can't even speak now, not enough nutritious food. So if you are not eating enough food to nourish your body, then your body is not working at peak performance. I love the analogy of if you had the car of your dreams. So if you picture the car of your dreams, it can be absolutely anything. Would you put the wrong fuel in your car, or would you go to the gas station or the petrol station as we call it here in Australia, would you go and put the premium fuel or gas, whatever you refer to it as in your country, would you put the premium version in your car? Absolutely. You would. So why do we care about our cars more than we care about our body? Our body is the most important vehicle. Okay. So put the most premium fuel that you can in your body and it will reward you. Why not? It'll go better. It'll run faster. It'll perform better. So getting nutrients into your body is so, so important. And I can't bang on about this enough, but the more real food you eat, you know, the less packaged food that you can possibly get into you. The better, because along with packaged food become, comes excess salt and excess sugars and excess, I guess, preservatives colors, all of those different things. So the more real nutritious food you get, the better you are going to feel. And you are, you know, you're gonna help with easing off that fatigue, because if your body's screaming out for nutrients, you're going to feel tired. That's as simple as it is. And then we also know that caffeine is a big one. So you might not have thought about this, but some people drink a lot of caffeine. Some PE you might be someone that thinks you are just okay with drinking heaps of caffeine. You might be drinking five, six coffees a day. You might be waking up in the morning and having an energy drink, whatever it is for you. There's different forms of caffeine, but caffeine causes a crash. So if you drink lots of caffeine, you're gonna have more fatigue because you're just gonna have this up and down, up and down, up and down because you're constantly spiking and then crashing. So if that's you and you're feeling fatigued and you can't get through your day without a he of caffeine, then again, that might be something that you need to work on. Um, I do help my clients get through caffeine withdrawals. Again, it can do the eliminate program to help you with that. If that's something you need support with, it's not a, I do not recommend anyone goes cold Turkey. I actually teach you how to wean yourself off of it. So if that's something you want support with, reach out to me, I'd love to talk you through that and help you with my eliminate program. But yeah, caffeine is a big one as well. All right. And then the last one is depression. So if you think that maybe you do have depression, if you think that you have signs and symptoms of having depression, then you do need to seek support for this. So I did share my story with postnatal depression on the podcast, quite a few, um, episodes back and fatigue was a big one for me. I really, really struggled with fatigue. I just felt tired all the time. It just, those, those months of my life were just a blur and it was hard. It was really hard to live life. And, you know, be at my peak when I had depression, um, if I hadn't have got support, I dunno how I would've got out of that slump. And it is one of those things that you do, you do actually need to go and get support and get help with. And if you, if you think that maybe you've got depression and you don't wanna talk about it with anyone, jump online and, and do a, just do a quiz and find out, you know, answer some questions and find out if that is saying, it sounds like you've got depression and then go and speak to your doctor and, and get some support because trust me, it's just, it's one of those things that you need help with. And, you know, life is so wonderful that we don't wanna waste any time in that place. So again, I highly recommend that you go and, and get support from, from your doctor and, and get through that. So please reach out to me if you need some advice on that or, um, any tips because yeah, I think it's, I think it's a big one that gets overlooked and yeah, fatigue, fatigue is definitely a big, big factor when it comes to depression. Now, if any of this resonates with you, I really hope that it

Speaker 2:

Supports you in getting to the bottom of your fatigue and, and knowing that this is a journey, but fatigue is not normal. Fatigue is not a normal part of life. You do not have to put up with that. It is not something that you just have to accept and deal with, because that is not the case. Fatigue is a symptom of something else going on for you and you can stop it. So I want that for you, because I think it's really important to be living a very healthy and very fulfilling life. And fatigue plays a huge factor in making life. Pretty crappy. If you ask me<laugh> so get to the bottom of what's causing your fatigue. And I hope that this episode has inspired you and supported you in finding some answers and getting to the bottom of it. So again, massive shout out to Carol for suggesting this episode idea. I think it's a wonderful idea, and I'm so glad that she mentioned it. And if you have an idea for what you'd like me to talk about on the show, it can be anything health related that you want support in. It can be about celiac disease, or it can just be about women's health. Let me know, because I love to share with you. And as the weeks go on, it's so much easier when I know what you guys want me to talk about. So please reach out to me. You can either send me an email info, Belinda wheelin.com or head on over to Instagram and find me at the healthy celiac and just send me a DM and I can respond to you there, but otherwise, thank you so much for listening to this episode, and I hope it finds you some answers. And I look forward to talking with you again very, very soon. So have a wonderful week and I will check in with you again next week. Take care. Bye.