And why 10 minutes isn’t long enough to get the answers you need
It can be so frustrating when you feel tired, but you don’t know the reason why.
You constantly find yourself reaching for YET ANOTHER cup of coffee to keep you going and afternoon chocolate bars have become the norm, yet you still feel like you need a nap to get through the day.
You have looked online, and you have tried making some CHANGES:
You’re being more careful with your diet choices
You’re going to bed that little bit earlier,
You’ve even started taking some supplements you bought from the supermarket on your grocery shop.
With those go-tos and good advice not working, you took the logical next step and went to see your GP. They ran some tests, but they’ve come back as normal.
Your GP said you are experiencing TATT – tired all the time
And that seemed to be the end of the conversation. You were left feeling that you didn’t have the time to explain everything that was going on and how you’re feeling. Your 10 minutes were up.
And you still don’t have the answers you’ve been searching for. No one told you that getting to the bottom of fatigue would feel like an uphill struggle.
You need time and dedicated space to get the answers. You need someone you can trust to help you unpack everything that’s led you here.
In this blog, I will discuss the things no one tells you about fatigue, how to get to the bottom of it, and why it takes so much longer to unpick a lifetime’s worth of habits and experiences than 10 minutes.
Let’s get talking
To be honest, when your fatigue can’t be easily explained, you need to closely look at all areas of your health, what you eat and what’s going on in your life. It’s a fact finding mission. I consider it as investing in you.
It’s time to Put your wellbeing first
When you have responsibilities it’s so easy to put yourself at the bottom of your to do list, after all there’s so much to get done. Am I right? But when you are worn out or perhaps exhausted, it’s not helping your loved ones either. You can’t be there for them in the way you’d like to, as it takes so much energy!
It may be time to take time for you and put your wellbeing first for a change and really delve in to discover what could be making you feel so tired. The truth is that there’s something going on and it’s likely to be more than one thing.
To do this means looking at all areas of your health and lifestyle.
Getting to the bottom of things is time well spent
I know, from experience that 10 minutes sitting with your GP isn’t enough to explain how you are feeling and everything that is going on with you physically and emotionally, so in a consultation with me, we take at least 75 – 90 minutes to look at how you are feeling - physically, mentally and emotionally.
I know it sounds a long time, but as a client said to me, “that was time well spent,” as she went on to say that she hadn’t had time to join the dots and figure out what was going on. Having support to do this really made the difference.
Support = Releasing your burden
If you are anything like me, complaining about how you are feeling can get you down as well as those around you.
You don’t want to burden your loved ones with your troubles, as you don’t want them to worry about you, after all, they have lots going on in their life too.
So, talking to someone who understands, who is both empathetic and re-assuring and can also offer you practical advice may help to release some of the burden you are carrying all on your own.
It’s a bit like a trouble shared is a trouble halved.
Here’s how a consultation works
It’s professional but it’s also informal
It’s informal in that we have a conversation around how you are feeling and we look at all areas of your health in some depth. Like your energy levels, your sleep, how you are feeling emotionally, stress and anxiety levels, your mood, digestion, your urinary system, any muscle or skeletal problems including aches and pains, your hormonal system and circulatory system.
To get a full picture of what could be causing the problem, we will also look at what you are eating and drinking, what exercise you do, what you do to relax and socialise and any specific challenges going on in your life.
It’s looking at you as a whole person and not just focussing on your fatigue or any other health worries you may have.
So, what can this show?
We are all unique, with different lifestyles, habits and lives, so everyone will experience different symptoms. Working together we will identify what’s going on for you.
You may be:
Experiencing digestive difficulties, perhaps IBS symptoms or constipation.
Finding getting to sleep or waking up early being a problem.
Feeling worried, stressed or overwhelmed with all you have to do may be becoming more of a problem. You may be noticing more muscular aches and pains, perhaps in your neck or back.
Finding that your mood is up and down and you are snapping at your family more often.
Experiencing more headaches or eye pain.
Aware that your menstrual cycle is becoming irregular, or you are experiencing more PMS symptoms.
These are just some of the health challenges I find that need support when we undertake that deep dive into how you are really feeling.
It’s so easy to ignore what your body is telling you…
I know just how easy it is to ignore what your body is saying to you when you are tired, because it has such an affect on your life. It seems to take over.
One client told me talking about her health and all the things going on in her life had made her feel more aware of what her body was saying to her and she was now paying more attention to her needs.
Listening to what your needs are and doing something about it Can make a positive difference to your life.
Let’s do something about it.
Once we have identified what is going on, we can work together to decide on what’s the best treatment plan for you.
Here’s an example of the support I can provide you with:
Nutritional recommendations – what to cut out or include in your diet. Don’t worry, I won’t be telling you off or rolling my eyes at you, but I will be offering practical suggestions.
A bottle of Herbal medicine tailored to your specific needs - I think herbs are amazing as I can blend several herbs, in liquid form, to help to try and address the symptoms you are experiencing. So herbs that may be able to help with digestion, sleep, calm the nervous system etc. are combined in one bottle. It can mean that instead of taking several supplements, you take a spoonful of herbal medicine in some water. It can work out cheaper too. I sometimes recommend herbal teas too, may be able to help to reduce the feelings of stress.
Recommendations on supplements – sometimes these can be a useful addition to the herbs. I often recommend magnesium to most of my clients.
Breathing practices to help to reduce stress anxiety and tension. Such a wonderful way to centre yourself.
Meditation practices. If it will work for you, I will recommend a practice with the aim of helping you to feel calmer and more grounded. A practice can be as short as 5 - 10 minutes.
Recommending a flower essence or combination of essences that may be able to help you regain more emotional balance. You may have heard about Bach flower essences and rescue remedy. These work on an energetic basis and may be able to help with relieving you of those troublesome circulating thoughts, or feeling gloomy or irritated.
“I WAS INTRODUCED TO NATURAL REMEDIES DESIGNED BY MELISA TO REDUCE THE INFLAMMATION, WITH SUGGESTIONS ABOUT MY DIETARY NEEDS AND AN IN DEPTH ASSESSMENT. I AM TRULY IMPRESSED WITH THE RESULTS AND MELISA'S SUGGESTIONS, PRESCRIBING AND ONGOING EVALUATION HAS BROUGHT A WONDERFUL BALANCE BACK TO MY LIFE.” Richard, Gloucstershire.
Are you ready to undertake a deep dive to uncover what may be causing your persistent tiredness?
I hope this blog has helped you to see that putting yourself first and investing just 90 minutes on your health and wellbeing could be your first step to rediscovering your energy and feeling more engaged with life again.
Talking about how you feel and releasing some of the burden could make a difference in itself. It could also help to shed some light on what could be causing your persistent fatigue and give you some ideas on what you could do to make some positive changes in your life to help you to feel more energised.
Am experienced practitioner may be able to help you to develop the strategies and treatments that could help you to feel like you again.
Your top 5 take aways
1. After a diagnosis of TATT, tired all the time, your GP may not be able to offer you any specific support.
2. A holistic view of your physical and emotional health, lifestyle and diet may identify some causes for your fatigue.
3. A 90 minute consultation will look at you as a whole person and not just a collection of symptoms and you may feel truly listened to, which may help to release the burden you are feeling.
4. Listening to what your body is telling you can encourage you to look after yourself more.
5. A treatment plan that is tailored to your specific needs could help you to feel more energised and that you can cope with life’s challenges.
Experience has shown me that having support can be so vital …
I know it can be daunting and there’s lots of advice out there and you may be asking, ‘but what’s right for me?’
If you are like me, you will be careful about who you choose to help you, as it is a big decision to make. You want to be supported by someone who is empathetic and can give you the support you need. Importantly you will want to feel comfortable about working with them and know that you can trust them when you share how you really feel
As someone who has been there, and recovered from debilitating fatigue using a natural approach, I know just how important finding the right person to help you is.
That’s why I offer a free 30 minute discovery call for us to chat about the support you are looking for and and to help you to decide if I am the right practitioner for you, If you’d like to explore how I could help you on you to feel more like you again, get in touch here to book a call.
I help people on a one to one basis and it will be a privilege to support you to feeling more like you again
This blog is for information purposes only. If you are experiencing unexplained fatigue it is important this is checked out by you GP to ensure there aren’t any serious underlying health conditions causing your tiredness and understand any support they are able to provide.