Underuse
they become less voluminous and more flabby.
Each individual fiber retains its strength, but there are not many of them and they do not contract as efficiently. This leads to easy fatigue during physical activity that would be easier with a certain amount of physical fitness. The condition is reversible with thoughtful, regular exercise regimens. It gets worse and more noticeable with age. Muscle strength is greatest and recovery time is shortest in the 20s and 30s. That's why most famous athletes are of this age. However, building muscle through regular exercise can be done at any age. Many successful distance runners are over 40 years old. Muscle tolerance for long-duration activities like running a marathon stays high longer than powerful, short bursts like sprinting.
It's always good to stay in shape, no matter your age. However, recovery from muscle and tendon injuries also slows with age. If you want to improve your physical fitness, at any age, a reasonable training regimen is necessary. You need advice from trainers or physical therapists to avoid damaging muscles that will not initially be as strong as you hope.
Vitamin B12 deficiency
This vitamin helps your body's nerve cells and red blood cells function. The latter, in turn, are involved in transporting oxygen to the tissues, without which the body cannot process nutrients into the energy it needs. Hence the weakness due to B12 deficiency. This condition can be identified by other signs: for example, it is very often accompanied by diarrhea, and sometimes by numbness of the fingers and toes and memory problems.
What to do. Vitamin deficiency is detected by a simple blood test. If it shows a positive result, you will most likely be advised to eat more meat, fish, dairy products and eggs. The vitamin is also available in medicinal form, but is poorly absorbed and is usually prescribed only in extreme cases.
This vitamin is unique because it is produced independently by our body. True, for this you need to spend at least 20-30 minutes in the sun every day, and the latest criticism of tanning enthusiasts does not help this at all. The press is full of warnings that sunbathing can lead to premature aging, age spots and cancer.
What to do. Vitamin D levels are also checked with a blood test. You can replenish it with a fish diet, eggs and liver. But sunbathing is also necessary. 10 minutes in the fresh air a day will be enough to get rid of fatigue.
Features of the therapeutic course
Treatment tactics depend on the root cause of a sore throat and body aches. If the upper respiratory tract is affected, doctors recommend rinsing with chamomile infusion and salt water at home. Such solutions soften the mucous membranes of the throat and have a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect.
Painful sensations in the throat without an increase in temperature also appear with prolonged congestion of the nasal passages. Doctors explain this relationship by the fact that with a severe runny nose, patients constantly breathe through their mouth, as a result of which the mucous membranes become dry and irritated. With such a clinical picture, you should take vasoconstrictor nasal drops or sea salt sprays
As the cold progresses, therapeutic inhalations using a nebulizer help. If you don’t have a special apparatus, you can prepare a chamomile decoction yourself and breathe in the steam for about 10 minutes, after covering your head with a thick towel. This manipulation promotes the expansion of the Eustachian tube and the outflow of stagnant mucus from the nasal sinuses.
The modern pharmacological market offers a large number of effective pharmaceutical products. To improve coughing, it is necessary to use cheek (absorbable) tablets and phenol lozenges. These drugs have analgesic and bactericidal properties. The substance phenol is also contained in many aerosols for sore throat, but such medications lead to short-term relief of the condition.
Since patients do not have a high fever, but only have complaints of a sore throat and aching body, it is allowed to steam their feet in hot water with the addition of dry mustard. For colds, doctors recommend taking vitamin C as an immunostimulant. In this way, you can increase the body's resistance to the action of pathogenic bacteria, which become the causes of pain in the throat.
Infections
Infections and diseases are among the most common causes of temporary muscle fatigue. Muscle inflammation usually occurs. Although recovery usually occurs if the inflammation is severe (such as severe influenza), the weakness may last quite a long time. Sometimes this leads to chronic fatigue syndrome.
Any illness with fever and muscle inflammation can be a trigger. However, some diseases are especially likely to contribute to its occurrence. These include influenza, infectious mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr virus), HIV, Lyme disease and hepatitis C. Other less common causes, at least in Ukraine, are tuberculosis (TB), malaria, syphilis, polio and dengue fever.
Medicines
Read the package insert for the medicine you are taking. Possibly side effects include fatigue, apathy, and weakness. However, some of you have this information. For example, antihistamines (used for allergies) can literally drain your energy, although you won't read it on the label. Many antidepressants and beta blockers (hypertension medications) have a similar effect.
What to do. Each person reacts to medications differently. The form and even the brand of the drug may matter. Ask your doctor to find another one for you - maybe changing pills will get you back into shape.
Many medications can cause muscle weakness and muscle damage as a side effect or allergic reaction. It usually starts with fatigue or weakness. They can progress to permanent changes if medications are not stopped.
Common drugs that sometimes cause these symptoms include statins (used to lower cholesterol), some antibiotics (including ciprofloxacin and penicillin), and anti-inflammatory painkillers (such as naproxen and diclofenac).
Long-term use of prescribed oral steroids also causes muscle weakness and weakening. This is an expected side effect that can be experienced by anyone on long-term treatment. Therefore, it is one of the reasons why doctors try to avoid prescribing long courses of steroids to patients if possible.
Less commonly used medications that can cause muscle weakness and muscle damage include:
- Certain heart medications (eg, amiodarone).
- Chemotherapy drugs.
- Antiviral drugs.
- Interferon—used for some cancers and multiple sclerosis (MS).
- Medicines used to treat an overactive thyroid.
Pregnancy
During and immediately after pregnancy, high levels of steroid hormones in the blood, as well as a tendency to lack iron (anemia), can cause a feeling of muscle fatigue. This is normal during pregnancy, and while some exercise is still beneficial, extra care needs to be taken when exercising.
Sometimes there is body aches, weakness without fever during pregnancy. Bone pain can be due to a lack of vitamin D and calcium. It is necessary to limit physical activity and wear a bandage, do not sit for more than one hour, and do not lie on a hard surface. The malaise is caused by the fact that changes occur in the body due to gestation, so there is no need to worry too much. To rule out the disease, you can consult a doctor and undergo the necessary tests.
Body aches and sore throat, no fever: how to treat
In medicine, colds are understood as various viral diseases, among which ARVI and influenza predominate. Respiratory infections in the human body can manifest as inflammation of the nasopharynx, tonsils, vocal cords, and nasal mucosa. A cold of any etiology always begins in stages. In the first phases of the development of the disease, the patient notes that his throat hurts, his body aches, and there is no fever.
As the viral infection progresses, the runny nose intensifies and ear congestion appears. Due to mixed symptoms, the patient cannot make an accurate diagnosis and determine the causes of non-localized pain syndrome on his own. Treatment tactics are selected by the attending physician based on the results of complex diagnostics.
Low thyroid function (hypothyroidism)
In this condition, a deficiency of thyroid hormone leads to generalized fatigue. Untreated hypothyroidism can cause muscle degeneration and weakening. The condition can be serious and difficult to reverse. Hypothyroidism is a common condition, but it is usually diagnosed early and treated before long-term muscle problems can occur.
Thyroid problems can also include changes in weight (especially difficulty losing weight), dry skin, chills, and menstrual irregularities. These are typical signs of hypothyroidism - an underactive thyroid gland, due to which the body lacks metabolism-regulating hormones. In an advanced state, the disease can lead to joint diseases, heart disease and infertility. 80% of patients are women.
What to do. Go to an endocrinologist and decide how intensive treatment you need. As a rule, patients have to remain on hormone replacement therapy for the rest of their lives, although the results justify the costs.
Tonsillitis
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An inflammatory process caused by pathogenic bacterial microflora.
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Causes
The disease develops due to the contact of streptococci or staphylococci on the tonsils (other pathogens cause inflammation less frequently). Additional provoking factors are :
- hypothermia;
- stress;
- the presence of autoimmune processes;
- weakening of the immune system.
Infection with pathogenic microorganisms occurs through contact and household contact.
Signs
When the disease develops, a person not only complains that the throat is red and it hurts to swallow, but the development of tonsillitis is accompanied by signs of intoxication.
In addition to hyperemia and pain when swallowing, the patient develops:
- fever;
- feeling overwhelmed and weak;
- headache;
- feeling of dry mouth;
- aching joints.
Patients often complain that one or both ears hurt. This symptom appears either due to referred pain, or because the inflammatory process has spread to the ear canals and the area of the eardrum.
Anti-inflammatory therapy
How to treat a throat when it is difficult to swallow - the doctor chooses . The standard treatment regimen for angina includes the following medications:
- antibacterial agents (Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Cephalexin);
- throat softening lozenges (Gexoral, Antiangin);
- gargling (you can use folk remedies: decoctions of string, chamomile or eucalyptus, or you can use regular saline solution);
- Lugol's (lubricating or irrigating the tonsils with Lugol's solution helps with purulent or lacunar tonsillitis).
Additionally, patients with a temperature above 38° are recommended to take antipyretic drugs: Paracetamol, Nurofen.
Who will help
A therapist or ENT specialist will treat a sore throat. If the patient is a child, then with purulent tonsillitis, hospitalization in the infectious diseases department is indicated.
Genetic diseases affecting muscles
Peripheral arterial disease: Caused by narrowing of the arteries, usually due to cholesterol buildup. This is due to smoking and diet. The blood supply to the muscles slows down, and this becomes especially noticeable during exercise, as the body cannot cope with the needs of the muscles. Pain is often more noticeable than weakness, but both are problems.
Diabetes: Can cause weakness and loss of fitness. Rising blood sugar levels (and sometimes changing sodium levels) also put muscles at a disadvantage and unable to work efficiently. In addition, as diabetes progresses, the blood supply to small nerves deteriorates. When the nerve that goes to the muscle fiber dies, the muscle also stops working. Finally, people with diabetes also tend to have narrowed arteries (see "Peripheral Arterial Disease" above).
Heart disease - especially heart failure: can cause easy muscle fatigue due to reduced blood supply during periods of great need. This is because the heart is unable to cope with the increased demands of the muscles during exercise, as it cannot pump blood as efficiently as it normally does.
Chronic lung disease: Lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cause the body's ability to take in oxygen to decrease. Muscles require a rapid supply of oxygen from the blood, especially during exercise. Reduced oxygen consumption leads to easy fatigue.
Chronic kidney disease: It affects the body's entire environment, both through salt imbalances and through effects on calcium and vitamin D levels. Kidney disease also causes toxic substances (toxins) to accumulate in the blood because poorly functioning kidneys process these toxins more slowly. This can lead to true muscle weakness as well as muscle fatigue.
Anemia: This is a lack of red blood cells. It has many causes, including heavy periods, poor diet, blood loss, pregnancy, genetic conditions, infections and cancer. This reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen to the muscles, so they fatigue more easily. Anemia often resolves quite slowly, so that significant muscle fatigue and shortness of breath often develop before diagnosis.
Anxiety: Generalized fatigue can be caused by anxiety disorders. This is due to excessive activity of the adrenaline (epinephrine) system.
Depression: Weakness and a general feeling of tiredness can also be caused by depression.
Note: Anxiety and depression tend to cause feelings of weakness and fatigue rather than actual muscle weakness.
Chronic pain: A general decrease in energy levels can be a consequence of chronic pain. Like anxiety, it stimulates the production of chemicals (hormones) in the body that respond to pain and injury. These chemicals cause fatigue or weakness. With chronic pain, true weakness may be present as muscles are unable to be used due to pain and discomfort.
CFS is sometimes caused by certain viral infections, such as infectious mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr virus) and influenza, but the process is not well understood. The muscles do not become inflamed, but they get tired very easily. Patients often feel that great effort is required to perform muscle activity that was previously easy.
In CFS, the muscles usually do not shrink and may have normal strength when tested. This is reassuring because it means that the likelihood of regaining completely normal function is very high. The syndrome also causes psychological fatigue, and other activities such as reading and communication also become debilitating. Patients often show signs of depression and poor sleep.
Muscular dystrophies: These are inherited diseases that affect the muscles. Quite rare disorders, but the best known and most common is Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It occurs more often in children and leads to a gradual loss of muscle strength from childhood.
Some rare muscular dystrophies: These may be present in adulthood and include Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome and facioscapulohumeral dystrophy. They also cause a gradual loss of strength and function in the muscles. Patients may become wheelchair bound.
Sarcoidosis: This is a rare disease that causes accumulations of cells (granulomas) in the skin, lungs and soft tissues, including muscles. The condition usually goes away after a few years.
Amyloidosis: Also rare, it involves deposits of a "useless" abnormal protein called amyloid throughout the body, including the muscles and kidneys.
Other rare causes: Direct muscle damage can occur with rare inherited metabolic conditions. Examples include:
- Glycogenoses
- Even rarer are mitochondrial diseases, which occur when the energy systems inside muscle cells don't work properly.
Myotonic dystrophy: This is a rare genetic muscle disorder that causes the muscles to become extremely tired. Myotonic dystrophies run in families and they tend to appear early.
Why do bones and joints ache throughout the body?
Modern medicine combines joint pain and bone pain into a single group called rheumatic pain. This group includes inflammatory and dystrophic diseases.
Among the main causes of pain in bones and joints throughout the body are:
- 1. Overload after training and intense sports.
- 2. Tumor processes. The nature of pain during tumor processes is variable. The peak of activity occurs at night or during physical heavy work. The dynamics of the disease can last from several weeks to a year. Under the influence of tumor processes, the bones of the entire body weaken, they become vulnerable and fragile. Associated symptoms are chills, fever, weight loss.
- 3. Systemic blood disease. Joint pain with these abnormalities occurs suddenly or manifests itself under pressure on the bone. These diseases include leukemia, myeloma and bone marrow diseases. Myeloma is a malignant disease of the bone marrow. It is localized in the pelvic bones, ribs and spine. This disease occurs in men over 60-70 years of age. The disease may not manifest itself for 15 years, but in the later stages it may manifest itself as severe pain in the bones, fractures of the arms, legs and vertebrae.
- 4. Joint and bone pain throughout the body due to Hodgkin's lymphoma. With this symptom, enlarged lymph nodes, allergic reactions and loss of body weight are observed.
- 5. Malignant processes in the skin (warts, papillomas, melanomas) can cause pain in the joints and bones.
- 6. Side effect of chemotherapy for breast cancer. In this case, metastases spread to the bones.
- 7. Lymphotericulosis is a benign tumor that can cause joint pain. The pain often affects the tendons near the bones.
- 8. Bone tuberculosis. The entry of the tuberculosis bacillus into the spine from the lungs provokes pain in the bones.
- 9. Osteomyelitis. Bone pain is accompanied by a fever.
- 10. Taking hormonal medications. Women during menopause, before menstruation, or after childbirth may use hormonal medications that can cause pain in bones and joints.
- 11. Low physical activity. The immobilized state prevents bone tissue from developing.
- 12. Congenital features of collagen development provoke the occurrence of muscle and bone pain.
- 13. Sudden climate change or weather change.
The causes of pain in bones and joints throughout the body are varied. The list presented is not complete. Below are other possible reasons.
Intestinal problems
Celiac disease, or celiac disease, affects approximately 1 in 133 people. It lies in the inability of the intestines to digest the gluten of cereals, that is, as soon as you sit on pizza, cookies, pasta or bread for a week, bloating, diarrhea, discomfort in the joints and constant fatigue begin. The body reacts to a lack of nutrients that it cannot receive due to the intestines’ inability to absorb them.
What to do. First, undergo several tests to make sure that the problem is really in the intestines. In some cases, endoscopic examination is required to confirm the diagnosis. If the answer is yes, you will have to seriously reconsider your diet.
About 70% of women who have had a heart attack complain of sudden and prolonged attacks of weakness and constant fatigue that precede the heart attack. And although the heart attack itself is not so painful for the fair half of humanity, the percentage of deaths among women is constantly growing.
What to do. If you have other symptoms of heart problems - loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, rare but sharp chest pain - it is better to consult a cardiologist. You may need an electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram, or ultrasound examination of the heart. Treatment depends on the results. To prevent heart disease, you can change your diet to a low-fat diet and do light exercise.
Causes of sore throat
Any pathological condition is accompanied by characteristic symptoms. During the off-season, the incidence of colds increases, since many people do not dress for the weather and hypothermia occurs. Everyone is familiar with situations when the throat hurts very badly and a runny nose appears. In these cases, by eliminating the main symptoms of a cold, it is possible to achieve a quick recovery. But when faced with specific symptoms, when the throat hurts, the body aches, but there is no temperature, patients are lost, since they cannot independently identify the cause of such a clinical picture.
There are many factors that act as provocateurs of such uncomfortable sensations.
Doctors are convinced that when the body aches without fever and at the same time there is a sore throat, this is a signal of the body’s successful fight against the pathogenic bacteria that have entered it.
This condition is observed in the following diseases:
- Viral infections - acute respiratory infections, chickenpox, rubella.
- Consequences of hypothermia.
- Bacterial infections in the upper respiratory tract - tonsillitis, otitis media.
- Inflammation of the mucous membranes of the larynx – laryngitis.
Diabetes
This insidious disease has two ways of wearing you down. First: when a patient's blood sugar level is too high, glucose (that is, potential energy) is literally washed out of the body and goes to waste. It turns out that the more you eat, the worse you will feel. By the way, the state of constantly elevated blood sugar has its own name - potential diabetes or prediabetes. This is not yet a disease, but it manifests itself in the same way in persistent fatigue.
The second problem is strong thirst: the patient drinks a lot, and because of this he gets up several times a night “out of need” - what kind of healthy sleep is that?
What to do. Other symptoms of diabetes include increased urination, increased appetite, and weight loss. If you suspect you have this disease, the best way to check your suspicions is to get your blood tested. If you have diabetes, you will have to follow a diet, regularly check your blood sugar, take medications, and possibly exercise. If you are diagnosed with prediabetes, losing weight and increasing physical activity can prevent the condition from getting worse.
Other substances
Long-term alcohol use can cause weakness in the shoulder and hip muscles.
Smoking can indirectly weaken muscles. Smoking causes the arteries to narrow, leading to peripheral arterial disease.
Cocaine abuse causes severe muscle weakness, as do other drugs.
- Body aches can also be caused by food poisoning, for example botulism, in which a person develops apathy and lethargy, sharp pain in the lower abdomen, and cold sweat.
- With herpes, a slight temperature rises, gums become swollen, and the throat hurts. Symptoms may vary depending on the individual characteristics of the body and the severity of the disease.
- Body aches, weakness without fever can be observed after a tick bite. In this case, a person may have flaccid paralysis in the neck muscles, redness in the form of blisters.
- Joint diseases, such as arthritis. Painful sensations are observed in the morning after sleep. When a person moves a little, they subside.
- Bird flu is a very dangerous disease in which the temperature does not rise. Under no circumstances should you self-medicate, as this can lead to disastrous consequences.
- Blood disease or tumor. To exclude them, you need to be examined and undergo tests that a specialist will prescribe.
- Sometimes doctors diagnose asymptomatic pneumonia. A person develops shortness of breath, body aches, weakness without fever.
Persistent pain in joints and throat
Hello!
Help me decide on a diagnosis, I’ve already been to many doctors who just can’t make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Only NSAIDs are prescribed, which do not particularly produce results and do not treat the cause. It all started after giving birth in June. On the third day after giving birth, I woke up at night with a fever; it was very cold; I could not warm myself up; my temperature did not rise. Then, a week later, I noticed that I couldn’t get down on my knee; there was a burning pain, which then subsided, leaving a slight numbness on my right knee. Three months after giving birth, weakness appeared in my legs, it was hard to get out of bed in the morning, I had to walk around. I visited a neurologist, I didn’t find a problem in her direction, I prescribed Combilipen 1 time intramuscularly every other day for 10 days, exercise therapy and strengthening the back muscles. After starting treatment, I noticed a migrating mild tingling pain in my right leg at night. After another month, all the large joints and temporomandibular joints began to crunch. Added multivitamins. The crunching stopped. On November 28, I woke up with a stuffy nose, a sore throat and the inability to open my mouth; my jaw was jammed. Joint pain appeared: both ankles, right knee, right hip joint, left shoulder, right hand. I suffered from arthritis on the left side of the TMJ, and my right leg began to go numb from the knee to the ankle. There was no shooting pain. One night I started to feel feverish again, the maximum temperature rose to 37.1. Blood biochemistry, clinical analysis and calcium are normal, rheumatic factor is less than 10, CRP 0.03. For six months now I have had a constant runny nose, since November I have had a sore throat, which subsides with symptomatic treatment and then appears again, and pain in the joints persists. The pain is tolerable, I rarely use NSAIDs. I noticed that with the introduction of antiviral drugs it becomes easier, but not for long. After some time I get sick again. The sore throat, runny nose, increased sweating, and muscle aches return. Currently, I have been prescribed symptomatic treatment again: faringosept, inhalipt, gargling, inhalations with Essentuki 4 and Nasonex. The condition is sluggish, constant fatigue, even in the morning, congestion in the ears. After I took numerous drugs that stimulate the immune system, the pain in the joints decreased but did not completely go away. Please help me understand where to move next, what tests to take, and what could possibly be wrong with me? I'm afraid for the health of my little child, maybe I could infect him. And could I have become infected with anything in the maternity hospital? Chronic diseases:
Chronic pyelonephritis, chronic tonsillitis
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