For our last step I’d like to talk about oxygen, and the importance of knowing that your body is getting enough.  If you are constantly fatigued this may be an issue for you.  This past weekend, I was blessed to spend a “reunion” weekend with a couple of my old bible study friends.  Well…we’re not OLD…we just haven’t seen each other for awhile!  For the last 20+ years, we’ve had our ups, and our downs…but there are some friends, where just being with them, can feel like oxygen for our souls.  Yes…pretty poetic 🙂  Which leads me to oxygen.

The subject of fatigue came up several times, especially related to sleep.  In one way, we are coming full circle to Step One, however, in that post I did not touch on something that affects more than 22 million American adults.  That would be Sleep Apnea.  Unfortunately, 80% of people don’t even know they have it, and not only do they spend their life feeling tired and depressed, it’s downright dangerous.

The Greek word for “Apnea” means “without breath.”  Sleep Apnea therefore means that you stop breathing while you sleep.

Here is where the danger comes in.  Sleep Apnea was cited as one of the reasons my father passed away at 73.  When your body is lacking in oxygen, pressure is put on your heart, which can lead to heart failure.  A few other side effects include:

Weight Gain/Retention – High Blood Pressure – Diabetes – Stroke – Depression- Fatigue

What is really crazy is that the effects continue throughout the day…even when you are awake and breathing normally.  So please take this very seriously and get tested if you are constantly fatigued or even have the symptoms listed above.  Being obese and snoring are not the only obvious clues that there might be a problem as we previously thought.  This is a great site with a short video that may be helpful. 

Remember back in Step Four, we discussed stress?  Whether you have Sleep Apnea or not, please do the breathing exercises I taught each day.  This will help pull oxygen into your cells.  Many people with COPD have issues with fatigue due to the very fact that they cannot breathe in the correct amount of oxygen to feed their cells. 

In Step Two, we talked about nutrition and Step Nine was about nutrient deficiencies.  EFA’s…or…Essential Fatty Acids are key when it comes to getting oxygen into your cells.  To know which EFA’s are most helpful, Dr. Axe has a great post that lists the top 15. (The whole post is great though, and can serve as a refresher on many things I’ve taught in this series!) 

And of course we can’t leave out Step Three which was on exercise.  This further proves why exercise alleviates fatigue.  It forces us to bring more oxygen into our cells.

This concludes our 10 part series on fatigue, and how to increase your energy levels.  If you found this helpful, please share with your friends, co-workers and loved ones.  As you can see, there is much more to it than meets the eye, and by delving into the deeper issues, you may be able to affect much more than just energy…you may actually become healthier over all.

My love to all of you, and my prayer as always is that God blesses your endeavors!

For His glory…

Cynthia