Causes

Most of the time fatigue can be traced to one or more of your habits or routines, particularly lack of exercise. It's also commonly related to depression. On occasion, fatigue is a symptom of other underlying conditions that require medical treatment.

Lifestyle factors

Taking an honest inventory of things that might be responsible for your fatigue is often the first step toward relief. Fatigue may be related to:

• Alcohol or drug use
• Excess physical activity
• Jet lag disorder
• Lack of physical activity
• Medications, such as antihistamines, cough medicines
• Not enough sleep
• Unhealthy eating habits

Conditions

Unrelenting exhaustion may be a sign of a condition or an effect of the drugs or therapies used to treat it, such as:

• Acute liver failure
• Anemia
• Anxiety disorders
• Cancer
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic infection or inflammation
• Chronic kidney disease
• Concussion
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) exacerbation — worsening of symptoms
• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Depression (major depressive disorder)
• Diabetes
• Emphysema
• Fibromyalgia
• Grief
• Heart disease
• Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Medications and treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, pain drugs, heart drugs and antidepressants
• Multiple sclerosis
• Obesity
• Pain that's persistent
• Sleep apnea
• Stress
• Traumatic brain injury