Regional weakness

If you have regional weakness due to asthenia, you may feel that moving requires a great deal of effort.

The body parts experiencing regional weakness may also display additional symptoms, such as:

• Muscle spasms or cramps
• Shaking or tremors
• Delayed or slowed movement

Full body weakness

Full-body weakness may affect your entire body. You may also experience extreme tiredness or fatigue.

Other possible signs and symptoms of full-body weakness include:

• Fever
• Flu-like symptoms
• Difficulty carrying out day-to-day tasks

There are many causes of weakness, which is why it’s important to seek help from a specialist. They can help discover the underlying cause of the issue.

Certain medications, such as mild tranquilisers to treat anxiety, antidepressants, and antihistamines, can cause weakness as a side effect. Please speak to your doctor regarding your prescription if you are experiencing symptoms, as you may need to change your course of medication.

Certain underlying health conditions that can cause asthenia include:

• Anaemia
• Low blood pressure
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Thyroid disease
• Poorly managed or undiagnosed diabetes
• Cancer

As you age, you may also experience weakness. This is because you are more likely to develop conditions that cause weakness, including certain muscle diseases, arthritis, or liver disease.

Lifestyle factors can also cause weakness, including not eating a balanced diet and a sedentary lifestyle.

Some heart conditions can cause weakness. These can include:

• Arrhythmia
• Congestive heart failure
• Heart attack

Treatment for weakness heavily depends on the diagnosis process and what we discover during the tests we perform.

We will tailor your treatment plan based on your needs.

Lifestyle changes such as staying active, maintaining a balanced diet and proper sleep hygiene, and keeping stress levels low can help alleviate symptoms. Read more about how to make lifestyle changes to improve heart health in our blog, ‘Lifestyle changes to help manage arrhythmia’.

Alterations to your medication may also help combat weakness. It is important you speak to a medical professional about symptoms you suspect may be caused by your prescription.