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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Steven Doerr, MD

Steven Doerr, MD

Steven Doerr, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Doerr received his undergraduate degree in Spanish from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He graduated with his Medical Degree from the University Of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado in 1998 and completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine from Denver Health Medical Center in Denver, Colorado in 2002, where he also served as Chief Resident.

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When to Seek Medical Care

Generally, people need to seek medical care if they experience any of the following:

• fatigue that comes on suddenly (not due to normal short-term physical or mental stress),
  
  
• fatigue that is not relieved by adequate rest, adequate sleep, or removal of stressful factors,
  
  
• fatigue that becomes chronic or extreme,
  
  
• fatigue that is accompanied by unexplained symptoms, and/or
  
  
• fatigue and weakness associated with fainting or nearly fainting.

If a person experiences any of the following with or without associated fatigue, they should go to a hospital's Emergency Department:

• fainting,
  
  
• chest pain,
  
  
• shortness of breath,
  
  
• bleeding (for example, rectal bleeding or vomiting blood),
  
  
• severe abdominal, pelvic, or back pain,
  
  
• severe headache,
  
  
• irregular or fast heartbeat, and/or
  
  
• other people or pets in same household have similar symptoms, including fatigue (possible carbon monoxide poisoning).

Some additional symptoms, often associated with fatigue, should prompt an urgent visit to their doctor:

• unexplained weight loss,
  
  
• new masses or lumps anywhere in the body,
  
  
• fever, especially greater than 101 F (38.3 C),
  
  
• abnormal vaginal bleeding, and/or
  
  
• unexplained pain anywhere in the body.