Exams and Tests

If you go to your doctor for evaluation of fatigue, the first thing the doctor will do is take a complete history of your fatigue along with asking about associated symptoms.

• The doctor may inquire about these activities and symptoms to determine the probable cause of your fatigue:
  
  
  • Quality
    
    
    • Does the level of fatigue remain constant throughout the day? Does the fatigue get worse as the day goes on, or are you fatigued at the start of the day?
      
      
    • Is there a pattern to your fatigue? Time of day or year? Does your fatigue occur at regular cycles?

• Emotional state: Are you feeling unhappiness or disappointment in your life?

• Sleep pattern
  
  
  • How much do you sleep?
    
    
  • What hours to you sleep?
    
    
  • Do you awake rested or fatigued?
    
    
  • How many times do you awake and are you able to fall back asleep?

• Exercise: Do you get regular exercise? Any exercise?
  
  
• Stress: Have you had any new stressors in your life? Change in relationships, jobs, school, or living rearrangements?
  
  
• Diet: What is your diet like?
  
  
• Associated symptoms
  
  
  • Fever
    
    
  • Pain
    
    
  • Nausea
    
    
  • Vomiting
    
    
  • Diarrhea
    
    
  • Blood in urine or stool
    
    
  • Shortness of breath
    
    
  • Chest pain
    
    
  • Constipation
    
    
  • Muscle cramps or aches
    
    
  • Easy bruising
    
    
  • Cough
    
    
  • Changes in thirst or urination
    
    
  • Inability to sleep lying flat
    
    
  • Inability to walk up more than one flight of stairs
    
    
  • Changes in appetite
    
    
  • Loss or gain of weight
    
    
  • Menstrual irregularities
    
    
  • Swollen legs
    
    
  • Mass in breast

• Then, a physical exam will be performed, focusing on your vital signs (weight, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, breathing rate). Your doctor will look at your general appearance, listen to your heart, lungs, and abdomen, and perform a pelvic and rectal exam.

• Your doctor may order some of the following tests:

• Blood tests - Gives clues to if you have an infection, if you are anemic, or if you have other problems with your blood or nutrition

• Urinalysis - Gives clues that point to diabetes, liver disease, or infection

• Chem-7 - Looks at 7 common substances circulating in your blood. It consists of 4 electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate), 2 waste products of metabolism cleared by normally functioning kidneys (BUN and creatinine) and the source of energy for your body's cells (glucose).

• Thyroid function tests - Looks at function of thyroid gland, too high or too low
  
  
• Pregnancy test
  
  
• Sed rate - Looks for chronic diseases or inflammatory conditions
  
  
• HIV test
  
  
• Chest x-ray - Looks for infection or tumor
  
  
• ECG - An electrical recording that looks at the function of your heart
  
  
• CT scan of head - A 3-dimensional x-ray of the brain to look for strokes, tumors, or other abnormalities