What may increase your risk for problems from weakness or fatigue?
Many conditions, lifestyle choices, medications, and diseases interfere with your ability to heal or fight infection. You may be at risk for a more serious problem from your symptoms if you have any of the following. Be sure to tell your health professional.
Conditions
- Age older than 60
- Surgery to remove the spleen
Lifestyle choices
- Alcohol abuse or withdrawal
- Drug abuse or withdrawal
- Recent travel
Medications
- Blood-thinning medications, such as warfarin, heparin, and ASA
- Corticosteroids, such as prednisone
- Medications to prevent organ transplant rejection
- Medications used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
- Radiation therapy
Diseases
- Adrenal or pituitary gland problems
- Anemia
- Anxiety attacks
- Cancer
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD or emphysema)
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Fibromyalgia
- Heart disease, including prior diagnosis of irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
- Infections, such as HIV infection, tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, or a parasite infection
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sickle cell disease
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
- Thyroid disease
| Author: | Jan Nissl, RN, BS | Last Updated: April 17, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Colin Chalk, MD, CM, FRCPC - Neurology | |
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