Coronavirus: Is your fatigue a sign of coronavirus or seasonal infections? Here's what you need to know right now

Fatigue as a symptom can have a lot of causes and related factors. A possibly busy work schedule, sleepless nights or most often, an underlying cause of an illness that's setting in, or just a sign of recovery. Nonetheless, encountering fatigue can drain you out and given the current timelines we are living in, a symptom that's definitely not worth treating lightly.

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While the second wave of coronavirus has slowed down, the Delta variant continues to be the dominantly affecting strain and fatigue, apart from a high-grade fever is a tell-tale sign. At the same time, with monsoons in full swing, it's also the time for many monsoon-related illnesses and viral ailments to come through and quite possibly, tire you out too.

Given that a coronavirus infection and suspicious symptoms if not diagnosed could prove to be scary, how can you tell if your fatigue needs some further attention?

How can you differentiate between fatigue and other signs of COVID-19 and seasonal blues? Here are a few clues which could help you ascertain the real cause and seek help when needed:

Fatigue can refer to an overall feeling of extreme tiredness and being zapped out of energy, or feeling highly exhausted. When a person is fatigued (medically or otherwise), he or she can feel extremely drained and find it difficult to carry out any work or have zero motivation to do anything.

While fatigue is usually resultant of dietary or lifestyle changes, medically too, fatigue can occur and its range can differ from mild to severe.

Fatigue and tiredness can feel very similar, yet different. However, there are some differences that are noteworthy. So to speak, tiredness can be a common complaint when there's a loss of energy levels. However, it can last for some hours and usually gets resolved after getting some good rest and recovery. COVID Fatigue, on the other hand, can last for longer, make it excruciatingly difficult to carry out any tasks and last regardless of sleep.

A bout of fatigue can also make a person feel extremely dull, achy and lack energy. As with COVID-19, not only can the intensity and duration be different, it could also be accompanied by some other signs. These broad symptoms are now being looked at as signs which may help a patient differentiate normal fatigue from a COVID fatigue.

Diet, lifestyle, sleeplessness to medical issues- there can be multiple root issues behind fatigue and underlying factors. While most diet and lifestyle-associated fatigue could resolve in a matter of days, on its own (or with corrections), medically, there are many possible reasons as to why fatigue occurs.

Whenever there's a pathogen invading the body, our immune system steps up its guard to root out the pathogen. As a response to the inflammation, fatigue occurs. If there's not an active contagion threat, fatigue could be triggered off by potential causes to illness which affect metabolism and inflammatory response- ranging blood supply disruptions, tissue breakdown, vital organ breakdown, thyroid, endocrine and hormonal disorders, contagious illnesses, flu and most recently, COVID-19.

Certain medications-used over a long time could also induce chronic fatigue in the body and tire a person out.

COVID-19 fatigue has been labelled to be unlike any other form of fatigue. Not only has been termed to be one of the earliest, and commonest symptoms associated with the Delta variant of the virus, but also a symptom that lingers and afflicts a COVID-19 patient weeks after recovery.

The intensity of this symptom can also be persistent enough to not be ignored and could strike people of any age, young or old, including kids.

One of the prime reasons why fatigue with COVID-19 is so terribly felt through is because a virus like SARS-COV-2 unleashes brutal damage on the body, which also has a longer recovery time. To fight such a virus, of such magnitude, the immune system launches cytokines and overtires- causing intense fatigue which compares to no other.

While there are many reasons for fatigue to strike you, what's important to observe is the precedence of symptoms.

Since there's a surge in viral and mosquito-borne illnesses that set in during the monsoons and change of weather, the usual symptoms that strike people include fever, cold/cough, headache and body pain-later followed by fatigue.

With COVID-19, however, not only are the symptoms harsher, but the fatigue also kicks in sooner. In the case of COVID-19, fatigue could also be accompanied by unnerving exhaustion, fatigue, weakness, drop in platelet counts and intense muscle pain and cramps. Fatigue could also come up in the presymptomatic days for some, and linger on for weeks after testing negative. With monsoon illnesses and viral ailments, the intensity and duration of fatigue tend to be on the lower side.

With fatigue, the most important things to notice are the duration, pre-existing factors and related symptoms. If you suspect any other symptoms of coronavirus, do not ignore them and get tested at once.

Apart from testing and diagnosis, it's also important to treat fatigue in the right manner- with due changes to diet as well as lifestyle. Read here to know more ways to fight fatigue.