Medications to Reduce Fatigue Symptoms

Video Transcript

DR. SUSAN JEWELL: Hello. My name is Dr. Susan Jewell and on behalf of Expert Village today, I'm going to talk to you about how to treat fatigue and also to reduce the symptom of fatigue. Now, in this clip, we're going to talk about medication. Some of the medications that you can take and you can purchase either over the counter or by prescription medication, could have drugs in it that could help you to have a good night sleep. Because one of the causes of severe fatigue in most people is because of stress and anxiety and the lack of quality sleep. So, getting a goodnight sleep, good quality, at least six to seven hours of good quality undisturbed sleep is a way to reduce the symptom of fatigue during the daytime. Now, here you could--I've shown you several products and also medication that the doctors prescribe or you can buy over the counter. Now, before you take any medication or any kind of--anything that you put in you--to have--to try to alleviate the symptoms of fatigue, always consult a medical doctor and that's the advice. Now, sometimes you can buy over-the-counter, some drugs, especially if you have flu and colds, like for example NyQuil which is for flu and cold, but it has a compound in it that also will help you sleep. This NyQuil is good but I don't recommend just taking it just because you can't sleep. I think there are other proper ways to--other better ways to address the symptoms of getting a good night sleep. And also, to reduce stress, sometimes it's good to get some other methods like a VapoRub to reduce tension to--if you have cold to reduce the decongestion to help you sleep so that you don't get fatigue. And aromatherapy, of course, is a good way to reduce stress and therefore anxiety, and if you can bathe, you should fall sleep easy and get good quality sleep. Now, some of the prescription medication that doctors prescribe for people who have difficulty sleeping is a--like for example, Ambien, Ambien is a popular prescription drug, and also here this is Lunesta, it is a popular drug--prescription drug that doctors prescribe. But remember that any drug that you put in your body has other side effects, and so it might alleviate one particular symptom but it also has side effects that could cause other complicating symptoms as well. So, you always have to look at the risk and benefit of taking prescription medication as well as taking over-the-counter medication. So, for example, with Tylenol--this one is Tylenol PM that has ingredients in it to also help you have a good night sleep. This is just some of the medications that you could purchase or get a doctor to prescribe it to you if you have problems with sleeping because that is also a contributing factor.

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