People suffering from burn-out have endured a period of overload or extreme strain, which may be thought of as a kind of self inflicted exploitation of one’s own body. The prolonged wear and tear can result in (either directly or indirectly) a range of diseases, injuries and/or deficiencies. Therefore, it is advisable to always go to the doctor for a thorough check up.

Possible causes, and what tests might be done;

• Disease; chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart or blood pressure problems, cancer, lung problems or kidney disease. These diseases often begin gradually and may have vague symptoms
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies; especially iron, B₁₂ and folate
• Food intolerance; this may develop over time and can cause low energy levels through decreased absorption of food and nutrients. A common example is wheat or gluten intolerance (celiac disease)
• Hormone disturbance; thyroid disease is a common cause of lethargy and fatigue 

If you are suffering from burn-out, you have to take sick leave! If you continue to push yourself, you will only get worse and may even need a longer time to recover.

Nutrition

The body needs a healthy diet. If the doctor is not able to provide you with sufficient advice, you should ask to be referred to a nutritional expert such as a dietitian. Don’t believe everything that you read on the internet about what healthy eating is; there is a long of mis-information going around.

Medicine

Be careful with medical treatment. The body is weak and can get worse with some types of (strong) medicine.

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Burn-out is not a diagnosis currently recognized by Western medicine. If you take sick leave because of burn-out, the doctor will call it something else, for example Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). If the diagnosis is based purely on the symptoms, without identifying the underlying cause(s), then it is highly likely that relapse will occur. To effectively treat burn-out/CFS and reduce the risk of future relapses, it is essential to identify and acknowledge the true cause – depletion of the body’s energy and resources. To treat only the superficial symptoms, is a “band-aid” solution, and will have only a temporary effect. While in some cases it may be important to treat conditions such as depression, it is more important to identify the fundamental cause of the burn-out. Failure to do so is a serious pitfall in the management of burn-out/CFS.

Myalgic encephalomyeopathy (ME) is a more severe variant of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, whose name describes a condition in which there is muscle pain/ache, combined with pathology in the brain and muscle fibres. ME is much more difficult to recover from than burn-out is; some people never get well. Commonly, those who devlop ME were largely burned-out prior to the ME becoming apparent. The body was therefore already weak. Proposed trigger factors for ME in an already weakened individual include infections (such as infectious mononucleosis, also known as glandular fever) or some medications, especially anti-depressants. If medications are absolutely necessary for treating burn-out, the body’s condition and reaction to the medication should be monitored by an acupuncturist.

This is not a comprehensive list of potential causes of fatigue and burn-out symptoms.

Based on evaluation of the patient’s condition, history and wishes,

the doctor will decide which examinations, tests and treatments are appropriate on a case-by-case basis.