Life is busy. From working to parenting, household chores and socialising, feeling tired is just par for the course of modern life.
However, feeling extremely tired or fatigued for prolonged periods of time could be a sign of a more serious condition.
This World Cancer Day, we want people to recognise the difference between tiredness and fatigue to improve early detection of the disease.
Different symptoms of fatigue
Fatigue is much more severe than usual tiredness and doesn’t go away after resting or getting a good night’s sleep.
It can also affect a person’s ability to think clearly or concentrate. This is sometimes referred to as ‘brain fog’ and makes everyday tasks, such as showering or even watching TV, feel overwhelming.
Other symptoms of fatigue can include muscle weakness and low mood, something Simon Tilling, from Warwickshire, can relate to.
What started off as a family joke, eventually turned into a nightmare.
“I’d get home from work, have my tea and then fall asleep on the sofa by 7.30,” Simon recalls.
“I wasn’t concerned. I just put it down to work. I’d recently changed jobs and had more responsibility, as well as a longer commute, so it made sense that I was tired.
“It was funny to begin with. My wife and daughter had this extendable finger and whenever I dozed off, they’d poke me with it.
“But the novelty soon wore off. My wife got very frustrated as I didn’t have any energy to do things together. It was having a real negative impact on my life.”
From fatigue to incurable lung cancer
Fast forward two years and Simon was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, which had spread to both his liver and colon.
He is now undergoing palliative treatment but shares his experience to warn others of the risk of such an innocuous symptom.
It’s hard to comprehend that something as ordinary as feeling tired could indicate something as serious as lung cancer but I have no doubt that this was the first warning sign.
“It took a long time for me to be diagnosed, so you can’t help but think what if? What if I had more tests when I first went to the doctor? Could it have been caught earlier?
“I can’t let myself think about that too much and instead hope that by sharing my experience could help others to get diagnosed sooner than I was and have a much better chance to get through it.”
Paula Chadwick, chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “Whilst it is important to recognise that most people who feel tired or fatigued will not have lung cancer, we need to be able to spot when there could be an indication of a bigger issue.
“Anyone who is feeling fatigued must go and see their GP. And if it persists, keep going back.”
Symptoms of lung cancer include a persistent cough, shortness of breath, repeat chest infections, fatigue, weight loss, coughing up blood, chest pain, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, back and/or shoulder pain and clubbing of the fingers.
For more information about symptoms, click here.