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Parkinson's and Fatigue

Fatigue

Fact Sheets

Published:

January 11, 2023

Parkinson's and Fatigue

Last Updated:

September 12, 2022

Many people with Parkinson's experience fatigue

Many people with Parkinson’s experience fatigue and it can have a major impact well-being. However there is a lot you can do to manage fatigue. It’s helpful to find out why you feel low on energy or worn out and it pays to remember that there may be more than one cause. Your fatigue may be a symptom of another, co-existing condition. With Parkinson’s your energy levels can fluctuate, especially as the condition progresses.

What is fatigue?

Fatigue can be described as an overwhelming sense of tiredness, a lack of energy and a feeling of exhaustion. Fatigue can be a physical, emotional or mental feeling or experience, or a combination of these. It’s important not to confuse fatigue with sleepiness. Sleepiness tends to be a short term phenomenon, but fatigue is over the medium or longer term. Akinesia, or trouble initiating movement, often feels like fatigue.

What causes fatigue?

Although there is no formal consensus among health professionals, fatigue is attributed to a number of possible causes. Having Parkinson’s means that what was automatic movement may now require conscious effort, which can be very tiring. Parkinson’s medication which help with slow movement may be at least part of the solution to this problem.

Read the PDF for more information about fatigue.

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