What The Fork Is Up With This Fatigue?!

I have never experienced so much fatigue in my life than I have over the last couple months. I am ALWAYS tired. And it’s not one of those “if I just get a good night sleep I’ll be fine.” No no. There is no such thing. It’s also varying degrees of fatigue. Before my depression got worse a few weeks ago I was actually feeling better. My RA med was helping me not be so lethargic. But, then ugly depression came screaming back and all I wanted to do was sleep because I didn’t see the point in getting up. This has been going on for a solid two weeks. Wake up in a bad mood? See if going back to sleep changes anything. Feeling upset? Take a nap and try to reset.

Then there is activity fatigue. You have a good day, and while it doesn’t feel like you are over exerting yourself in the moment, your body is laughing quietly in the background. Little do you know that when you wake up the following day that you’ll be down for the count. I’m talking sleep coma status. Can’t function for anything. It’s totally bogus. How are we supposed to accomplish anything when this happens? And it’s incredibly frustrating that people who don’t battle autoimmune disorders think we are just being lazy. Trust me we wouldn’t wish this feeling on anyone.

The last time I skated was June 29th. I was extremely excited because it was the first time I felt well enough to since April 19th. My feet were very angry with me and kept cramping up. Now, this is due to a combination of reasons. One, my feet are more affected with RA than any other body part. And two, they aren’t used to being strapped into my skates anymore. I was only able to do it for 20-30 minutes. I finally had to concede and take all my gear off. By the time I left I had a slight limp. Fast forward to the following day and I slept for FIFTEEN hours! Sure, I woke up a few times. But, when I did, I was so out of it I couldn’t even keep my eyes open. It’s extremely disheartening. 

So, if you are reading this and don’t suffer from any of these obnoxious issues, please be kind to those of us that do. It’s not as easy as you all think it is. If you see us struggling to do the day to day tasks, ask if there is anything you can do to help lessen the burden. Better yet, just do it. More than likely the person will say they are fine even though they are drowning in their to do list. 

Much love,

B