Fatigue vs. Tiredness
I’m so tired is a statement that I say at least a dozen times a day. When I am saying I am tired it is not the tired that you think of. My tired is utter, exhausting fatigue. Fatigue is defined as: extreme tiredness resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness. When it comes to chronic autoimmune diseases fatigue is daily symptom. Being tired means you can get some rest, you can take a nap, go to bed, rest and guess what happens the tiredness leaves you. Fatigue though, there is no amount of rest that can cure what it feels like. Fatigue is there with you all day, through whatever you are doing. It is a true lack of feeling, energy, an awareness of mental, physical, and emotion exhaustion.
In dealing with fatigue people don’t understand just how debilitating it can become. No matter the amount of sleep I get, I wake up still tired. By tired I am referring to an exertion of energy. Pure and absolute exertion, it is as if I have run a full marathon then did a hard core cross fit workout. Imagine the tiredness from those two physical activities and put them together on top make sure you haven’t slept in twenty-four hours, that is fatigue. Part of dealing with fatigue is the fact that unless you experience it, you just don’t get it. I can explain it all day long until I am blue in the face but honestly how many of you are running marathons and doing cross fit without sleep all in one day? No one that I know of would punish his or her bodies in this manner. I do not want to punish myself but my body has decided to punish itself.
One of the hardest parts of fatigue is the brain fog that comes with it. Already having memory issues due to the autoimmune diseases, the brain fog just makes daily tasks that much harder. Getting into the shower everyday is a monumental burden. It might not seem like a lot of effort but if you break it down, there are so many steps. First you have to figure out the water temperature, when dealing with autoimmune illnesses the water temperature is very important. If the water is too hot, then I can pass out, if it’s too cold then of course I freeze and my body stiffens up. So after finding the right temperature, I have to decide if I can stand without assistance. Some days I need a shower chair or cane to help me remain upright. Then how much energy do I have to wash my hair, condition it, and shave. I have now discovered dry shampoo, which I use all the time now because I don’t have enough energy to wash my hair every day. You don’t think about how much time, energy, and effort goes into something as simple as a shower. I want you to pay attention next time you go to shower. Talk out the process and see just how much you put into that simple task.
I am telling you about fatigue versus tiredness so that you can have a better understanding of what goes into living with autoimmune diseases. This is a daily struggle that we have to deal with. We are running our own marathons with every task that we have to perform. If you want to see just how much energy you extend to the activities, talk them out loud, that way you can see just how much brain power goes into things that you don’t think matter, things that you do without so much as a thought because it is routine to you now. Fatigue is enemy that steals the most from those of us that have to fight it every day.