Fatigue a common symptom seen in ME/CFS and Long COVID.
Fatigue is not the same as ‘tiredness’. We are all familiar with the normal feeling of sleepiness, or tiredness after exercise, a long period of concentrating or ‘burning the candle at both ends’, but fatigue is different and does not feel normal.
Fatigue is an overwhelming sense of tiredness, lack of energy and a feeling of exhaustion.
Fatigue can affect your ability to think clearly, balance on your feet, or organise your thoughts. It can also affect your physical energy levels and can make you much more emotionally unsteady when it is bad.
Fatigue can be worsened or triggered by:
- stress and anxiety
- emotional upset
- multitasking
- driving
- lost sleep
- an irregular eating pattern
- and many other things that are often specific to the person and are not limited to physical exertion.
You may experience what we call a ‘boom-bust’ effect where some days you feel okay and others you are exhausted. Some people describe fatigue as feeling like ‘moving through treacle’ or ‘hitting a wall’.
If you are suffering from fatigue, it is important that you manage your energy levels throughout the day and try to improve your sleep patterns at night. This is best done using the 3Ps: Prioritising, Planning and Pacing.
