Fatigue

In my opinion fatigue has to be one of the biggest pains to deal with when you have an autoimmune disease.  But having constant fatigue makes perfect sense.  The immune system of the human body is our own personal branch of the military.  It’s protecting us from invaders like bacteria and viruses that want our body’s limited resources.  When invaders are detected, the white blood cells head out and attack.  So think back to the last time you had the flu.  While your white blood cells were killing viruses like PAC-Man eats dots, your body was reacting by having a fever, a running nose, maybe even a cough and you were tired.  Your body is working overtime to fight off invaders and you were tired because your body wants you to rest while it replenishes those resources. 

So for someone with an autoimmune disease, the same thing is happening every single day, 365 days a year.  There is no day off from “feeling sick”.  The immune system of someone with an autoimmune disease has gotten its orders wrong and is now out attacking its own body.  The white blood cells are going after normal tissue and cells.  It’s the worst case of friendly fire you’ll ever see.  Talk about a publicity nightmare.


Here is a great article on Rhuematoid Arthritis and fatigue;

http://www.hss.edu/conditions_mastering-impact-fatigue-ra.asp