Fatigue is a chronic illness that we have discussed many times, yet there is still so much left to delve into! Everyone experiences fatigue in different ways, and the effects may fluctuate daily for individuals too. This makes it tricky for brain injury survivors and others to understand.
People often don’t anticipate the impact fatigue can have on your life. Pathological fatigue affects survivors physically, mentally and emotionally. If it’s not managed, it will start to take over! The effects of fatigue ripple out, impacting your relationships and changing the dynamics you have at home, at work or even in social settings. This blog is all about helping you gain a better understanding of the potential ways fatigue can affect survivors and their families, so you can learn how to cope better.
Coming to Terms with Fatigue
When it comes to fatigue, the first hurdle is acceptance. You need to be able to recognise that you are in fact experiencing fatigue and acknowledge the emotional effect it has had on yourself and others.
From there, you can begin to do some research into the side-effects you are experiencing. We’ve shared lots of resources to help with fatigue on this website, but talking to the brain injury community is also a great way to learn. Peer support groups, like our private Facebook group, allow you to hear other people’s experiences and get some reassurance too!
“I've learnt that you cannot beat fatigue. At times, both Jules and I would love to wave that magic wand and never have to suffer from the effects of it again but let's face it, it’s not going to happen! With a lot of help, we eventually learnt to understand what pathological fatigue is and how to live with it on our own terms.” ~ Mark
So, What Are the Warning Signs?
In order to manage fatigue, you need to be able to recognise when it hits. Often your body will give you early warning signs that you can look out for:
- Yawning
- Eyes feeling heavy
- Blurred vision
- Fuzzy head (brain fog)
- Feeling irritable/snappy
- Losing the ability to focus
Fatigue is your body's way of telling you that it needs to rest, and that it can no longer function properly. So, if you notice these side-effects happening, don’t ignore it! These warning signs can help you to identify things or activities that trigger fatigue.
Learning How to Cope with Fatigue
Planning and pacing yourself is key to managing fatigue. It helps to think of your fatigue as a battery that will need recharging on a regular basis to keep you at your most optimum state.
If you wake up feeling fatigued, there's no shame in taking some more rest. Pushing through isn't always the best remedy, so when possible, try not to book too much into your day. Look at your to-do list and break activities down by taking regular breaks. This is especially important if you have a lot of screen time, it's a big energy zapper!
Support for Friends and Family
One of the biggest challenges with fatigue is the unpredictability! Fatigue can cause changes in a survivor’s mood, behaviour and ability to do certain activities. This can be a lot for friends and family to process. It’s not always easy to know what to do when mood swings hit, and when plans get cancelled, it can feel disappointing.
“Mark is the one that has the brain injury, but it often affects me. The day can start off fine, but for whatever reason fatigue comes on, and seemingly out of nowhere the exhaustion hits him and everything changes. The knock-on effect can be huge. Certainly, it can ruin your social life, it can ruin friendships, it can ruin your work, it can really, really cause havoc.” ~ Jules
Try to learn about the different side-effects survivors can experience so you know what to expect. Most of all, remember to take care of yourself. You can reach out for support as well and there are lots of options out there!
The Bigger Picture
One small trigger, in work or life, can lead to an emotional spiral that will have greater consequences mentally and socially. When fatigued, you can experience irritation and your emotions can be heightened, which can then lead to snapping at work colleagues or people close to us.
“Let’s imagine you’re working in an office, and somebody is typing on the keyboard, that’s making you feel really irritated, then something happens, say a colleague comes to you and asks you to do something. But because you’re feeling irritated, you snap at them. Now, it might not be the colleague’s fault, but you’ve then upset that person. Because you’ve upset that person, they snap back at you, which makes you feel pretty bad. Possibly you hit back, so now you’ve got a relationship conflict at work and an atmosphere that feels uncomfortable.
Then you go home and the first thing you want to do is sound off about it to your partner, but they might not want to hear about it. Maybe they even say something like ‘what you said was wrong.’ All of a sudden, another tricky dynamic has been created at home. So, you can see how quickly things can build up and why situations escalate.” ~ Mark
It’s important to be mindful of the mental space we can find ourselves in and how we react to others in that moment. It may not necessarily be how you’d expect to behave normally. In instances like this, understanding fatigue makes it easier to resolve problems and manage expectations.
The F****** Word
On some days fatigue will always feel like a struggle, but there are lots of ways to cope and manage the effects. In our next podcast episode, we will be sharing some tips and techniques you can use to manage fatigue, so keep an eye out for that. If you would like to get started on your journey to recovery, try out our free Fatigue Diary, so you can track, record, and then predict fatigue!