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Fatigue: Embrace or Fend Off?
One of the more common experiences across cystic fibrosis is fatigue. I deal with fatigue every day despite my best efforts in trying to fend it off. Now and then, though, I do need a nap.
Do you give in to fatigue and try to rest a little extra every day? Do you feel more well-rested than you did before? Or do you try and fend it off until nighttime when you sleep?
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12 Replies
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I will always take the opportunity for a nap. If my body is telling me that I need rest, then I listen.
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Napping is definitely the best and supremely beneficial!
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I had no idea this was part of CF. I always blamed myself as the cause: staying up too late or just a general pattern the past few years of doing less daily, due to my laziness. What a relief to think maybe it’s hard to motivate myself because of disease, not a moral failure!
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It’s definitely not your fault. We all need rest and what may look to others (or even ourselves) as a lack of motivation is your body trying to tell you it needs rest.
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There are some days that I really struggle with my fatigue so I listen to my body and take a nap. There are other days when I just drink a bunch of water and go for a nice walk instead of laying down. Both have worked for me. One thing is for sure, this fatigue this is for real and it is necessary to really listen to what your body needs.
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Walks and water are definitely helpful! It’s good that they also help you fight fatigue.
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I too spent many years blaming myself for my lack of motivation when fatigue became a regular unexplained, intermittent problem for me. I just recently have gone to part time work and getting disability and NOW when my body tells me I need a nap, I listen! There are days where a nap is all you need and other days where taking a walk in the fresh air is enough to energize me, but I have learned to listen to my body – guilt free!
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No more guilt! It’s good to listen to our bodies.
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I try to fend it off and have gotten into afternoon caffeine. Even 5 years ago I couldn’t do that, as then I couldn’t sleep. But now it works – and I can sleep. I was napping a lot in 2022. But I’m often thwarted by the “timing” of need for the nap, as I have had so many medical appointments the past several years. But, also, it’s unclear if CF causes me fatigue, or if it’s all from my pulmonary sarcoidosis. There is no way to know. But I will say that when I was resting or napping more, it didn’t often make me feel “better”… I would still get up from a nap or rest feeling sluggish and unable to tackle tasks that I not only knew I needed to do, but that I wanted to do.
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Midday siesta seems refreshing.
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A siesta is a great idea
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Exercise balanced with rest improves mental activity for me.
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