FAtigue

FAtigue is one of the major symptoms of Friedreich's Ataxia. Traveling, school, or even spending a day out and about wears me down. When I am tired, all of my FA symptoms seem to get worse. I stumble, trip, and fall more than I normally do. Hard to believe, but it is true. At the end of a long day, I usually collapse and am overwhelmed with exhaustion. During the school week, it is really easy to see how fatigue affects me. On Mondays, I generally have a decent amount of energy. By Friday, I come home and collapse on the couch. It can frustrate me because my friends are able to stay up later, do more during the day, and get more work done and still have twice as much energy as I do the next day.

I personally love being busy. I try to not think about how tired I am until I finish with everything that I have to do that day. Drive is built into me, and it frustrates me more that I could ever say when I am forced to take a step back because of my FAtigue. But sometimes I have to just stop. On the weekends, I usually spend my time recovering from the week before. Sometimes my fatigue stops me from doing the exercises that I need to do that day, the extra school work I need to do, blog posts I want to write, or videos I would like to film. I am trying to learn that it is okay. It is okay to not get every single thing done that I could possibly need to do. I just have to figure out how to spread my energy the best way I can, and do as much as I can, even when that means not doing everything I want.