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Every Day is a Marathon

We all know the look to well. Often accompanied with an eye-roll, sigh and something along the lines of “I’m tired too”. This is different. I did not party, work out to much, drink too much or engage in activity that results in fatigue and or pain.

Instead everyday I run a marathon just to go upstairs and use the bathroom. Everyday feels like this; but to different degrees. Daily life is literally like a 24/7/365 marathon on batteries that never change. What people don’t understand is how overwhelming this disease is.

Misunderstood fatigueUnwanted advice

You may expect support, understanding and help. What you get may vary wildly and constantly change. Family and friends get annoyed that you can’t always keep up or keep plans and slowly they are less and less involved, or push too hard with “if you just get up you’ll feel better”, so and so does yoga and it helps, have you tried x y and a? Yes! We have all tried our best. Never let anyone minimize what you are going through.

Never minimize that you are doing the best you can. Never minimize that you deserve to live your best life with love, acceptance and support. Some days it’s minute by minute and that has to be ok. You are doing your best, you are strong, you are important and you are your best advocate.

So if today finds you where all you did was make it through the day; be proud. Sometimes getting through and being gentle with yourself is the biggest accomplishment in the world.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The AxialSpondyloarthritis.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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