Why am I so tired?
For people living with long-term respiratory conditions, fatigue can be frustrating and debilitating. Planning, pacing and small changes can help conserve energy and improve daily life.
Fatigue is a common problem for people with long-term respiratory conditions.
The reason for this can vary from person to person.
For some, it will be related to the severity of their lung condition and symptoms like breathlessness or cough. For others it may be due to nutrition, fitness or infections. It could be a combination of all these things.
Whatever the reason, it is a frustrating and debilitating symptom and can impact on your quality of life.
Physiotherapists and occupational therapists work with people to help manage fatigue.
Management strategies are often simple ideas that aim to conserve energy (especially with routine daily tasks) so that you have energy left for the more enjoyable things in your life.
Planning and pacing are two key principles of energy conservation.
Planning means thinking about what you need to do in a day or over the week and working out your priorities.
Pacing is spreading activities out across the day and allowing adequate time to complete activities including time to rest.
Sometimes tasks can be broken down into more manageable chunks. For example, instead of vacuuming the whole house at once, do one room a day.
Another way of conserving energy is adapting tasks.
Equipment can be helpful.
Sitting on a shower stool in the shower, leaning on a shopping trolley at the supermarket or hanging washing on a drying rack rather than the clothesline are all ways to reduce energy demand.
Talk to an occupational therapist to find out what adaptive equipment might be beneficial for your needs.
Maintaining good nutrition is important for your energy levels but can be a challenge.
Sometimes the process of preparing and eating a meal feels too much.
Ready meals are an easy option or cooking a larger amount and freezing portions to eat at a later date.
Alternatively, doing some meal prep earlier in the day can make cooking your evening meal less tiring.
If you are concerned about being low weight, talk to your GP about high calorie supplements that are easier to consume or ask for a referral to a dietician.
Living with fatigue can be hard work but sometimes making a small change in how you do things can make a big difference to how you feel.
What change can you make today?
This article is part of a regular column written by Zoe Manderson, a respiratory physiotherapist in Taranaki for Te Whatu Ora and a member of the Foundation's Respiratory Advisory Board.