“We’re All Tired” – Part 1

Understanding Energy, Fatigue, & the Impact on The Body

Understanding Fatigue

Tired isn’t the right word.
Exhausted doesn’t touch it.
Spent isn’t even close.

Fatigue and energy are one of the biggest continual challenges I’ve had to cope with. It’s not just rebuilding physically, but emotionally and mentally as well.

You cannot “try harder” to get more charge out of a low battery.
Effort doesn’t create energy; it drains what’s left

“We’re All Tired”.

Unless you’ve experienced it, you won’t fully understand the impact it has on the body. Explaining to your loved ones why everyday tasks use so much energy is already a challenge.

You don’t want to get too technical because not everyone understands medical jargon.

But you feel you need some medical terminology, for those who need the science behind it.

And now you need to find a unique way to explain it to the children from how you did your spouse or partner.

But the kids are aged five and ten, so you have to adjust those conversations.

That right there… was exhausting.

The Autonomic System

My body is required to work much harder to do what most people consider “normal” tasks. That’s why they cost more energy.

When you’re going about your day, do you think about your heart rate or your blood pressure? Whether you’re getting enough blood flow to your brain? Do you think about how much cortisol your body is producing and whether it’s adequate to handle any stress you have coming your way?

Most likely not.

When someone has a broken arm, wearing a cast makes it evident. There’s no sign on my shirt that says:

Warning! High Heart Rate: 160
Warning! High Blood Pressure: 140/90.

So, when someone says, “you don’t look sick”, they could be right.

By the time I may look sick …
I’m probably already on the floor.

This is your autonomic system. It’s all the things your body is supposed to run on autopilot.

My autopilot is shut off.

Understanding Energy

When most people think about energy they usually only think about the physical aspect of it; standing, walking, lifting. With chronic illnesses, like adrenal insufficiency and POTS Syndrome, energy is drawn from multiple different systems at once.

Hormonal/metabolic Energy - (autonomic)
Circulatory Energy - (autonomic)
Cognitive Energy
Emotional Energy

Emotional energy isn’t just about “feelings”. It regulates reactions, manages stress, copes with unpredictability, absorbs invalidating comments, and fuels self-advocacy. Cognitive energy powers concentration, decision making, problem solving, planning, and constant symptom tracking.

Why Everyday Tasks Require More Energy

Think of the apps on your phone. Even though they’re closed, some are still running in the background. Even though I’m “sitting still,” the apps are like symptom monitoring, decision-making, and emotional regulation, are draining the battery.

If you think of it in terms of cost.

One store may have an item for $5.
Another may sell it for $20.
We each have $100.

While you’re able to “buy” 20 items at your store, I’m only able to buy five items from mine. And don’t forget to add the service charge for the emotional or cognitive effort from constantly monitoring your autonomic system.

“How’s my heart rate?”
“Am I starting to feel dizzy?”
“Is this going to cause a crash later?”
“How much recovery time will this cost?”

Before I even start a task, my body is already:

· actively fighting gravity to keep blood flowing to my brain
· continuously adjusting heart rate and blood pressure
· manually managing stress without adequate cortisol
· trying to prevent dizziness, fainting, nausea, or confusion.

Simple tasks like showering, getting ready, cooking, or running errands are far more “expensive” because my body is continually compensating for these functions manually.

Recovery Costs Energy Too

The tornado was exhausting.
So is repairing the damage afterwards.

After a task, my body needs to restabilize blood pressure and heart rate. It must restore glucose levels, reduce inflammation, and calm an activated nervous system. Inadequate or fluctuating cortisol means energy is not being released efficiently, muscles tire more quickly, and recovery takes longer.

Energy involves doing the task, but also surviving it and paying for it later.

“Just Push Through”

“You got this!”

If you love someone with chronic illness, I kindly ask you — please don’t say this.

Pushing through doesn’t build resilience. It creates crashes.

In a healthy body, fatigue can build stamina over time. For someone with a chronic illness, pushing through will overwhelm and destabilize an already fragile system. It will deplete energy reserves, stealing it from future days, and cause longer deeper crashes.

Overexerting ultimately makes us less reliable, less stable, and more symptomatic.

Thank you for reading! If you’re ready for Part 2, comment with a ❤️ below.

If you missed the story behind Living with Latitude, you can check it out here.