Have you ever woken up one day feeling like you emerged from a deep dark cavern… like you’ve been walking through a dark cave and suddenly emerge in to the sunlight?

The past couple of months I’ve been dealing with semi-severe to extreme fatigue and exhaustion. Some days, to conserve energy, I only completed tasks that were absolutely necessary.

Recently, I feel like I’ve stepped into the sunlight – albeit somewhat dim but getting brighter.

Fatigue Happens

As someone with auto-immune conditions, allergies, sensitivities and hypothyroidism… fatigue and exhaustion come with the territory.

I haven’t been this badly fatigued in many years and it was a doozy.

Helping Hands And Survival Tactics

I’m in the Homeland and have family and friends nearby who can help, if needed.

I don’t have a lawn to mow, yardwork to do or a huge house to clean so I don’t really need much help.

Keeping My Cozy Little Home On Wheels Tidy

At times, it was a challenge to keep my 68 square foot cozy little home on wheels half-ways tidy.

During my most fatigued days, I worked only on the truly necessary tasks (such as dumping my grey and black tanks and filling my fresh water).

Groceries and Supplies

Due to my MCS, I often do curbside pickup.

Grocery getting while exhausted wasn’t much different than normal. It was simply a matter of driving, parking and letting someone load the goodies in to the van.

Of course, I had to find energy to put everything away but the hardest part was done for me via curbside.

Friends At The Campground

Friends, John and Peg, are a couple campsites away from me. Keeping true to the unofficial Camper’s and RVer’s Code Of Ethics… they’re always trying to feed me.

They know my weird food allergies and that I can’t eat things most people eat. So, they brought me watermelon a few times (I’ll never turn down watermelon!). Peg cut it up so it was ready to eat.

John and Peg also check in on me and/or I check in with them to let them know I’m doing ok and still among the living.

The Difference Between Fatigue and Being Tired

Did you know fatigue is not the same as being tired?

Tiredness – A Simple Explanation

When experiencing tiredness, you can go about daily activities with little to no issues.

If more energy is needed, tiredness is resolved with rest or sleep. After resting or sleeping, you feel refreshed with renewed energy levels.

Fatigue – A Simple Explanation

When experiencing fatigue, any type of activity drains energy levels quickly.

Once energy is used up it’s difficult, if not impossible, to keep going.

Fatigue is not resolved with rest or sleep – it’s a tired that sleep can’t fix. You don’t wake up refreshed and you may wake up with less energy than when you went to sleep.

With fatigue, it’s not about managing your time – it’s about managing your energy in order to get through the day.

A Thyroid Gone Wonky

In early May, a quick blood test revealed my thyroid level was wonky.

It’s not uncommon for my level to go up and down but this was the worst it’s been in many years.

My wonky thyroid level was most likely due to my Hashimoto’s flaring up. I can often tell when it’s flaring up but I can’t explain how. It simply is what it is.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis – A Simple Explanation

With Hashimoto’s, the immune system is confused and thinks the thyroid is a virus.

When a virus enters the body the immune system tries to eradicate it and/or remove it from the body.

When my Hashimoto’s flares up, my immune system works non-stop, day and night, trying to destroy my thyroid (the same as it would for a cold, infection, etc).

The difference is, a cold or infection eventually goes away but my thyroid does not.

An overworked immune system will cause fatigue.

Why not have my thyroid removed? Removing the thyroid will not remove everything. Thyroid cells and remnants would remain. My immune system would continue it’s efforts to eliminate the remnants that can’t be surgically or medically removed.

Hypothyroidism Can Be A Side Effect Of Hashimoto’s

The domino effect of Hashimoto’s is, it causes the immune system to slowly kill off the thyroid which causes thyroid levels to go wonky and become hypothyroid.

With hypothyroidism, the thyroid doesn’t have enough thyroid juice to do it’s job. This can cause fatigue, weight gain and more.

In my case, I take medication can replace what my thyroid can no longer do. It’s an on-going effort to adjust the dosage and keep my thyroid levels fairly normal.

An Abscessed Tooth Enters The Scene

In the midst of the thyroid issue, I had an abscessed tooth that became infected.

On top of the Hashimoto’s let’s add a nice infection!!!

With everything going on in my body, my immune system was extremely overworked and the exhaustion continued to get worse.

A week and a half ago, the tooth was extracted and a round of antibiotics is helping with the infection.

Parting Thoughts

If you haven’t figured out what Hashimoto’s, hypothyroidism and an abscessed tooth have in common… it’s fatigue!

Between the Hashimoto’s, hypothyroid and infected, abscessed tooth… it’s been a challenging couple of months.

A day or so after my tooth extraction, I slept almost 3 days straight. I’d be up for an hour or two before needing to rest or sleep.

I needed that rest! It felt good to start waking up more on the refreshed side than on the exhausted side.

My energy levels are not back to normal yet but I’m hopeful it will continue to improve.

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About The Photos

Both photos were taken at Krape Park in Freeport IL – where I often go after running errands.

On this particular day, I had no energy to get out of the van.

The top photo is a leaf that landed on the windshield. It represents how I felt at the time… laying there motionless… searching for energy to continue its journey.