You are Not Alone! Major Autoimmune Org Calls for Profound Fatigue To Be Major Research Focus

[Cort]

Profound, Debilitating Fatigue Found to Be a Major Issue for Autoimmune Disease Patients in New National Survey

• AARDA Calls on “Fuzzy,” Largely Ignored Symptom to Become a New Focus of Research
• http://www.newswise.com/articles/profound-debiliating-fatigue-found-to-be-a-major-issue-for-autoimmune-disease-patients-in-new-national-survey

The first paragraph on Autoimmune fatigue could come right of an ME/CFS textbook:

Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C., March 23, 2015 -- Fatigue described as “profound,” “debilitating,” and “preventing them from doing the simplest everyday tasks,” is a major issue for autoimmune disease (AD) patients, impacting nearly every aspect of their lives. It affects their mental and emotional well-being and their ability to work. And while most AD patients have discussed their fatigue with their physicians, many have not been prescribed treatment for their fatigue.

Remarkably it is the most debilitating symptom for 60% of the respondents in this survey...

• Nine-in-10 (89 percent) say it is a “major issue” for them and six-in-10 (59 percent) say it is “probably the most debilitating symptom of having an AD.”
• ● More than two-thirds (68 percent) say their “fatigue is anything but normal. It is profound and prevents [them] from doing the simplest everyday tasks.”
• ● Seven-in-10 (70 percent) believe others judge them negatively because of their fatigue.
• ● Three-quarters (75 percent) say their fatigue has impacted their ability to work; nearly four-in-10 (37 percent) say they are in financial distress because of it; one-in-five (21 percent) say it has caused them to lose their jobs; while the same number (21 percent) report they have filed for disability as a result of their fatigue.-
• ● Fatigue impacts nearly every aspect of AD patients’ lives including overall quality of life (89 percent), career/ability to work (78 percent), romantic (78 percent), family (74 percent) and professional relationships (65 percent) and their self esteem (69 percent), among others.

This is good news! More attention on the causes of really profound fatigue is, I assert, nothing but good news for ME/CFS. That means more research into a very poorly studied area...