Exercise: it helps fatigue!

One of my favorite activities to do when I can’t do anything because I have crippling fatigue is to read websites about what will help my fatigue. Many of these websites list exercise as a practical way to boost energy and mood.

So…

I want to just clarify that for me, fatigue means I’m incapable of things like: holding my head up; sitting upright; being conscious.

In a world where my body is a sleep prison, I have to prioritize where to spend my spoons every day. And they get spent at work, because I need money to live. Working for 6-7 hours a day (not even a full day because my fatigue is so bad and my work gives me accommodations) exhausts me physically and mentally to the point where my evening activities include: laying down; closing my eyes; listening to podcasts instead of watching TV because my eyes are closed; taking 5 hour naps, which I would argue aren’t naps because they’re so long.

So how will I find the time and physical capacity to exercise?

And for fatigued people, what counts as exercise? I am given the same advice as healthy people: raise your heart rate for 30 minutes a day. These 30 minutes can be broken up into shorter time periods.

Does doing chores count? Because I typically need to lay down after I do chores like taking out the trash, sweeping the floor, emptying the dishwasher, laundry, etc. This is the level of activity I am capable of but it seems unlikely that any person would consider this “exercise.” Furthermore, doing these things doesn’t make my fatigue less terrible. Literally everything makes me tired.

As an American, I have been ingrained with the ideology that everything that happens to me is my fault because of the fucked up social institutions of the myth of meritocracy and individual responsibility. As such, I have a complex where I have to seek out individual solutions to my health problems. Welcome to the club amirite?

We need comprehensive universal healthcare, wrap around services, free short and long term paid disability leave, and comprehensive workplace accommodations and modifications for disabled people that don’t threaten our existing jobs or our ability to be hired for a new job.

Disabled people need full inclusion into the workforce and health care system so that we can chip away against stigma and ableism.

We don’t need pithy individual solutions for our chronic illnesses that work for abled bodies but don’t work for disabled bodies.