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“We are all tired.” Well, yes. But rheumatoid arthritis fatigue is not the same as missing a night of sleep. In this column for HealthCentral, I talk about what RA fatigue really feels like and share a few workarounds:

“PROFOUND FATIGUE COMES hand-in-hand with my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and it is with me always. No matter how long I sleep, it’s there when I wake up and there when I turn on my computer to do some writing. It follows me throughout the day to lunch, makes me fuzzy-brained during a talk with friends, weighs me down as I try to keep up with the tasks of the day (and usually fail), and it haunts my every step until I finally fall into bed. You, too? Let’s take a look at how to explain this bone-crushing exhaustion to others and some workarounds so you can actually focus on your life.

I am not alone in being tired. Up to 80% of people with RA experience some level of fatigue and over 50% live with severe fatigue. The inflammatory response of RA is one of the main drivers of fatigue, but even people who are in remission from RA may have it. It’s far more complex than simply being tired: An article in Rheumatology described it as a combination of lack of physical and mental energy, emotional fatigue leading to frustration and depression, as well as living with pain and exhaustion while you perpetually try to catch up to your life.

Think of anything battery-powered, such as your phone. A brand-new phone (a.k.a. your average healthy person) will last through an entire day of YouTubing, but with an older phone (a.k.a. your average person with RA), the battery doesn’t hold the same kind of charge, even if it has been plugged in overnight. In human terms, a person with RA may move more slowly and runs out of steam in less time than someone without it.”

Read my column on RA fatigue and tips I use to work around it on HealthCentral.