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Stamina and Fatigue

Overview

Limited stamina restricts a person’s ability to exert themselves. It can be a limit in the length of time they can apply their energy to a particular activity (endurance) or a limit in being able to exert the effort needed for a particular task (strength).

Fatigue can occur when a person extends herself beyond the limits of her stamina. It is especially important to distinguish fatigue from ordinary tiredness. In ordinary tiredness a person might get a “second wind” by changing the task. There are no “second winds” with fatigue. Fatigue is worsened by exertion. One night’s rest does not relieve it.

Fatigue can have an impact on any number of functional abilities, from thinking to performing activities of daily living, to speaking and listening. Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, irritability, moodiness, weakness, clumsiness, or apparent lack of interest in doing things well beyond normal tiredness.

Who Is Affected 

Arthritis, back problems, heart disease and respiratory conditions – are the most common reasons for functional limitations. None of them are visible but each of them may impair stamina and cause fatigue. They are also among the conditions that can lead to a person’s limited stamina. Other people who may experience limited stamina or fatigue include:

  • People who cannot walk long distances or climb stairs without extreme difficulties
  • People with autoimmune diseases or cancers
  • People with pain, inflammation, migraines or broken bones
  • People with shortness of breath (dyspnea)
  • People with chronic respiratory or cardiac problems
  • People experiencing medication side effects
  • People with weakness (hyposthenia)
  • People with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)
  • People with extreme obesity
  • People with chronic fatigue (CFIDS)
  • People with seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Looking at the Impacts

People with chronic limited stamina must balance between activity and inactivity in order to be able to maintain their overall stability in health, attention, and participation in daily life. Overextending beyond these limits, while sometimes possible, can have consequences that lower stamina even further. Stress has a large impact on stamina, and a woman may be unaware of the extent of her limits when a new stressor is added to the mix. Variability in stamina is normal but serious, on-going issues can be disabling.

It is impossible to know where the limits of stamina are crossed. Conditions that produce fatigue, such as autoimmune diseases or cancer-related treatment side effects, leave a woman especially susceptible to any number of stressors, and fatigue is inevitable.

The experience of fatigue varies from person to person and from condition to condition. For instance:

  • Chronic fatigue syndrome causes severe, disabling physical and mental fatigue, which is exacerbated by minimal exertion. One’s capacities to think and perceive have been described as “brain fog”.
  • Post-Polio Syndrome causes a fatigue that has been described as “hitting the wall.” It can be so severe that the person can barely lift an arm or get out of a chair.
  • Hypothyroid disease can cause a fatigue that seems to slow a person down. It is often coupled with depression.
  • Depression itself often manifests as extreme fatigue.
A person with cancer-related fatigue describes the impacts of fatigue: “Fatigue has led me to make mistakes such as pouring orange juice into my morning cereal or mixing up meeting times. Miscommunications also arise from fatigue-related body language. When I’m feeling happy but tired, I often appear to others as if I am angry, upset, or disinterested.”

People with fatigue may feel mentally capable, but physically overwhelmed or physically capable but mentally exhausted, or both. The person who requires fewer or shorter work hours in order to maintain an acceptable standard of health must negotiate reasonable accommodation with a supervisor, with fatigue being one of the more challenging types of conditions for which to pursue reasonable accommodation. People with limited stamina or fatigue conditions are often subject to underemployment and the inability to get full social supports.

Fatigue can provoke fear in those that manage a chronic illness. For example, a woman with rheumatoid arthritis may have fatigue as her first symptom that a flare-up that is about to ensue. The struggle to maintain a certain level of activity while keeping a balance in managing recurrent and potential stressful situations can add yet another level of anxiety to an already tense life. Couple that with the uncertainty of not knowing how severe this flare up may be and this woman’s world may feel like it’s spinning out of control.