When I started this blog (gettin’ close to two years ago), my first post was largely focused on fatigue. Then I got better. For about a year, I didn’t experience the severe fatigue that I had described in that first article. Now it has returned, but it’s a little different this time, so I decided it was worth re-visiting. Fatigue is one of the many Parkinson’s Disease (PD) symptoms that most of the general public don’t know can be associated with PD, but it is common to many PD sufferers. It’s not just a feeling of being tired, and it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been physically exerting yourself, or how much sleep you get. If you’ve got PD, you can be immobilized by fatigue at any time. And I do mean immobilized. Last night I got a full eight hours of sleep. This morning, I did nothing more strenuous than walking a dog (granted, he is a HUGE dog, but still…). After lunch I tried to take a nap, but that didn’t work because I wasn’t sleepy. And yet, I found myself feeling so physically fatigued that I couldn’t bring myself to go to the grocery store. Other times, I get frustrated with myself for wasting time surfing the web or playing computer games, yet I don’t feel like I’m mentally up to doing anything productive. And there are indirect effects. I tend to get especially tired after eating, which leads to feeling like I don’t even have it in me to brush my teeth. So I don’t. Sometimes for several days in a stretch. The same goes for showering. When I think about taking a shower, my legs often start to feel weak, and I conclude that I just don’t have the energy (or sense of balance) to stand in the shower. So I put it off. Sometimes for several days in a stretch. I feel like I need to just stop and say, “Awww, monkey bloomers!”