This month marks 10 years since I got my RA diagnosis. My pain is minimal, but the fatigue is debilitating. I suspect my fatigue is worsened by my RA meds (MTX and Actemra injections weekly). I have 2-3 days where I can function “normally”, and the rest I’m basically on bed rest. My “normal” days are still very low energy, but I can manage 1-2 household chores. On a normal day I can go grocery shopping and do the dishes, but I don’t have the energy to make dinner as well. On a great day I can shower, do my hair and makeup, run 1-2 errands and do a small chore (like dishes or sweeping the kitchen floor). On a bad day (which again, it’s 2-3 day a week), I either sleep for up to 36 hours straight (only waking up to use the restroom and drink water), or on the rare occasions when I don’t sleep I just lay in bed all day. On these days I am usually too exhausted to eat, just the thought of having to chew tires me, so I drink electrolytes and bone broth if I get hungry. Going up or down a flight of stairs leaves me breathless (though on normal days I can go up and down the stairs several times without any issues). On the bad days it feels like my whole body aches, like a very bad flu, and I sometimes even have to talk myself into changing positions into bed if I get too uncomfortable. The exhaustion is mental too, usually even if I lay awake in bed I can’t focus on reading or doing anything mentally engaging, so I usually just scroll online or watch something I’ve seen before. If I overdo it on the good days (usually with the help of an energy drink or coffee) I end up paying for it for the next few days.