Welcome to this week's episode of The Ankylosing Spondylitis Podcast. This week's topic is something has been a huge challenge for me this week fatigue.

But first, I want to welcome the new listener from Guatemala, which marks the 95th country that the show has been downloaded in. And also, don't forget to head over to spondypodcast.com to sign up for the Whenever I feel like it newsletter. I'm hoping to get one sent out next week. And check out the T-shirts and stuff available on the website. The items are at this time available in the United States and Europe, with more countries coming soon. Also check out the new facemasks I made available. I also wanted to thank a couple of companies that I've partnered up with to bring some great CBD based products. The first is Joy Organics. They're an awesome company that makes CBD based products made from 100% hemp from America that has all been organically grown. Also wanted to welcome Foria which makes an amazing CBD based intimacy oil. These two companies are fantastic partners with the show and I can attest to the benefits of each company's products. 

So let's talk fatigue. This week has been just quite the challenge. I've been just tired and worn out all week regardless of the amount of sleep I get. I do wear part of the night of C-pap machine when I sleep in my bed, but there's times when I get up and I go out and sleep in the recliner that I have. So I don't have a C-pap to wear out there. But I'm looking at like a mobile travel c-pap option, a smaller machine that I can keep in the living room so that I wear when I'm sleeping in the recliner. And it's just been an amazingly challenging week, even to the point where the thought of recording the podcast has just been really hard. Part of it is probably being cooped up from the COVID stuff and top that off with some fatigue and it's just been really a rough week. And I noticed that I'm not alone in those thoughts. I was going through the different boards on Facebook. And I noticed there's a lot of question about how do I deal with fatigue? What do I do? I can't get any energy to do anything. And so I was thinking about that and I came across this article on tips for beating Ankylosing Spondylitis fatigue. Some of these we may be doing as a collective group. Others might be something new for you to try. So let's see what we got here. 

Ankylosing, Spondylitis and fatigue. Well, Ankylosing Spondylitis is known for all the complications related to inflammation, the spine, the hips, you know, basically any of your joints that it can affect but primarily spine and hips. Well, the pain and discomfort may disrupt our daily activities. You could be contending with another debilitating side effect, which is fatigue. According to the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society, fatigue is one of the most common complaints among AS patients. Excessive tiredness can be attributed to AS, but it can also be a side effect. 

Inflammation and Fatigue. The biggest culprit behind AS related fatigue is the inflammation. Inflamed tissues, whether it be in your hips, your spine, ribs wherever release a small protein based chemical called cytokines. Considered to play a major role in fatigue, pain, psychological disturbances, these cytokines are produced by cells in your immune system react in your body similar to those produced when you have a cold or a flu. This is why you may feel like you have a viral illness when you really don't it's just the fatigue. Treating inflammation with medications can help to reduce the excessive fatigue, but keep in mind that prescription drugs that contain opioids or coding may increase tiredness. Aim for sound sleep. In some cases, fatigue isn't exactly related to the inflammation. You know, the pain and discomfort can make it difficult to fall asleep at night, adding fuel to...