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AumiMMUNiTy
Can DisAblE
By DEBORAH SHEPHERD
Tlmo-Democrat Staff Writer
^ ther people tell them they are
lazy. They receive unsolicited
cise or trying vitamins. They are told, "It's all in your head."
But those who suffer from autoimmune diseases — about 20 percent of the popular tion — know that their disabilities are very real. They may have good days, when the bone-crushing fatigue lessens or the joint pain fades. Yet the trauma and uncertainty of their condition is always with them.
Ann sajd, "I don't need people telling me I'm lazy when I'm having a bad day. I couldn't walk the dog to the end of the block. People think I don't want to do these things.”
With the ironic sense of humor that many autoimmune patients develop, Virginia noted, "People told me that I needed a new mattress — that's why my back was hurting."
Sometimes even the doctors are uninformed. "I had a doctor look me right in the face and tell me that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia were just fancy names for being achy and tired," said Joan,
advice about getting more exer
93.6%