​Are You at Particular Risk of Experiencing Fatigue?

Caregiver Deerfield IL - Are You at Particular Risk of Experiencing Fatigue?

When you make the decision to be a family caregiver for your aging parent, you know you are entering a potentially challenging chapter of your life. While fulfilling your seniors' needs, you must also keep up with the rest of the tasks and responsibilities of your life. This can mean losing sleep, pushing yourself harder, doing more everyday, and eventually pushing yourself to and beyond your limit.

This can result in fatigue, which is a potentially serious condition that goes beyond tiredness and can be a real detriment to your health and well-being. Though anyone can experience fatigue, some people are at higher risk of not only developing the condition, but also suffering serious consequences as a result. Understanding your own particular risk for experiencing fatigue during your caregiver journey can help you to feel more in control, and take the steps necessary to protect yourself and your care efforts. 

Some risk factors for experiencing fatigue include: 

• Irregular schedule, such as having to care for your parent at different hours across different days, or responding to emergencies at night after a caring for your parents throughout the day 
• Being in the sandwich generation, which means caring not just for your parent, but also for your children 
• Not maintaining a sleep schedule of going to bed and waking up at the same time each day 
• Staying up to care for your parent at night, resulting in fewer than five hours of sleep, or staying awake for more than sixteen hours in a row 
• Regularly being exposed to high temperatures 
• Regularly being exposed to very loud sounds 
• Experiencing dim lighting when caring for your parent  
• Repetitive tasks 
• Performing boring or tedious tasks throughout the day 

If you have been struggling with fatigue as you go through your caregiver journey with your aging parent, you do not need to feel as though you are alone, or as though you are experiencing something 'normal' that you just have to deal with. Fatigue goes beyond the normal level of tiredness family caregivers experience, and can be detrimental to your health and well-being, as well as to the quality and effectiveness of the care you give.

Fortunately, you don't just have to deal with fatigue. Starting home care for your parent can be a highly effective way to help you get the rest you need, care more for yourself, and still feel confident your loved one is getting all the care and support they need.  

 Source:  https://www.nsc.org/work-safety/safety-topics/fatigue  

If you or an aging loved one are considering Caregiver Services in Deerfield IL, contact the caring staff at Gentle Home Services. Call today (800) 860-9823.

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