2011 U.S. Open: Venus Williams Describes Fights With Fatigue
Sjogren’s syndrome, the disease, is difficult to diagnose because those who have it often appear the picture of health even when they do not have the energy to sit for a portrait. “The fatigue is hard to explain unless you have it,” Williams said Thursday morning. “Some mornings I feel really sick, like when you don’t get a lot of sleep or you have a flu or cold. I always have some level of tiredness. And the more I tried to push through it, the tougher it got.” Williams, 31, has won 10 tournaments in the last four years despite feeling fatigued and having difficulty breathing, symptoms she knows now are associated with Sjogren’s. For 78 minutes Monday in a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Vesna Dolonts, Williams performed so well she was painted as a contender to win her third United States Open title. But Williams’s energy and fingers-crossed optimism ran out Wednesday when she practiced with her hitting partner, David Witt, before her scheduled second-round match against Sabine Lisicki and was so tired afterward she could not raise <a href="http://www.gobizdiscount.com"><strong>Replica UGG marketplace</strong></a> her serving arm. She withdrew from the tournament, and though it marked the end of her 13th Open, Williams said she had more competitive matches in her. “This is all new for me,” she said. “I played a match at the Open, so I feel positive I can come back.” She added, “I’ve been told it’s going to take three to six months for all the medication to sink in.” There is a genetic component to Sjogren’s syndrome, as Williams’s younger sister Serena is well aware. “I don’t have the same symptoms she’s had in the past,” Serena said Thursday after advancing to the third round with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Michaella Krajicek. “Hopefully it will be different.” Serena Williams said her sister seemed changed for the better since receiving the diagnosis. “I <a href="http://www.gobizdiscount.com"><strong>Replica UGG wholesaler</strong></a> think she’s really happy now that she knows what it is after all this time,” she said. “I think, if anything, it’s going to help her now to treat it and go forward.” Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles — including two Opens — but none since 2008. In 2007, she received a diagnosis of exercise-induced asthma, but the medication she was prescribed did not alleviate her distress. In retrospect, Williams said, she was probably experiencing the first symptoms of Sjogren’s, in which white blood cells multiply so fast they clog their moisture-producing glands. “I’d go to doctors, but I never got any answers, so there was nothing I could do but keep going,” Williams said. “It was frustrating, always being in the dark and not having anything to help me but my own will.” Dr. Frederick Vivino, a clinical associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the Penn Sjogren’s Syndrome Center, described the disease as “a major women’s health problem that’s largely underdiagnosed and undertreated.” “It causes so many symptoms, sometimes it’s hard for a specialist to get the big picture,” he said. “And most of the patients do not look like they have a chronic illness. Because they look a lot better than they feel, some of our patients have been told they’re hypochondriacs or they’re depressed or they are experiencing these symptoms due to menopause, and they just accept that. That’s why people go years before being treated for autoimmune diseases.” Williams said she received the diagnosis in August. It was a relief, she added, to know there was an explanation for her swollen hands, chronic fatigue and misshapen joints.
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