Why long haulers are experiencing persistent symptoms (part 1)?

Long-haul drivers often feel tired or sick for a long time because their bodies are working too hard without enough rest.

Imagine you have a toy car that runs on a battery. If you let it drive without stopping to recharge, the battery drains and the car stops. Long haulers are like that car, but instead of a battery, they have human bodies. When they drive for many hours in a row, their circadian rhythms get confused. This is the body's internal clock. It tells us when to sleep and when to be awake.

Think of it like a school schedule: if you have to stay up all night and sleep all day, your body gets mixed up.

When the internal clock is broken, the body produces more stress hormones like cortisol. These chemicals make it hard to relax or sleep deeply. Over time, this causes chronic fatigue, back pain, or trouble sleeping. It is not just being tired for one day; it is like leaving a leaky faucet running. The water keeps dripping, and the sink overflows. For drivers, the "leak" is constant stress and lack of good rest. Their bodies keep sending "low battery" signals, but they cannot stop to "plug in" properly. This is why the feeling does not go away quickly. It takes time to fix the clock and let the body heal.