I am wondering if any of you have experienced improved energy or decreased fatigue on any of the RA drugs and, if so, which ones seem to help your energy the most. The corticosteroids have improved my energy so much that I am dreading going off them and onto something else, not so much for the possible return of pain as for the return of fatigue. When I skipped my dose one day, I was so fatigued the next day, and I realized that I had forgotten how good it feels to not be absolutely exhausted all the time.
Megan
My daughter is trying provigle for fatigue.She has fms/cfs.I have heard good things about it.She takes her first pill tom.I am absolutely convinced that the Folic Acid I take along with my Sulfasalazine is responsible for my loss of the GREAT FATIGUE!! I never knew the difference between being tired and being fatigued until I started these meds....UNBELIEVABLE DIFFERENCE. I thought it was the Sulfasalazine, but when I researched Folic Acid, I figured it out....FOLIC ACID will knock out fatigue!staci i noticed the same thing when i started taking folic acid. also my rheumy said to take an iron supliment to help with me being anemic and so tired all the time.. You can go to arthitis.org and you can order a free supplements and vitamins guide and it has a lot of the vitamins and such that you can take and what they do and it tells you how much you should take on a daily basis. I ordered one about 3 weeks ago and got it late last week.. It really helps
Interesting about the folic acid. I have celiac desease (besides RA)and it can cause problems with folic acid absorption. I tried taking folic acid a couple weeks ago but it gave me terrible stomach pains. Any idea about how to avoid them? Shots or liquid maybe?
Megan
i would call your dr. i just looked on the webmd.com site and it doesnt list that as a normal sideaffect. I'd call just incase, they would have a better idea for yaMegan; I take MTX & Humira weekly. I'm managing very well on this combination. The first thing I noticed with Humira was I actually had the energy to do things in the afternoon when I'd get home from work. That was a huge change for me because I was so use to coming home in the afternoons exhasted. It took several months to make a huge difference in my pain levels....but I had increased energy and far less fatigue that first week.
I also agree with the Folic Acid thing. I didn't take it when I first started MTX; but later added it and it does help with fatigue I think.
I have found that Hydrocodone which is the generic of Vicodin, I think. Well it gives me energy. It is either that or the predisone.
Thanks for the replies. I think my doctor is going to start me on MTX and if that doesn't help with the fatigue, she will add on another med to see if that will help. I would like to get the nausea under control before I start on any of the DMARDs though because I've heard they can all cause nausea. If anyone knows which ones might be less likely to do so, that would be helpful. I hit a stone wall whenever I mention the nausea to my doctor. She wants to pretend it isn't there--which is easier to do when you are not the one experiencing it. I am a grad student and also teach, and it is quite troubling when a wave of nausea hits me in class and I feel like I am going to pass out. This has been going on for several months. I'm thinking I should go see a gastroenterologist. And no, it's not morning sickness, though that is what it feels like, and it is worse in the morning.
Lovie, have you experienced any side-effects from the humira?
Sheila, let me know how your daughter does on the provigil.
Amber took her first provigle yesterday and nada,nothing.My poor girls is so very depressed.I am gonna get her into to see pscyh. soon.She has fibro/cfs,endometriosis and now is an anaphlatic,allergic to shell fish,she know has to carry an epi pen.Shrimp is very favorite food.Right now we are trying to get her back on our insurance and find her a part time job.her job now is physiclly hard on her body.She went to college and has all the skills to be a medical transciptionst but no on would hir her withour work exsperince,gee how is she gonna get exsperince with work having a job doing it.But she can also work in the medical office doing all sorts of things. Pray we can get her back on our insurance and we can find her a part time job.
Thanks for asking Megan,
Sheila
I know one thing I am gonna get us some folic acid,seems to be the winner here.
i was going to say the mtx helped my fatigue, which was really bad, but maybe it was the folic acid he gave me totake with it. whichever, after about 8 weeks have a lot more energy. i haven't had any problem with nausea on mtx either, and was upped from 10mgs to 20 last week and still none. so give it a try, it really helps me. (be sure to ask you rheumy for the folic acid, if she/he doesn't prescribe it.) its supposed to help with side effects.
you dont have to get a precription for folic acid. You can buy it over the counter and its the same stuff. The folic acid they sell OTC is 400mcg's so all you have to do is take 2.5 of those pills to equal 1 mg. (1000 mcgs in a mg) and that becomes precription strength. Usually you get like 350 pills in a bottle and i got mine at drugstore.com and it was 4.29 for 350....ok i know im rambleing so hope that worksSheila,
Is your daughter on any anti-depressants? Before I was diagnosed for RA, my doctor suggested I trial anti-depressants to see if they would help with the headaches, fatigue, and joint pain. I tried lexapro first and it seemed to help with the fatigue a little bit but didn't help the headaches. Effexor helped with both the headaches and the joint pain (and expecially with sciatic pain). I am not taking it now because DHEA helps my headaches more than the effexor did, but I have noticed a difference in inflammation and pain in the joints and the sciatic pain. It was better on while effexor.
Megan