Fatigue Article | Arthritis Information

 

I tried to post this article but it's not working. It's from the Hospital For Special Surgery and it's called "Mastering the Impact of Fatigue in Rheumatoid Arthritis". If anyone can post it, PLEASE help me get it in here.   I'm going to print it out and show it to husband. Maybe tht will clear up some stuff in my house. http://www.hss.edu/conditions_14370.asp

Lynn492008-09-04 05:16:59Yes. Lovie posted it also for me. It's really a great article. I've printed out and will show it to H when he returns from his BTSounds like a good hospital in N.Y.  I looked at their site and they have a Pastoral Care department.bump Very good article that goes a long way towards explaining such things as fatigue.

This is one area that I have whinged about many times and one that my doctors do not seem to want to acknowledge.

At it's worst I was struggling to give the house a quick vac before I had to just sit down, rest for ten minutes and then continue.
As a small side note, since starting on Humira I am able to take the dogs for a walk (up to two hours), little rest up, do some washing, then vac the house before I have to say enough is enough.

I still get tired but no where as bad as before, I can go longer before it's time to put the feet up.

Bodak2008-09-10 03:52:05Thank you so much for bringing this article to our attention. For 25 years, my worst symptom has been fatigue. And, recently, my own rheumatologist had me questioning myself when he actually said to me that it is not normal for me to be having this much fatigue with RA. I was like what???!!  Well, I've printed the article out and am going to give my RD a copy. He's very open to any complaints/questions I may have but I just want him to have a copy of this article since it's written in "plain English", not medical lingo. I also am going to give a copy to my husband.

I have one question for you all. How many of you get sort of panicked or stressed when you know you have functions coming up but you don't know if you'll be fatigued or not? I have a couple of things coming up (a concert Friday night w/hubby), next Friday a surprise party for one of my best friends, husband's work-related dinner cruise around Manhattan in a few weeks. He's so excited about this stuff but i feel sort of panicked like "what if I'm tired?". The simple answer is to rest all that day and cancel if I don't feel well. That I know. I just get so angry that I have no engergy.

I guess my fatigue is not all that I make it out to be. I'm never so fatigued that I can't push myself through whatever comes my way.

From the article:

"But that's not the way RA works. Big fluctuations occur randomly. One day you feel fantastic and can do everything you and others expect of you. The next day you can't even get out of bed. And every time that happens, you have to reestablish your coping mechanisms - both functional (who will prepare the meals, take care of the family, etc.) and psychological (how do I get through this with my feelings intact)."

This describes my fatigue issues perfectly!  One week I'll be full of energy, able to work all week, take care of household chores, do the grocery shopping, go out with friends (usually to municipal meetings - we know how to party!)... and then BAM.  I can barely get out of bed; even filling out the grocery check list form is too much mental and physical effort.  Luckily now I work part-time and my hours are flexible, so I can stay home on those bad days.

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