Fatigue | Arthritis Information

 

Hello all,

I'm curious if anyone here can describe and help me understood the characteristics of RA fatigue. I've had a mildly positive RF since February and minor joint pain without any treatment. The last few days I've been feeling like I could just put my head down and go to sleep on my desk which is unlike me. I have had no change in joint pain or other changes in symptoms. My follow up blood work last week showed negative ESR and CRP. I'm an executive who typically has tons of energy and can put in a good 9-10 hour workday without taking a break or needing a rest.

Hey TechZit,

Gee, fatigue is so subjective!  I know I have days I feel like I can move mountains and others I feel I can't flatten a mole hill.  My fatigue is not always tied to my RA pain, but I do have other issues so I am probably not going to be able to help.  I will say, keep in mind, not all issues are RA related.  Be aware because we do have a tendency to blame RA and the meds for RA for any new symptoms to come along.

Are you having any fever?  How is your sleep?  What meds do you take?  Have you ever been anemic?  Please look at the whole picture and if this persist,  visit your PCP for an evaluation, especially if this is not your norm.

I hope you are feeling fiddle-fit soon!  Good energy to you!

Thanks Waddie, TechZit, Have you been checked for Hypothyroidism?  It could just be the RA but if there is Hypo it can be an easy correction.

I think it hits everyone differently. The fatigue I get is similar to Kweenb, maybe not as bad though. I tend to have to chose what chores/work needs to be done the most because I can never get to all of it. I used to be able to before RA. It's frustrating...in your mind you have all these things you need and want to do, but your body only goes so far and you have to stop and rest. I also get flu like symptoms about 8-9pm every night...achy sore feelings, body tired...i know its time to go to bed at that point and the next morning I'm usually fine again. I do notice now that when I press myself too much, and keep making myself go when i know I should be stopping , i pay for it the next day.

I hope you and your Dr. can figure out what's happening! Good luck!  Its got to be frustrating being an executive and feeling so tired when you're usually full of energy.

For five years before coming down with RA I suffered from fatigue.
I would be working along ok then bam, in a matter of five mins I would grind to a stand still and felt as if I could just fall asleep.
This could last for about an hour before I felt energy levels pick up a bit.
Nearly every day around two in the afternoon I would be hit with this.
Weekends would come and I would not be hit as hard.

I was putting all this down to just getting to old for the manual work I was doing in the housing industry.
It was such a problem at home as Julie would get sick of me saying just how unnaturally tired I would become from right out of the blue.

I eventually came down with RA and those periods of activity were lessened to no more than two hours before fatigue would grind me to a halt.
Fatigue is still a major player as to what I can do but when it hits I find I have to shut down and rest or it just grows larger than life.

I have often wondered about the fatigue as to whether this was the first signs of the onset of full blown RA.
Fatiuge is definately a horrible part of RA.  However; please remember that there are so many other things it can be.  Unfortunately, some contribute every symptom they have to RA and can miss other things.  Your diet, stress level, a whole number of things can be the contributing factor to your fatigue.  Good luck in finding the reason!

Part of the reason for asking is that I'm curious if there is a distinction between malaise and fatigue. On one site, they define malaise as more "flu like symptoms" while fatigue was strictly just being tired.

I don't have RA fatigue, but I do have hypothyroidism, which causes fatigue.  Recently I have been taking a broad spectrum B vitamin and it seems to be helping.  RA fatigue is different than being tired....With RA fatigue, something as simple as taking a shower and doing hair and makeup has to be broken down into steps....shower...lay down and rest, do hair, lay down and rest, makeup...etc.  Everything is really a chore to accomplish.  If I'm just tired, I can suck it up and do what needs to be done without any consequences.  If I am RA fatigued and really push to accomplish a lot, I end up swollen, puffy, hurting and down and out.As a matter of fact, I just had a discussion with a rheumatologist, Dr. Tedici about ra fatigue three weeks ago. Rheumatoid fatigue can be described as a flu like symptom. Anyone that is very sick, like having the flu, knows that doing anything but laying down and sleeping is almost impossible. The reason being is that the immune system has called up the infantry and most all energy is being given to the infantry that has been sent to kill the invaders. If we have active rheumatoid arthritis, active being the key word, we are going to have the fatigue response also, as the immune system is paying mostly to the infantry. Also a body defense is to keep the body sedated so as to let the fighters do their job. Only in our case the infantry is out to kill us. Go figure. That is why when ra is brought under control, we seem to get our energy back. Soooooo, if you are fatigued, your ra is not under control. The infantry is marching on and it's trying to kill you. great analogy from Dr. Tedici!! 
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