Fatigue...From the Journal of Rheumatology | Arthritis Information

 

Fatigue is an enigma: Everyone seems to know what it is, but a detailed definition is hard to provide. Like water, it slips away and cannot be grasped. There are no laboratory tests, no magnetic resonance image can quantify it objectively, and no specific treatment is available.

Fatigue is a common and often severe complaint. In the adult US population, 9.4% have fatigue during at least one month¹, and as many as 22% of working adults were fatigued in The Netherlands², as summarized in the article by Bergman, et al in this issue of The Journal³.

When a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) starts talking about fatigue, the doctor will look for anemia, hypothyroidism, and other treatable explanations first. But when fatigue persists, the doctor does not know what to say: as a patient with RA recently told me, “Doctors do not seem able to understand or to handle fatigue, so despite the fact it is one of my main problems, I stopped talking about it in the clinic.” This fits in with the findings of a postal questionnaire among Dutch rheumatologists⁴, and with in-depth studies in UK patients, most of whom did not discuss fatigue with their clinicians, but when they did they felt it was dismissed⁵.

Fatigue is a significant problem for people with rheumatic diseases as it contributes to many aspects of life. Studies have found the prevalence of fatigue in RA patients to be 88%—98%⁶. Patients with osteoarthritis (OA) experience notable amounts of fatigue and indicate it has substantial impact on their lives⁷.

Fatigue can be both physical and cognitive, manifesting as inability to think clearly, concentrate, or be motivated to do anything⁵. Patients perceive their fatigue as unmanageable and unresolving, and professional support is rare⁸.

http://jrheum.org/content/36/12/2630.full I eat a healthy vegetarian diet, so for me, I know poor nutrition is not the culprit. As I've said before, the fatigue aspect a lot of the time is harder on me than the actual pain and inflammation. I'm always slightly anemic, and I do have hypothyroidism related to a thyroidectomy several years ago, so it's kind of a triple whammy. Great article.
This confirms it Lynn. I think that the doc's are afraid to use the "upper's" that are available today as they can become addictive. I wish they had something because there are times that I could fall asleep on a cement bed. No kidding! I hate it! lolI've said it before, I can be travelling along very well and within 10-30mins just want to sleep or, at least rest.
When I get to that stage there is no use talking to me because my concentration is all on myself staying afloat.

Excellent article and one that should accompany you to your RD's office.  I wonder how many people on the forum have been asked by their RD "do you have fatigue" and on a scale of 1-10 where are you.  Like the pain scale have the fatigue scale set up the same way.  1-3 slightly fatigued, can do most, 3-5, etc. etc. 

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