Fibro And/Or Arthritis Causing Fatigue?

Hello everyone,

I am in a bit of a quandry. I am waiting for my rheumatologist to decided what he wants to try next. I have Fibro, OA and EIA.  I was on Plaquenil for six months, and it helped tremendously with the arthritis pain. Unfortunatelty, I had to stop taking the Plaquenil due to an adverse reaction.  I take Lexapro and Tramdol, also, along w/bp and asthma meds.

My rheumatologist has me on 4 mg of prednisone and Tramadol to control inflammation and pain at the moment.  I know my arthritis is flaring, and I couldn't function without the Tramadol. He told me he had to "think" about what to do next.

I am wondering if the pain of the arthritis is causing the fatigue or if the Fibro is causing the fatigue. I guess it could be both.

I have Erosive Inflammatory Osteoarthrits, but it isn't just in my hands.  It is in my feet, too. And the bursitis in both hips is flaring at the moment. Isn't much that doesn't hurt right now.

I do not mean to whine. I am thankful for the life I have. I am just wondering what the rheumy will do next and if there is a drug out there to help me. Since I have been off the Plaquenil, I have been in constant pain and now my wrist and thumbs are even more painful.  My thumbs have swollen dip joints and it makes it difficult to write.

On that note, I'd better get busy and finish my Christmas cards. 

Hope everyone is having  a painfree day, and a stress free holiday season.

Peace,

V

 

I've been thinking about it his afternoon. My fibro is pretty well under control, and I remember feeling so fatigued when the arthritis flared up last Spring. After I took the Plaquenil for awhile my energy came back.  So, I think it is the arthritis pain causing the fatigue. I had forgotten how much pain I was in before I started taking the meds.  It's coming back to me now.

V,
I have OA and Fibro and I am almost always tired! I have a memory foam bed and I still wake up throughout the night due to pain. Fibromites rarely achieve Stage 4 sleep (the deep repairative sleep) according to my former pain mgt doc. Add OA to that and you can bet even if you are sleeping you aren't getting the quality sleep that counts. Obviously, you would have to check with your doc, but I take melatonin and that actually helps me to sleep better. You can get it anywhere- its a synthetic form of the same melatonin that the body produces naturally to help regulate sleep. I'm not sure if that will help but it has helped me a little bit. Even better than the really expensive Ambien CR that the doc prescribed (that did nothing for me).