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Posted 4/29/2009 6:00 PM (GMT 0)
I need advice on how to combat fatigue.  I'm tired all the time.  What vitamins and supplements work for you? 

Thanks

Posted 4/29/2009 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
I am taking Revital multivitamin. It helps. What kind of supplements you are looking for? Are you weak? Chocolate and cold drink gives instant energy and are rich in calories.If you can tolerate soups, then nothing like tomatto and green gram soup. It is very healthy.
Posted 4/29/2009 6:35 PM (GMT 0)

Jordan59 said...
I need advice on how to combat fatigue.  I'm tired all the time.  What vitamins and supplements work for you? 

Thanks

Hi Jordan your really tired are ya did you have any bowel resections yet if so it could be your lacking B-12 which you could try as a vitamin pill or maybe it would work better for you in an injection,i also take one a day for women but don;t see an huge inprovement in energy? I hope that helps you Jordan. Jenn smilewinkgrin
Posted 4/29/2009 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
What are your Iron levels? Low Iron causes me MASSIVE FATIGUE. To the point sometimes I can't even hold my head up straight, sit up or think clearly.
Posted 4/29/2009 6:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jordan59, i also take multi vitamins and iron liquid have just had my 1st B12 jab today which apparently helps with energy hope you get something sorted nothing worse than feeling tired all the time let us know how it goes Bev x :-)

Posted 4/29/2009 6:52 PM (GMT 0)
For myslef I find regular exercise helps combat most of the fatigue, I have more energy from exercising regularly than when I didn't.

:)
Posted 4/29/2009 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
I would demand iron, ferritin, vitamin D, hemoglobin and b12 tests from your GI. If you're severely deficient, drug store vitamins might not be able to help much.
Posted 4/29/2009 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
I just seem to always be run down. Weak, tired, etc. I'm 50 and have had C since junior high. Haven't had any surgeries, but have skip lesions and a stricture. I try and eat well, but just don't have any vitality. I don't take any vitamins or supplements of any kind. Would like a magic potion to put some zip back into my life.

As an aside, I am also an attorney. My lack of energy is really impacting my career. Thanks for the advice.
Posted 4/29/2009 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry, my last post was for PSA.Delhi, the first to respond. Before I could send it, I got a bunch more great Ideas and support. Thanks to all!!
Posted 4/29/2009 7:46 PM (GMT 0)

pb4 said...
For myslef I find regular exercise helps combat most of the fatigue, I have more energy from exercising regularly than when I didn't.

:)

You are so right pb4 i also go to the gym and work out 3 days a week some times more if my will power will come along with me that is i do cardio for a half an hour and weights for a half an hour and find when i come home i get so much accomplished cause you really have a lot of energy after a work out i always do every one should try it its also great for arthritis, Jenn

Posted 4/29/2009 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Rider, I think you need to get the blood tests suggested. My B12 shot weekly really helps. Not that I am not tired all the time, but its better than it was. I wish I could exercise, but it just wears me out even more.

Hugs
Gail *Nanners*
Posted 4/30/2009 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
I would say you probably have iron deficiency anemia. I know I do, and the fatigue is just awful that I get. You can get a lot of iron supplements without a prescription, but you may have to ask the pharmacist. I'm taking Proferrin and it really helps me a lot. I would get all the tests that other people suggested done if you haven't yet. I'm surprised if you haven't though, I thought that they were standard for anyone with a condition like Crohn's. Make sure that you get blood tests done regularly - My doctor actually gets me to take all the tests every 2 weeks to monitor my condition, but I would think that every 3-6 months should be normal. Good luck!
Posted 4/30/2009 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
When I complianed about fatique my doc wanted to give me antidepressants. I asked him why and he said a recent study showed that 9 out of 10 people that are fatiqued are depressed. He would not do a blood test, and I threw away his prescription. I went to another doc ... did blood test and I was iron defecent and animiac. He recommended a cheap iron supplement called Ferrous Sulfate Elixir. A 16 oz bottle is $4.99. It is a liquid iron supplement that you take on a full stomach. Some people can not take it because it upsets the stomach. I take 3 tsp per day and my iron levels are creeping up. No perscrition is needed, but your drug store will have to order it for you. Also, as you know most people with CD are low on the B vitamins, but many are also low on Calcium, D, Magnesium, Zinc, A, and E. You'll have to find out what works for you.
Posted 4/30/2009 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
Jordan59 said... I just seem to always be run down. Weak, tired, etc. I'm 50 and have had C since junior high. Haven't had any surgeries, but have skip lesions and a stricture. I try and eat well, but just don't have any vitality. I don't take any vitamins or supplements of any kind. Would like a magic potion to put some zip back into my life. As an aside, I am also an attorney. My lack of energy is really impacting my career. Thanks for the advice. Hi Jordan Good to hear from an attorney friend. Well I do understand your problem. UC, IBD & Crohns really hit your stamina, and mood to work. Have you got your Blood Pressure & Hb checked up. May be you have a low BP, which is making you tired and weak. Stress and depression could also be one of the reasons. When you are stressed/depressed, you have this syndrom. The other cause of could be protein level. Check it out. Have plenty of water, so that the toxics from your body get drained off in pee. Some medicines for Colitis/Crohns also make you feel run down/lethargic. So you want a magic potion from an attorney-----. First of all you must check the side effects of the medicines you are currently taking. Can you believe, I used to take sulfasalazine, and the kind of mood swings/irritable mood, I used to have. It really affected my professional life too. Pred/Steroids hit your bottom hard. Some people go into dysfunctions because of that. So regulate the use of steroids in extreme urgency. Can you have chocolate, jaggery, walnut, almonds, raisin. They give you instant energy, within seconds. Banana shakes are also good. For down under, you can try garlic- it is hot, may make you too. You must drain out anti-oxidants from your system by drinking lots and lots of water or lemon water. Even aerated drinks do give enough energy, but they have side effects too, and may adversly affect your diet. I will give further details in my subsequent posting. Anemia:   High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.   Ulcers:   The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Posted 4/30/2009 7:09 AM (GMT 0)

Jordan59 said...
I just seem to always be run down. Weak, tired, etc. I'm 50 and have had C since junior high. Haven't had any surgeries, but have skip lesions and a stricture. I try and eat well, but just don't have any vitality. I don't take any vitamins or supplements of any kind. Would like a magic potion to put some zip back into my life.

As an aside, I am also an attorney. My lack of energy is really impacting my career. Thanks for the advice.

Hi Jordan

Some humour

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Posted 4/30/2009 7:09 AM (GMT 0)
I have two things, iron deficiency anemia and a low B12. I haven't started iron pills yet but I need to. I started B12 injections awhile ago and they did help sometimes. Now I just take the over the counter Vitamin B drops that you put under your tongue and hold for 30 seconds, they seem to help with energy. I would definitely get your blood tested for anemia and iron deficiency as well as B vitamins.
Posted 5/1/2009 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
Fatigue is my permanent bugbear, it is why I don't work (for money, anyhow).
I take sublingual B12 tablets, which dissolve into the bloodstream throught the mucus membrane under the tongue. Striaghtforward B12 supplements to be taken orally for absorption through the gut won't work with Crohnies, it need to be straight into the blood because the gut will not absorb it.
I actually found that the B12 did not work to begin with. It was only when I started taking B5 - calcium pantothenate - together with B12 that I found the overrevving/underrevving, ready to fall in a heap feeling started to lift somewhat. More to the point, I found the brainfog I have had for thirty years (we don't really do B12 in the UK eyes) was greatly improved, when I wanted to remember things it was no longer like looking in a coal cellar at midnight for a black cat ! I still have problems, but as an attorney I would guess that declarative/short term memory is important for you, and hopefully any problems you might have with this may well improve with B12. We get a lot of folks who talk about a sudden improvement in energy levels and concentrationonce they are put on it. I still get bad days, it is a palliative for symptoms, it does not seem to help the body actually fight the disease except perhaps indirectly.
As for being anaemic, I believe there is a specific form of autoimmune anaemia where the blood cells themselves are attacked by the immune system, and that this may be involved in Crohn's Disease. I know I certainly get more fatigued when exercising, if I have severe inflammation in my gut or joints. This tends to be less mental than lack of B12 causes, but really they tend to just encourage each other, with anaemia sneaking up slowly after a period of say, two or three weeks. The dead giveaway about anaemia is that it leaves me breathless; low iron = low oxygen = panting for breath.
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