My rheumatologist says fatigue is part of it. But it can be made worse by lack of sleep from pain and lack of good quality sleep from a sleep disorder.
Mary Ann

Chronic fatigue syndrome. I know that's not what were here for but as I have been compiling what the the professionals do know vs what they believe I would like to share this with the group.
What are the signs of CFS?

The signs of CFS can come and go or they can stay with a person. At first, you may feel like you have the flu. As well as extreme tiredness and weakness, main CFS symptoms include:

Feeling very tired for more than a day (24 hours) after physical or mental exercise
Forgetting things or having a hard time focusing
Feeling tired even after sleeping
Muscle pain or aches
Pain or aches in joints without swelling or redness
Headaches of a new type, pattern, or strength
Tender lymph nodes in the neck or under the arm
Sore throat
The symptoms above are the main signs of CFS. CFS symptoms may also include:

Visual disturbances (blurring, sensitivity to light, eye pain)
Psychological symptoms (irritability, mood swings, panic attacks, anxiety)
Chills and night sweats
Low grade fever or low body temperature
Irritable bowel
Allergies and sensitivities to foods, odors, chemicals, medications, and noise/sound
Numbness, tingling, or burning sensations in the face, hands, or feet
Difficulty sitting or standing straight up, dizziness, balance problems, and fainting
Symptoms of CFS vary widely from person to person and may be serious or mild. Most symptoms cannot be seen by others, which makes it hard for friends, family members, and the public to understand the challenges a person with CFS faces. If you think you may have CFS, talk to your doctor.

http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/chronic-fatigue-syndrome.cfm#c
Dont these symptoms sound really familiar to most of us even if we dont suffer from constant fatigue

they dont test for Ana's or Rnp, but i remeber reading someone saying there markers were down today yet still had pains. I think our grand kids are going to be amazed at how far behind this science is!

one more word, (OVERLAP)

All the rheumys that I have had say it is part of the disease, but the also say that there isn't much to be done about it. I had a sleep study done and if you can help it, I advise not doing one. They are horrible and you get less sleep there then you do at home. Then you feel even more tired for a couple weeks. stupid thing didn't show anything anyway! I was told years ago, way before my mctd diagnosis that I had CFS. I think it is just a part of the disease. Maybe you could get some sleeping pills to help you get a more restful nights sleep and see if that helps you at all.
-Kate

I am so tired today so this is really relevant to me right now. I haven't moved all day and I keep nodding off in my chair. I've noticed that taking a multi-vitamin with folic acid helps with the ongoing fatigue. Today, it's just not enough.

My Rheumy says its a huge part of the disease.

Hugh part I use Vit B shots and Vit D both were low and now in normal ranges I feel a little less lethargic but still sleep is my most important part of my day!!!

Well I don't know if it is or not...since I just started to see an RA doctor. But it's a good question you have there.

I just thought it was part of all of RA stuff...so many have talk about being tired. ???

OK sleep study I have had 3 of them over the last several years.
I do have sleep apnea....I have a machine.....I use it at first but I don't now. I guess I get yelled at time to time because I refuse to use it.
that is just me being afaird of it....I got ill right after started using it...I had pluescy (mis spell) twice. so I thought it cause it. etc.

so maybe I will try it again. I stop breathing during the night while I sleep...they check that during your study. And count how many times you stop breathing...which you guess it makes you tired during the day.
And causes other health problems. etc.
I also have not deep breathing at all....it hurts do breath deeply.
I have soemthing at home I am suppose to use all thru out the day to help me open up the close areas that don't work any more.
so hence I have copd....including the bottom of my left lung doesn't open it's claps.

so they find things out with those study....so do one...you never know you might have something wrong they can fix?
can't hurt you to do one....I hate all the wires....but I do bring along
my pills I use to help me sleep....
you can do that unless they tell you differently.

I got to go to a very nice place all new and they had things to much on when you woke up the next day....I been to one look like a store front....the hospitals have those rooms they use also....it all depends who you go thru.....even the lung doctor I go to has someone in his office who specializes in sleep disorders....

good luck....hey just because your RA is sending is only telling you because he is checking and making sure some of your tiredness might be other things beside this dease....so why not check everything you can to fig out what is wrong? right?

good luck

I'm new to this but I just thought I'd chime in. My Rheumy definitely said fatigue is part of the disease, and he said Plaquenil should help with it. I've only been on it for 3 weeks and it takes months to kick in so it hasn't started working for me yet. Did you say you've been on it for 6 months? But just as others said it's good to rule out any other causes that might be contributing to your fatigue. Quite a few have been mentioned, I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this one -- anemia or even just iron deficiency, my hematologist said you can have symptoms of fatigue if you are iron deficient even if you aren't quite anemic. So maybe get all those vitamin levels checked. I hope you get to feeling better soon! -- Climber

I get tired a lot too. My doc said that its part of the illness. Also, the stress can make you feel wiped as well. I used to get by on 7-8 hours a night, I am now getting about 8-10. Resting is a period where the body heals....nothing wrong with having a little more if your body demands it.
Take care,
Karen

Thanks for all the replies. At this point, I am not going to ask my GP for a sleep study because I really don't think it's needed. Most of the nights I don't sleep well are because of the joint and muscle pain from my disease. I'm taking my Tramadol every single night now as a preventive, because I never know which nights I'm going to hurt and it's a non-narcotic so what the heck.

On a positive note, the rheumy did tell me to come back in 3 months, rather than the usual six months, so he must want to check up on my symptoms sooner. Maybe he'll prescribe me a better pain management pill than Tramadol or something....

You can also try an adrenal support supplement. With the stress of the illness and the medications we take and just the regular everyday stress of life, our adrenal glands take a major hit. I found that it really helped me with the fatigue.

-Beth

Look up MCTD on the mayo clinic website. One of the first symptoms listed is fatigue.

CDC defines chronic fatigue syndrome as fatigue with no other diagnosis to explain it. You have that other diagnosis.

Plaquenil did not help me with any symptoms. I dumped it after about 2 months when my hair and nails started thinning. Figured if it could do that to my hair and nails, the eyes were next.

I had a sleep study. I had no problems. look up sleep apmea and see if you fit into the risk categories. If you do have it, treating it will make a world of diff. Personnally I sleep between 12 and 16 hrs per day. I have gotten used to it.

I'm also on the Marshall Protocol. Look it up. :-)