Hi Mag18, for fatigue it helps to keep regular hours, if possible (go to bed at the same time, wake up at the same time). And I take short naps sometimes when I can. Lyrica helps me with pain and fatigue. Muscle weakness is tough because MCTD affects everyone differently. Has your doctor suggested anything, like physical therapy?

I did physical therapy and was skeptical at first but it was the best I had felt in a long time. That was a month ago. Now... Also curious about others handling fatigue. It honestly seems to be the leading issue. I've never felt just so absolutely exhausted!

I really appreciate y'all replying to my post! I just put in a call to the dr to ask about any medications that may help with the extreme fatigue.. to be honest the dr has not helped me very much st all. I'm looking for another. He literally takes my blood and says I'll see ya next time.. it doesn't matter what questions I ask, I never get a clear answer. I will ask about the physical therapy. Sometimes my muscles aren't as weak as others but most days, for example, holding the phone up to my ear for a few short minutes makes my shoulder muscles burn like I've done some serious weight lifting or something.. I'm 26. I don't want to feel so bad. Heck, I can't really afford to.

For the fatigue, did they check your thyroid? Mine TSH levels were 19 when they first tested them. TSH levels are supposed to be between .5 and 5 at the absolute highest. I was put on/ still am on a thyroid medication. Some days I still get fatigued, but for the most part I have enough energy to make it through the day.

Yes they have actually. In fact when I called to ask if there was anything he could prescribe me or recommend, he said my labs weren't showing any reason for me to be so fatigued. that kinda frustrated me.. It is almost like he doesn't believe me sometimes when I express to him the difficulty I'm having with my symptoms sometimes. Nothing more frustrating than that!

I hear you. I'm getting to that point again. Just doing daily every day things can be exhausting. Sometimes I hate to call my doctor because I feel like she thinks I'm complaining. Like the medication she put me on I that I've been on for almost a full year and I've gained 20 pounds. I'm sure weight gain does not help the fatigue either. I've tried to keep myself busy and always doing something with one relaxing day. This seems to help make me not as tired because then when I sleep, I sleep solid and feel energized in the morning rather than exhausted before I even get up.

Just recently started seeing my doctor and he is amazing. Makes whole outlook different. He listens and tries to help me manage without medications as much as possible. Mostly diet like limiting fried foods, dairy, and sugars. I've been trying to cut out small things at a time to see what triggers it most. He also said fitness. To hit the gym hard and really get into strengthening. It really seemed to help at first until the past 2 to 3 weeks. I'm not sure if I'm hitting some sort of flare up for what.

I'm currently serving at a very high paced restaurant while I'm in school. It has been more and more physically demanding in the last year, just trying to keep up with everyone. I had no problem 3 years ago when I started. My boyfriend tries to get me in the gym but I swear I just can't imagine doing even more on my legs. I guess I could try it easy for a while and just see if it improves anything. Thanks for the help guys!

Having your thyroid checked is great advice. Also ask to have your vitamin D levels checked. Mine was so very low I was put on prescription strength vitamin D supplements for a while. Now I just take over-the-counter supplements daily. Getting my vitamin D levels up made a tremendous difference with my fatigue.

I found taking an adrenal supplement really helped with my fatigue, any time your body is under stress it affects your adrenal glands and with a chronic illness and meds and normal every day stress you end up with adrenal fatigue. You can get it at any vitamin shop or health store.....it makes a world of difference for me

Thank you I will have to Check into that asap! It's so nice to get helpful ideas instead of blank stares lol