The fatigue should improve a bit if your treatment is being effective. Maybe the plaquenil needs more time to take full effect, or if the fatigue and stiffness /pain persists maybe the dose needs to be increased, or try another treatment, but there is hope that the fatigue will improve yet.
While you're waiting....You're doing the right thing by trying to balance activity and sufficient rest.
It is hard emotionally and physically when fatigue is so draining. Some days you just have things you feel you need to get done, and you fight through it only to tip into bed as soon as you get home. But maybe you have to pace yourself more.
If i have a good day, and do too much, because it feels ok, I find my fatigue is worse the next day.
Think you have to get used to not pushing yourself on the good days. Pace yourself more. Plan out what needs to be done so it's spread through the week, not crammed into the good days. Remember to rest a bit on good days too.
It's frustrating at first, but for me, it has helped, and I'm getting used to it or slowly accepting that it's what I need to do.
Important to still do the things you enjoy too, as far as possible, or find a way to adapt activities to make them possible. If you're too tired to go out with a friend, invite them round for an hour instead. It distracts your thoughts from the pain, fatigue and frustration.

Zee gave you great ideas.

It is all about placing yourself

How long have you been on Plaquenil?

Remind yourself that it's ok not to be an EverReady Bunny.

I'm only a messenger here, but I've never heard of anybody doing "really" well on Plaquenil My brother takes MTX (15 mg) and Plaquenil (200 mg). He cut the Plaquenil back from the prescribed 400 mg, and has seen no difference.

That may sound like a harsh indictment, but you be the judge. I would suggest that, given the opportunity, you make arrangements for somebody to help you deal with the "work" of daily life, and deal with finding the balance of rest, relaxation, awareness of what you are feeling and wanting, and go from there. I don't know your situation, but when I was hit with RA, I was fortunate to have a working partner, with insurance, so the terrible sting of losing my livelihood was lessened. Best wishes from here.

RA affects everyone different. If your one of the unlucky ones, it can be a physical/emotional struggle off and on.... Learn from my mistake, my Rheumtoid Doctor moved 9 years ago and my family doc has written my scripts for injections ever since, but I'm so out of control and my family doc can't comprehend it. I'm seeing a RA doc in Feb, but every day is a mess with pain and fatigue and struggling with work. By nighttime I can't walk, and tomarrow I am having our Christmas and all I got done is putting present in gift bags. Dinner will be a challenge

it's chronic lifetime management. and the first thing to manage is the rheumatologist. sometimes it takes folks 3 or 4 hits to find their best working conditions one... smile. the next is medication management. you'll be managing it for a lifetime. folks are just started on dmards with a new diagnosis. the docs have protocols and the insurance requirements do also.

I think your research is first. like a library copy of the treatments with RA. i think that will help the emotional aspect because knowledge is power and giving your rheumatologist a hard time is fun (that was a joke).

your hands? i wear splints at night a lot. the compression gloves don't work for me. useless donation to cvs. i have softer splints that have alternating hot or ice packs that i can put in the micro or fridge that i grabbed on amazon - the store for rheuatoid where you never leave your chair laughing. i think it is awesome that walking makes you feel better - yeah you ungell - it's like the loosening before the re-stiff

you'll get the swing. you stated that this new family member to your life bus of auto immune diseases is mild. I am happy for you. maybe your doctor thinks your treatment should be mild also sine he/she is treating multiple other auto immunes that you have - maybe that treatment is over lapping? we don't dispense medical advice on here but we can hold you up and share our experiences. i was in amazement when I was first diagnosed at how difficult things became at work but the full time work and my kids were a great incentive to not ruminate and ignore and stay on treatment. almost a decade later, I find I am more accepting of what a turtle I am.

welcome

glad you are here

depot

This post helped me as well. Thanks guys!

Yes....we are the "turtle brigade." [Gotta' have some humor, right?]

Thank you for all of the amazing replies and support :). My doctor said Plaquenil is just where we will start, and go from there. I'm hoping to stay optimistic since it seems to have the lowest side effects.

I guess I'm struggling with the hobbies and activities most because for work (both part time) I teach ballet and tap dance and I make jewelry :/ not so much anymore with my hands but I'm still trying very slowly. I used to crochet but now I'm trying to save my hands for jewelry.

These are my passions and have been my whole life... but they are both exhausting and take so much out of me that I'm searching for other ways to fill my days that will allow me to build up a reserve of energy for work...

I've been reading a lot but that strains my eyes after awhile (I have a rare eye disease similar to Sjogren's).

What do you do for fun? How do you fill your time?

Personally, I would move straight to the MTX. Honestly, I wonder why they even use Plaquenil.

The objective is to stop inflammation and pain. When that's under control the fatigue will let up.

For those worried about side effects........you may be reading more into it than there is. Many people don't have any side effects on these drugs. AT ALL.

I have never heard of Plaquenil working for anyone, too! I know you are supposed to wait for 6 months, but I would press for something more now. My original rheumatologist made me wait a year, on Plaquenil, while I proceeded to get worse and worse. By then mthx was not enough, and now, many years later, because I spent so many years not being treated, or in med failures, I am on a biologic and 2 DMARDs plus prednisone and still having many bad days, like today.

I think if your rheumatologist doesn't want to move you up to mthx, demand he give you prednisone. They all hate that drug (as they should!) but it will tell him that you can't take it anymore. And it will help bridge you through. But bad side effects, if you take too much or two long.

As for this myth about Plaquenil not causing side effects, what about losing your eye sight? I think the incidence is low, but I would rather see more than almost anything else, including walking!

Welcome to the group, and I hope you go and demand to get on better meds. The thing with these meds, is that they all take a long time to start working. So even if you start methotrexate today, it will take up to 3 months to get the full effects of the DMARD. That has been one of the worst issue for me. Last year, it took 5 months for my rheumatologist to realize that Xeljanz wasn't helping, then 6 months to see if Orencia was working, now another 3 months to see if I can get away with a low dose of mthx. Then slowly inching up the dose. That adds up to a lot of down time. Better to get on a stronger drug sooner, than spend years trying mild drugs that don't work for most people.