I'm a middle school teacher like Sun Valley Girl above. I just applied for disability this week but was diagnosed last November. I agree that the fatigue can be more disabling and I have an article around here somehwhere than states RA patients main reason for applying for disability is fatigue following by pain. My doctor listed fatigue as disabling in my application under the diagnosis section and degree of impairment section. He did not, however, use it in his closing statement of disability. There he used RA and my inability to work due to the pain and unpredictability of my pain. He listed not being able to stand and teach due to RA,, as well as osteoarthritis of the feet and spine causing lack of ability to stand at teach. He also mentioned I needed to frequently rest inflamed joints. That's more than enough. They won't deny with that solid of a statement but if they feel he should be giving more details on fatigue, or a couple other diagnoses that I wanted re-iterated in the final statement, they will send me a letter and ask me for it.

Funny thing is fatigue was my main reason to even think about applying at the end of last school year but the pain and progression of both RA and OA over the summer months made it impossible for me to return to teaching full time in late August so I'm on an FMLA where I can still work a couple days of week if I choose. Two non-consecutive days is about all I can do now. I think the only reason fatigue is not as bad an issue at the moment is because I asked a doctor to prescribe me Nuvigil so I can drive in the morning, be alert during the day, less tired, etc..... It works great but now I'll probably be worse without it. I obviously will ask for more Nuvigil. Provigil is basically the same thing. I'd love to stay on it!

I'd say that my work capicity is 12-15 hours per week pread out and I will attempt to use that time to repair computers from home. I guess I'm pretty disgusted that my meds are only partially helpful and I only had a reprieve a couple times from the symptons while on a spring vacation and sick leave last March. The last time I had any reprieve from RA I had a couple months of severe osteoarthritis pain in my feet which even prevented me from walking. As the OA is my feet clamed down I walked straight into the worse RA flare of me life complete with muscle and bone pain and feet, knee, and ankle pain that never resolved as is possible here to stay.
Anyway, I can't work and I'm praying fthat the review board who looks at my case sees things from my doctor's point of view.
I think many RA patients are in the same boat. I hear 50% eventually stop working and I don't think that couunts people who modified their lifestyle to work part time or from home.

I am facing this very hard decision, too. My full time job is really 50-60 hours per week. That was fine pre-RA. But RA has caused so much fatigue, I have given up everything else in life.
I love my job, the money is nice and the health insurance is very important. But what's the point if I do not have time for family, rest, exercise, or fun?
If I told my colleagues I needed to resign due to my health, they'd laugh. I look fine. But 99% of my energy goes into just showing up for work.
While I'm saddened by all of your stories, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

This is a brutally hard decision. When I first starting thinking about disability it was all about the fatigue but since mid-July it's been all about the pain. I read tonight that which each fllare we do a little more damage which explains why I went from being optimistic that being home and on the right meds would solve my problems to wondering if my knees and feet are permanently damaged. They have have been in moderate to severe pain for 5 straight weeks and I need a cane for stability. The only reason I'm not freaking out about the progression of this disease is because I'm totally anxious about getting my disability approved and also feeling pretty awful that I won't be able to see my students again. In my heart I know what I have to do and I just want the disability to go through so I can start a new chapter and maybe get these symptoms of knee pain and other problems in my legs and feet to calm down a bit. I agree with everyone who said that we need to put our health first because RA can get bad fast so the sooner we find a lifefstyle that may help it the better off we are. Unfortunately by the time we consider disability to the time we get it a lot of worsening of symptons can occur!

I am a cna which is basically impossible to do with RA. I stay in a constant state of flare. Always in pain, tired, sore. My pain wakes me up from dead sleep. I am going to school for nursing which doesn't help my stress level. I'm allergic to all pain meds. My cocktail just doesn't seem to do the job.

I am blessed to be in an office setting where I can sit, although sometimes when the pain and fatigue is really bad my job can still be a struggle. I am still blessed though and prayer helps.