Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

2,179 Members
16,355 Posts
0 Online
Muscles & Bones
/ Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Running on Empty

melissaenderle
melissaenderle
Motivate one's self to get up in the morning. Get ready for work, even though it feels like I've not slept. Put a smile on at work, pretending that all is fine. Make it up the stairs, even though it takes effort. Body doesn't want to move forward, the mind is all foggy, and an inner voice commands attention - "I want to go home and lay down!" Go to a colleague who gives you coffee - but to no effect. Convince one's self that it's only an hour yet before I can go home. Decline an invitation to go shopping after work. Exhausted, I come home and lay on the couch, worn out from the day. A couple of hours later, I gather just enough energy to heat up some food. Would like to do some creative work, but am too fatigued and foggy to do it. Ready to go to bed at 7, I force myself to stay up until 9:30. Fall asleep ok but sometimes wake up with pain. Wake up again, feeling unrefreshed....
Weekends help a bit if I take it easy. Enough energy to start the week, but it seems like the "gas tank" is already nearing empty on Monday. How to get through the rest of the week? Determination only carries so far....

How many of you have felt this way? How have you combatted the overwhelming fatigue - especially when accompanied by pain? I also have Fibromyalgia & a breathing-related sleep disorder - all things that cause fatigue. How many of you have multiple conditions that cause fatigue?

I'm getting worried that I won't be able to meet the demands of my new job. Would love some words of advice.
sharonouch
sharonouch
Melissa, I'm in the same boat this week. I wake up in so much pain. I go to physical therapy 3 times a week in the morning because I work afternoons and evenings. Next week my husband is away so will have to get up extra early for the dog. I will see a new rheumy the end of May been waiting 6 months to see her. I take a vicodan in the morning and it helps get through the day. I also take an ambien at night to sleep. I try to rest when I can. The fatigue is awful, especially when waking up with pain. Hang in there. When the moments of peace come savor them. Hugs.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Feel like you were writing about me, also have RH, lupus and fibermyalgia, take morphine for pain and sleep does not always come easier as the pain takes over, wake up so very tired, was put off of work 2 years ago, but now get sooooooo bored don't know what to do with myself. Can you talk to your employeer? Get some relief from work? Take pain meds? Take the sleep when you can, nothing wrong with going to bed early, did that when I was working, take care....
melissaenderle
melissaenderle
Jean, I will talk to my employer when I come there (start in August). It's at a school, so schedules are pretty regimented. Do you take any meds for sleep?When did you get disability? Was it a difficult process?
melissaenderle
melissaenderle
Sharon, Not a good boat to be in, but at least we have others willing to row! So does the Viocodan affect fatigue at all? Did you feel you got better sleep with Ambien?
I've tried to be patient, but when dealing with Fibromyalgia since 1993, I am longing for the day that I wake up feeling refreshed and my mind clear.
deleted_user
deleted_user
oh!! tell me about it. i am in the same boat since some years. when i used to work i always asked for less (bcoz i had severe neck pain and FATIGUE). people never understand. they treated me as if i fake the pains and i am lazy. they make so many comments that it became hard for me to take it. even my family and friends treated me as if i dont wanna work and i tell fake stories about my pain. only we guys know what we go thru. its hard for the people to be in our shoes and feel our pain. but we have no choice with this disease. we have to go with it until our last breath........and take the comments of the other people too.
i am sorry to tell my old routine story.
yes. absolutely. i feel the same thing. as the day goes on my knees get terrible. sometimes it gets even hard to walk. i do feel fatigue all the time, but i show up as if i am doing ok.....or else i had to face comments. i guess we are all on the same boat. every couple of hours, i feel like lying down and relax......sometimes it gets tough for me to take care of my 18monthold baby too. but so far she is doing good and wanna play on her own.
just hang in there and do what you can. thats what we are suppose to do now. hugs my friend. take care.
sharonouch
sharonouch
Melissa, The vicodan does not make me sleepy because it helps with the pain. I'm sure if the pain was less it would. The Ambien I take now is extended relief and even though I wake up a couple of times with pain Ido get sleep. I take an OTC pain med sometimes before bed but have a history of bleeding ulcers so not all the time. I wish you comfort.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Sorry I did not realize you were in school, so I guess moving things around would be hard, try to hang in there. When I was put off of work I had my family and rhumy doctor's helping me as they both wanted me to stop work, so getting accepted was easy, but it does take awile for it to come in, 16 weeks, so was on sick leave from unemployment which is not alot of money. I do not take anything for sleep as I found it was giving me night terrror's which did not help the sleep process and found the next day was feeling like I was dragging, green tea and sleepy time tea can help somedays, or over the counter tylonal night time aches and pains gives some relief, good luck, and to quote others here "gentle hugs". :)
aggie83
aggie83
When I was initially stricken with RA, I was fuzzy headed, could not sleep, hurt so bad...had zero enthusism. It was one long bummer. Now, my fatigue is mostly gone, as is most of the pain. I function well as long as I remember to rest up when I can!

I found that antidepressants and RA meds put me in a position to sleep well through the night. My anxiety levels were through the roof! Took about three months to feel somewhat back to normal, and another six months to feel like I was in control. Yes, I still have flares occasionally, still hurt sometimes, still get fatigued, but nothing like in the beginning. Hopefully your path will prove similar.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I am in the same boat. Usually I need to rest and Sunday I feel better so I do everything I need to ( which is to much) and I am back to feeling bad. After work I am tired and in pain. I have alot of difficulty sleeping. I say if you can fall asleep when you get home do it, get any rest you can, your body needs it. For some reason I fall asleep around 3 or 4 am, I sometimes call in late and my boss is pretty flexible but that is not always possible because I travel. I take whatever sleep I can. I am also learning to slow down on Sunday. Take care of yourself. I hope you get to feeling better.
melissaenderle
melissaenderle
Thank you all for the words of support. I am still "young" in the RA, so there is no deformity. Likewise the Fibromyalgia has no visible markers. I am not overweight. So I don't look sick. From reading the horror stories of some people with RA, mine is nothing near theirs. I've dealt with the pain/discomfort of Fibro for so many years, but now having three conditions that cause fatigue, it's getting too much. But that, the fogginess and varied levels of pain will not be enough to qualify for disability. But yet, how can I do a decent job in anything if I am so fatigued, can't remember anything, etc.? NSAIDS (particularly over the counter) do nothing for me. I've tried so many meds for fibro, but to no avail.

Fatigue - it's different than sleepiness. I would think caffeine would help for that, but what if anything helps for the fatigue?

You are right, Stephanie. It is easy to do too much on the days we feel a bit better. Not easy to slow down and tell one's self it's ok if something doesn't get done right then.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I'm new to RA as well, I been diagnosed since Sept. I'm tired when I come home from work and I don't think I have it bad enough for disability either. I have nodules on my thumbs, middle of my hands, tops of my feet and on some of my other digits. I'm on lots of meds that just plain make me sleepy all day but I can't afford to not work.
melissaenderle
melissaenderle
We're in a real difficult conundrum regarding work vs. not. i am hoping that the meds kick in for me in time this summer so I can prepare and start the school year well.
sammyo1
sammyo1
I'm in the same boat & totally understand.
With new grandchild & a daughter who had complications I'm beyond exhausted. Exhausted is not the word, not sure one exists.

I do know how you feel. Its strange, not the same as exhaustion before RA. The fuzzy headed thinking is like your head is not attatched to your body. I get so bad I feel dizzy at times. Almost like I'm going to drop.

Before the babe I managed some rest time so I can say its so important.
I wish there was some thing to wipe away this feeling.
Its impossible to explain to those who do not have RA & the other conditions that can come along with it.
For me I know have insomnia due to helping with the babe & its awful. I can't express how important it is to rest. Even if you feel its not helping your body is getting a break & that is so important.

The only real relief I get is from prednisone & we all know that is a double edge sword.
I wish you the best of luck & hope you feel better sooner then later.
Blessings. Sammy
KarenSA
KarenSA
I've had RA for 7 yrs now and Fibro for 6 yrs. My husband was diagnosed with RA about 6 yrs ago. I worked part time even after I got my disability started until I just couldn't do it anymore, which was the first of this yr. then one month later my husband lost his job because the RA was so bad he couldn't keep the boss happy any longer. Now after we tried so hard for so long we are both out of work and living on just my disability ck. until we can get his started (wow, I hope his starts soon) I'd say if I knew he was going to loss his job I wouldn't have stopped working but I know I gave it my best and I couldn't have worked any longer. Its not much of a life right now but thank god I have him and he has me and we just hang in there. one day at a time.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Thank you for that, how long does it take to get disabilit? My dr wants me off work but I work at a company that's family owned and I don't receive any medical benefits. I have them through my husband. It's tough right now because my family still thinks I can still take care of everything, not seeing how much it hurts. They don't want me to talk about it.