For me the fatigue is terrible... some days I can't seem to move. My mind is done on those days also... There have been days that I just can't move and end up on the couch all day. I really hate those days... I have learned that I can only do so much in a day's time... if I over do it I pay for it...sometimes there are things I really want to do so of course I over do and pay for it afterwards... You may have to learn to pace yourself and for most it isn't an easy thing to do at first. Inflammation is hard on a body. It sounds as if the plaquenil may be helping some. I hope you start to feel better soon.

Hi ShanR,

My doctor diagnosed me with Inflammatory Arthritis, too. He's leaning towards RA, but wants to monitor me before deciding, since my blood work doesn't support it yet.

Your description of the fatigue sounds about right. For me, it's like puttering along, knowing you're running out of gas, struggling to make it through the day. All of the sudden, you've got nothing left, and all you can do is crawl into bed. I try to rest before I get to that point, but it's pretty hard to do some days.

By the way, I'm 53, and taking Plaquenil, as well. I don't think it's an age thing. I've noticed a definite difference in energy since all the autoimmune stuff hit me a couple years ago. (This is my second autoimmune issue.) I think the battle going on inside our bodies really wears us down.

The fatigue is more debilitating than the pain.... it puts me totally down. I've been diaged w/ CFS as well.
On these days my legs can barely move and it's hard to put one foot in front of the other....

No one understands. It's not like being TIRED.... it's like I CAN'T.

No strength, depression, and no ability. Even showering, putting on clothes is sometimes not possible.

That's what it's like.

Oh yes. This is RA. The fatigue gets to what I call "lie down or fall down-NOW". Fatigue won me SSDI from the judge. Meds help, but one must be patient to wait until they kick in- usually 6-8 weeks. Like the others said, one must pace oneself. Your new normal.

Prior to RA, I NEVERRRRRR fell asleep during the day. If the sun is out, then I'm out or at least UP! Even if I caught a flu or felt bad for some other reason, I was up.

RA, can & has put me out during the middle of the day. Thankfully it's very brief for me, like taking a power nap, then waking up about 80% restored.

Thank you~~ I think maybe that's what I'm dealing with...the best way for me to describe it is that it's like hitting a wall. Can NOT go any further and body is just done. I can usually hit the couch/bed for a good while and then go on -slowly perhaps.

It's certainly a different kind of tired.

I'm 34 and to me it just feels like I ran out of batteries. Ironically I have more energy when I exercise, it's just the getting the energy to exercise I need to work on. Curcumin and boswellia really helps. A product called curamin from amazon.com

Anything from mild fatigue and malaise to oppressive weakness where every movement takes monumental effort. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to collapse because my body just won't stay upright.

On a good day my memory and concentration is poor, on a bad day it's nonexistent.

I'm only 36, it's not age.