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Fatigue beyond tiredness

Posted , 18 users are following.

eddylynn36538
eddylynn36538

I’ve had pmr 11 to. 12 years. Started pred at 30 down to 15 first year gradually got to 5.  3 years ago I had a flare and started over at 30mg and have been at 8 or lower this last year. I was on 7mg for 4 months. 6mg for 1 month and since  May 1 trying 5 1/2mg. I have no pain but the fatigue almost makes me nauseous.  Even walking around the house is draining.  My question for Eileen and others is if I went back up to 7 or 8 would it help the fatigue. My rheumy is in no hurry for me to reduce. She is quite happy for me to be at 7mg. I don’t have osteoporosis.   This fatigue is more debilitating than the pain was. Thanks to anybody taking the time to answer. 

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  • Anhaga
    Anhaga eddylynn36538

    Posted

    I don't think it's really productive to take more pred for fatigue.  It's the pred which is suppressing adrenal function (leading to fatigue) so taking more will just delay the inevitable.  Now the thing is in some people the adrenals do not come back on line and in that case the treatment is, you guessed it, steroids.  If I were you and finding fatigue was making life impossible I'd ask for a synacthen test to determine whether your adrenals are capable of making sufficient cortisol as you very slowly taper pred.  

    You could also see if there are other factors causing fatigue.  Are your iron levels good, for example?  Are you trying to do too much? We seem to need to pace ourselves for a very long time, even when PMR seems to be receding.  

    Maybe you have some other mineral or vitamin deficiency.  I've recently discovered that making sure I consume salt has eliminated morning headaches which have troubled me sporadically for several years, and I'm hoping that my recent increase in energy, still not back to Energizer bunny level, will be permanent.

  • Anhaga
    Anhaga eddylynn36538

    Posted

    Oh, I just replied to your other post not seeing this one in time.  Glad you are going to have the synacthen test, although I did mention a number of other things you might watch out for.
    • eddylynn36538
      eddylynn36538 Anhaga

      Posted

      Thank you. Yes I had the test this morning.   You are right that while on pred there is always some fatigue but I never had anything this bad before. Upping it to 7 helped a lot.  I will stay there until I get results and see where that takes me. 
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