I have felt great for the last 4 days. This morning, I woke up and had stomach pains and I feel horrible fatigue. I want to go to bed and not get up.... I am on Suldanic (tried Mobic but it did not work) for now because I do not have a lot of joint damage. I know that I am only treating symptoms, but geez, I feel like a bus hit me last night! Is this familiar to anyone? I feel exactly like I did before I started meds only my joints do not hurt as bad.
Yep, it's familiar. A distant memory now, thank goodness, but I do keep those days in mind in order to appreciate how different things are these days. At worst I couldn't go more than a few hours without falling asleep. I think communicating online would have been difficult as I was just too out of it.
I don't believe I'll ever get my full ration of energy back but really crushing fatigue was the first thing to go when I started on meds. Nowadays I know I'm short of energy, I know I have to pace myself, but it's not usually obvious to others and I often feel fresh and alert. Feeling perky, that's what I treasure most, it is wonderful. So when are you starting on meds? Any news on that score?
Be kind to yourself won't you? Don't blame yourself for something that is beyond your control. Chances are this horrible phase will not last. If possible some exercise, even of the very gentle variety, may help. Counter-intuitively, keeping moving can ease the fatigue a bit. But the right meds will help more.
You are firmly in the gap, so yes, this isn’t uncommon. It can happen later too, if a med stops working or your disease progresses. Hopefully it will pass shortly, but on the meantime, be kind to yourself.
Thankfully, this only happens to me occasionally. When I had to temporarily stop meds to have minor surgery it was followed up by an evil flare. Sometimes a flare feels more like I’m sick, with. A low grade fever, increased joint pain, and serious fatigue.
For me fatigue is an ongoing problem, but I manage it as best I can.
Before I started Enbrel, the fatigue was always there. I think that came from having constant nagging stiffness with aches and pains--during the night and rising in the morning having horrible stiffness everywhere, but especially my back. I remember being so tired taking my shower in the morning, having to raise my arms to wash my hair and then fix my hair, my shoulders and arms were so sore and weak!!! My legs were always weak. too. Ugh! And then all day long being so tired, every day, but pushing through til the end of the day. I would nearly fall asleep driving anywhere, and if I was a passenger I always fell asleep no matter how short the drive!
I hope you get a biologic soon that works for you. I hope you get relief like I and a lot of others have! Even though I have pain in my feet all the time and some trouble with my back, and of course those little "normal" aches and pains most of us have with OA and aging, I still feel a thousand times better than how I felt with all those PsA symptoms! I have more energy now than I had in years--only wish my feet would have held out!
You can feel that good, too!