Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion General Message Board for Ankylosing Spondylitis and Related Diseases Fatigue

Hello...
Any suggestions on dealing with the fatigue issues that come with A.S.? This is pretty frustrating, I get up to do something and I am back down again.

Mostly the best way to manage fatigue is to get the spondylitis inflammation under control ... I know, easier said than done!! Other than that, I have found that all I can do is try to get enough sleep and manage my stress/reduce commitments. Exercise helps too, whatever you can do comfortably!

There are specific medications that some folks here have taken for fatigue but that seems to be relatively unusual.

i am taking Provigil, that's my saver. But I am taking it for Narcolepsy.

The fatigue is the worst! I can deal with the pain because if it gets that bad, I can take something stronger. Or usually a short course of steroids will help to bring it under better control. But the fatigue...it seems like nothing helps. When I'm taking the steroids, I have so much more energy. But they are not a permanent solution. I am taking a daily NSAID which seemed to be helping for the first week and a half, but the past few days have been awful. I slept 10 hours last night. Just woke up an hour and a half ago, and I feel like I'm ready for another nap.

Anyone have an opinion about taking cholesterol medicine and dealing with even more fatigue and muscle weakness?

Depending on the level of AS you have, there really isn't much (if anything) that's across-the-board helpful. The fatigue comes from your body's compromised immune system which is always being taxed in fighting the disease. Think about what other things can cause fatigue (ie. dehydration, lack of good sleep, diet, etc.) and work on keeping those issues under control. Keep the issues under control, and the symptoms are better off. Read up on which foods you should stay away from (like carbs and some sugars). I think diet would affect different people in different ways, so the key is to find your best combination. For me when I am 'on the floor' tired, I try to actually do something to make more tired. It's like when you feel tired, get up and do some work and your body might get its second wind.

Fatigue for me is often related to pain, and often because I have let myself get too deep into pain by trying to suck it up and not take adequate pain relief. Its also about uncontrolled inflammation. I'm also a whole lot better (fatigue-wise) on a low starch diet - probably mostly because pain and inflammation are relieved on that too. Sleeping too long is definitely something to avoid - awful as it is, even in my worse periods I force myself to get up at a reasonable hour and not stay in bed more than 8 hours absolute maximum - I might be in tears as I am trying to get out of bed, but actually once I get past that first bit of moving I'm much better the rest of the day. If I stay in bed too much then its a vicious cycle of pain, stiffness, more pain, fatigue, stiffness, pain, etc.

eek - i know im having problems, im always in my car and i strat to zone out....i have to literally bounce or shake my head with my eyes opened wide....makes my hubby nervous. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired.............

Babygirl, That zoning out sounds like what I get when my neck is bad - I almost had an accident one time when I was driving with that, but luckily I found somewhere to pull over and could get out of the car and do a whole load of stretches. For me it seems clear that something is pressing where it shouldn't in my neck, and it gets triggered when my neck is definitely feeling sore, but also when I sit (or lie) with my head in the wrong position. I know I have bone spurs in my neck so I'm guessing thats part of the problem.

Try putting a thin cushion behind your back to straighten up your spine a bit and encourage your head and neck into a better position, or adjust your headrest so your neck isn't pushed forward. Or pay a lot of attention to kind of trying to keep your neck stretched upwards (like imagining there is a string attached to the top of your head and someone is pulling up on it), and do all the neck stretching exercises several times a day (but don't force the extremes of movement). Its not a nice feeling to almost black out like that, or get funny nerve zap/buzzy stuff happening in your head.

If your statin is causing these problems ask to be switched to a different med. If this is a hypothetical question my opinion is go ahead and try the medicine if your doc says you should be on it. Those side effects only affect a small minority of people taking these meds.