Fatigue

46feeling100
46feeling100 Member Posts: 2
in Living with arthritis

Hi i am recently diagnosed (mri) with severe OA in my neck and knees. I had a partial knee replacement OCT 2021. Moderate in my hands and spine. I hurt a lot i am currently taking naproxen and cocodamol. The main thing i can not understand is the fatigue which comes over me my body feels heavy my head hurts and is fuzzy but i am fidgeting at the same time, does anyone else have this and any advice on how to deal with it.

Comments

  • PeterJ
    PeterJ Administrator Posts: 970
    edited 22. Aug 2022, 08:14

    Hello @46feeling100 and welcome to the community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that that will be your experience as well.

    I understand that you have Osteoarthritis in your neck and knees as well as in your spine and hands. I also understand that you are suffering from fatigue and looking for advice. Have you mentioned this to your GP or Consultant? In the meantime have a look at our website as it contains a lot of useful information which may be of some use. To help I've put a couple of links in below.

    https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-fatigue/
    https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/neck-pain/

    Please do keep posting and let us know how you are getting on and I am sure that others will connect with you to share their thoughts and experiences as well.

    With very best wishes

    Peter

    Need more help? - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 30,026

    I wondered the same as Mod Peter have you spoke to your Dr @46feeling100 ?

    It may be the meds making you fuzzy headed or something else, but always best to let the Dr know any new or unusual symptoms.

    As for standard (if you can call it that!) fatigue when I feel that total total exhaustion I give in. I take the advice I was first given here 14 years ago and get comfy and set an alarm so I don't oversleep.

    I wish there was an easy fix.

    Anyway welcome to the forum from me

    Take care

    Toni x

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,750

    Hi, I'm sorry you're in so much pain. I'm afraid fatigue is a silent partner to arthritis, but your medications may also be contributing to it. As others have said, have a word with your GP to see if the meds can be tweaked a bit, if they're part of the problem.

    The tips in the link Peter provided are very helpful. But ultimately you need to schedule in time to recharge your batteries when the fatigue gets too much, and I don't mean half an hour, but a day or two. This level of fatigue needs to be treated seriously, the odd "sit down" won't make the same difference it does to healthy people. Also try not to push yourself to the point of exhaustion, as it takes much longer to recover when you do. I can also relate to the fidgeting - when I'm over-tired I get terrible restless legs, and I know the only way to stop it is to go to bed. So I do. Don't feel guilty about resting, you're not being lazy, you're helping your body to cope with what it's going through. Listen to it, and be kind!

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