Fatigue

[Tulipano]

I know it is very common with lupus sle to suffer with constant fatigue but i was hoping once i was on steroids and immunesopressant plus hydroxychloroquine I would have more energy. Unfortunately I have not noticed much difference and if I don't rest I feel so ill.

[PMRpro]

Unfortunately with most autoimmune disorders all the medication is doing is managing the symptoms. The real underlying autoimmune illness continues to attack your body tissues in the background and that is what causes the fatigue - just as if you had permanent flu. It is you who has to manage that with pacing and resting.

This is a link to a post on my other forum where I collected some useful articles together - one post stemmed from here and Paul I think. It doesn't matter what illness the title refers to - they are all a/i and have similar effects and are closely related to the gorilla...

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk......

[Tulipano in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you so much xx this is so helpful

[Joy_1]

I don't know how long you have been on your meds.

But for me it took about 6 months of taking my meds before the fatigue lifted. It came suddenly over a 48 hour period. It was as if the lights had been switched off and suddenly they were back on again!

Around 80% of my fatigue went, however I found that I still needed to pace myself otherwise I paid for it the next day.

[dianna123]

I have found that taking an "over-the-counter supplement of magnesium helps a lot with the overwhelming fatigue. Have you tried that ?

D123

[Chanpreet_Walia LUPUS UK]

Hi Tulipano,

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of lupus, it affects around 90% of lupus patients. We published an article on our blog about 'managing fatigue' which contains helpful tips and information which you can read here: lupusuk.org.uk/managing-fat...

Hydroxychloroquine,can take up to six months for it to exert its full effects : lupusuk.org.uk/wp-content/u...