Trading Pain for Fatigue?

[RAreyna]

My rheumy added hydroxychloroquine (200mg twice a day) to my weekly 25mg methotrexate injection about a month ago. I also got an IM steroid shot then, to tide me over.

I'm in less pain, but I'm much more fatigued. Has anyone else had this happen when adding hydroxychloroquine? I'm wondering if it's worth it. It's harder for me to stay active when I'm exhausted than when my joints hurt. Though less pain may mean less damage and disease progression. Ugh! How do y'all balance the things when making decisions? I feel so lucky to have this community to help!

[Hidden]

I’ve always had more problems with fatigue rather than pain. It took me a while to realise that the fatigue means my disease is active. The steroid is probably helping with the pain rather than your medication. Your right fatigue has a lot to answer for.

[RAreyna in reply to Hidden]

Yes! I deal with pain, but fatigue wears on me. I never considered it as a sign the disease is active. Thank you for that.

[Hidden in reply to RAreyna]

Yep me too can deal with pain but fatigue disables me

[LinaM]

Fatigue is the main issue for me.But my rheumy keeps saying there’s nothing can be done about it, even though I’m telling him it’s the thing I’m struggling with. It has affected every aspect of my life. Can totally live with painful knuckles and stiff fingers , but , the endless exhaustion can take the joy out of everything. I hope your energy returns soon ... but I doubt I would stick with anything that made me even more fatigued to be honest.

[RAreyna in reply to LinaM]

It's hard to weigh the two against each other, but I think fatigue is more disabling. Then again, I woke up with a screaming shoulder, so it's pain that's keeping me on the couch today!

[oldtimer]

I was on hydroxychloroquine for many years and never found that it made me fatigued. It took a while for the inflammation to settle down though and I did find that I felt very tired after the steroids wore off. But people do vary enormously in how they respond to drugs.

[RAreyna in reply to oldtimer]

I hadn't considered that the fatigue might be due to the steroid wearing off. My shoulder feels like it's being ripped off my body this morning, so the steroid must be out of my system. This disease sometimes feels like a series of mazes with no exit.

[Lee1945 in reply to RAreyna]

The problem here is that the steroids are most likely the cause of the RA