Leflunomide and extreme fatigue

[jonsib]

Hello all. I hope you are all doing as well as you all can be while navigating your way through the ordeal that is RA?

I started leflunomide 6 weeks ago in addition to the Sulphasalazine i am already taking. So far it is ok ish & i need to give it time to let it work properly. The only issue i have is extreme fatigue & feeling not right, as though my head can't function properly & is not part of my body (i don't know how to explain it really). I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and does it improve. I realise that it affects everyone in different ways, but just want to hear others experiences. When i typed leflunomide into the search box, nothing came up that was similar to me.

I was on Methotrexate, but had a horrible time on it for 3 years with nausea and fatigue, but leflunomide fatigue is completely different to MTX fatigue, i could cope with that one. I have an appointment with my GP on Thursday regarding another issue, so will probably ask her about it then, but it's always useful to hear others experiences.

Thank you all.

[AgedCrone]

TBH…it could just be the RA causing your fatigue….I think we often blame a medication - then when we come off it…whatever symptoms we were experiencing …..continue. I’m sure a lot here know what you mean about the almost ‘out of body ’ feeling you describe…from my experience that comes & goes…whatever meds I’m on,

Leflunomide seems on the whole from what we read here a pretty successful drug…..it worked well for me except it completely removed my appetite ….which returned as soon as I stopped taking it.

So maybe give it a few more weeks & hopefully things will settle to acceptable levels.

[Downtime]

I had extreme fatigue with leflunamide . I had to give it up because I kept feeling I would fall asleep while I was driving. Every time I sat down I fell asleep.

[Madmusiclover]

I didn’t get on with those drugs. Felt like a zombie. Only started to feel human when I got on a biologic and then my miracle JAKS.

[Uzor]

I was on leflunomide for about 2 years then began feeling extremely weak and lifeless. Saw my GP who took some bloods and tried to reassure me that the blood results were OK. I was still not happy with the way I felt… saw my rheumatologist who wanted to keep me on the leflunomide as it worked well in keeping my arthritis under control.

However, she took me off the leflunomide,and put me on Hydroxychloroquine…after a few months, all the symptoms disappeared. 7 years later, and I’m still very happy on it.

I hope you feel better soon and find a drug that works for you.

[smilelines in reply to Uzor]

Awesome that you have had such great success with hydroxy!

[smilelines]

leflunimide was good for me and I didn’t have any side effects to speak of. No fatigue. I hope it starts to work better for you. You don’t want to feel like a zombi. ❤️. Please don’t suffer on it for as long as you did the methotrexate. You should be illegible for a biologic after trying those two, I think. Take care!

[jonsib]

Thank you all for your replies. So far Leflunomide is far better than MTX as far as side effects for me, but i'll just have to be patient and monitor how the fatigue goes. I definitely won't stay on it as long as i did with MTX if it doesn't work out. Thanks all.