Someone recommended that I try Floradix supplement for fatigue - anyone on here tried it, when I looked it seems it is more for anaemia but wondered if it was worth a try. Also if it is known as ok to use with Preds......
Someone clever on this forum I am sure is bound to know ...
Thanks as always!
Floradix is for use in people whose diet is poor and so they are deficient in various vitamins etc.
The fatigue in PMR is due to an ongoing autoimmune disorder - and it often also leads to anaemia (low iron levels). Although you may be low on iron your doctor should have picked that up with blood tests and if it was low offered an appropriate supplement or told you to buy one.
Supplements are mostly only of benefit to the manufacturer - it diverts money from your bank account to theirs. If you are eating a decent diet then you should be getting pretty much everything you need, if you aren't your GP should have picked it up when doing the differential diagnosis and offered appropriate (and high quality) supplements.
Don't waste your money - if the fatigue is overwhelming, use it to get a cleaner in to save you doing the heavy stuff!
Yes that's what I thought .... my diets not poor - on preds I eat almost anything that doesn't move!!
Thanks, my house is little ..... the exercise does me good, its just the general fatigue of doing things I plan to do later in the day but often run out of 'spoons' by then!
Thanks as always ....
People who come out of hospital often use it and i have had it myself to try and raise my energy levels but i couldnt use it the taste of it is awful
I have now altered my diet a lot and eating 80% alkaline food and 20% acid.....i have loads of energy and feel so much better for it
There are several different kinds of Floradix supplements. I only know about the iron one as I'm taking it for low iron myself - recommended as I can't tolerate other iron supplements. I also wouldn't bother taking a supplement just to increase energy. Diet should work better I'd think. That being said, I find I am tiring really easily lately, much worse than before pred. It seemed to start when my dose got fairly low. Lesley, is your iron low?
Hi HeronNS
I really don't know - I had bloods taken last week but when I asked about my VIt D which had been low, was told that had not been checked and most people were low anyway. So I am not sure if my iron would have been checked ..... I just find the simplest form of physical exertion,climbing the stairs, walking up an incline, so exhausting.... and really cannot be motivated to do anything physical which will finish me for the day. I have always been so very active - I live in the country and walk, ride and garden all the time. Is so frustrating ..... I am currently on 17.5mg preds and insomnia is still very much a problem which may not me helping.
What dose are you down to Heron? I discussed this with one of the PMR/GCA research people last year - and she agreed it is likely that if such fatigue is occurring around and below 7mg pred it is a sign that the body is being slow to return to normal production of cortisol as the pred dose falls.
I've been at 7 for a couple of months and just recently attempting to reduce to 6, via 6.5. I felt that this was the case, so I'm really "taking it easy" and if I have to do more than usual make sure to get more rest afterwards. Consequently my home is a shambles which is not very good for the morale! Any suggestions about how to kick start those adrenals?
Patience! Though it is possibly worth trying to persuade your doctor to do a synacthen/ ACTH stimulation test to be sure they are capable to taking over again.
An endocrinologist agreed with our theory - that it isn't the adrenal glands themselves that are the problem but the feedback system that governs it all which is a balance of a load of different hormones and the organs making them. The pituitary, hypothalamus, adrenals and thyroid (and others if I remember rightly) are all involved - and a bit of a waggle in any one can throw the whole thing out of kilter. Think of those circular swings hanging from a central pole where several children can stand on them and swing it around - if one on one side jumps off it upsets the balance, or if a skinny one is replaced by a chubby one it swings differently.
It isn't as simple as taking a supplement or eating more or less of this or that - whatever the supplement salesperson will try to tell you!
A few weeks being pampered in a warm country sounds very appealing right now, and might lead to remission. Oh well, if I can hold out until June perhaps all will be well....
Um - sorry to disillusion you! I live in a warm country for at least half the year - last year it was warm from April to November - and it hasn't induced remission for me yet!
Hi Lesley2015, interesting to read you cannot be motivated to do anything physical as I think that is quite common, I certainly suffer from a large dose of CBA ( can't be assed). Yes it's very frustrating when you are used to being active, we all need more spoons. I also find as soon as I start to feel a bit better I try and take advantage to do all the things I couldn't, or didn't feel like doing, only to exhaust myself and take days to recover. The key it seems is to recognise this and adjust physical activities to take it into account, easier said than done. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to find a supplier of the spoons we all would like to get more of. Hope you start to feel better soon and sleep improves.
Thanks Grigger, that exactly what I call it and say they will engrave it on my headstone!
I think we all find it so frustrating and difficult to accept the life change this condition makes to all of us, that is almost as difficult as the condition itself.
Thank you - I hope you also continue to improve also.
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