Have been a slave to fatigue for a long time and over the years have visited the doctors and have been ignored. I thought that it was ME and then I was diagnosed with PMR so I naturally though that that was the cause.
But out of the blue my doctor called me in for blood tests and the results show that I have pernicious anaemia vitamin B12 deficiency.
I have had the course of injections 6 in all and will have a top up every 3 months. It as been a month since the last injection and the fatigue as almost completely gone.
So to anyone out there that is suffering with fatigue please ask your doctor for a blood test it may help.
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garethgti
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That said - the fatigue isn't anything like as bad as it was pre-pred. Pred did eventually seem to make a difference - the fatigue originally was horrendous so must have been partly due to the inflammation i think. But my GP tells me that pred always relieves fatigue and makes you feel better - I told her that I couldn't say I'd noticed in the past!
Coincidentally, I intend to ask my GP about that tomorrow. My sister, a retired GP herself, has this condition and advised me to have a blood test. I'm down to 2.5 mg of pred which is the lowest dose I've ever achieved but am still tired a lot of the time, snooze in the afternoon and sleep like a log at night! It might be down to age, of course - 76 in four weeks' time.
I felt like a zombie. I decided to go back to espresso and livened up immediately! I have now tapered it off, as I have come off pred, but beginning to feel exhausted doing the slightest thing again whilst trying to cope with the pain. I am, disappointingly, having another flare up so will have to trot back to the doc. The vitamin idea sounded good.
It's more likely to be due to adrenal function being a trifle tardy in waking up - the main symptom of that is fatigue. Fatigue that makes PMR fatigue look like the beginners' class!
The GP ruled out B12 deficiency because that's usually a lack of big cells and I have a lack of small cells. The iron deficiency remains unexplained though i believe it's my piscetarian diet that's responsible. I can live with the fatigue as it isn't there every day. If my adrenals haven't woken up yet, will they ever?
Who knows. My local medical specialist reckons that if you reduce slowly enough almost everyone regains adrenal function. But polkadotcom is the expert on it not happening.
Annodomini, your doctors ruled out B12 without a blood test?
In its initial stages B12 deficiency, i.e. as in the loss of the ability to absorb dietary B12 or from pills has no noticeable symptoms. It is more common in the over 70's and in people with Parkinsons although that might just be saying the same thing
My GP was going on the evidence of a series of regular blood tests that recorded just about everything that was going on in my body. My GP sister agrees that if the red cells are the small ones, it's not B12 that's the problem.
Thanks Annodomini. I don't understand about the "red cells are the small ones" and shall have to look this up unless you perhaps have a good reference which will explain this for me.
Me too Rose - I rarely have a fatigue problem but once every couple of months or so I have a day where I hit a brick wall about 7pm. If I go to bed and sleep for as long as i need I'm fine the next day. Of course - if I had a husband who needed the same sort of sleeping hours as me it would help! He comes to bed about midnight and is awake at 7am - whereas I'm in bed at 10pm and would sleep until 9am left to my own devices!!!!
I don't have pernicious anaemia but several years ago at the Breakspear Hospital in Hertfordshire I was given some B12 injections. They were like rocket fuel. I felt fantastic on them. Hope you continue to feel well.
I have had B12 injections for some years now. I have diabetes and this year have been diagnosed with PMR and an iron deficiency. I feel so very tired all the time. What I will say is that before when I had just B12, the injections really helped every 3 months. Good luck
Been reading with interest about the B12 injections. Longterm PMR/GCA patient, and I have regular blood tests. Question - does a full blood count show up B12 deficiency?
If you are having regular blood tests it's possible that your B12 is OK but if you asked your doctor for a vitamin deficiency blood test............ just to make sure.
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