Tired

[Robinsnest72]

Does anyone find pred makes you tired? Get up in the morning take my pred and an hour later would like to go back to bed. Take an evening dose at 8:30 and an hour after that have fallen to sleep. Rhemy says it should work the opposite.

[Marijo1951]

My own perception is that the pred by and large takes care of the pain of GCA and PMR, as well as the stiffness of the latter, but it has no effect whatsoever on the deathly fatigue of these two conditions. I'm pretty sure it's the conditions themselves that cause the overwhelming tiredness, not the pred. I can't help thinking that there are enough side effects of pred as it is without adding fatigue to the list!

[SnazzyD]

Nope. It’s always made be dopey. At higher doses than now I had to take it in the evening because it was like a knock-out drop. When that bit wore off I would wake very early.

[Marijo1951 in reply to SnazzyD]

But how were you before you were diagnosed? Wasn't deathly fatigue one of the symptoms that you complained about before you started on pred? To me, the fatigue just continued as before when I took pred, although the pain and stiffness virtually disappeared.

[Hidden in reply to Marijo1951]

That's my experience too. The fatigue was a significant symptom for a while before DX. My brain was befuddled too to the extent that I thought in the February (DX June) that I should get tested for early onset dementia. I still had befuddlement the first few months of pred and still get the fatigue even though the pred keeps my ESR/CRP in "normal range". The pain and stiffness, especially my neck eased the first 24hrs I was on pred.

[jinasc in reply to Hidden]

We added another side effect to the listed 83...............Brain Fog, or Steroid Treacle Brain, if does wear off eventually.

Fatigue.................the best advice given to me was to read 'The Spoon Theory'.

Fatigue is present in most auto-immune illnesses. I think, mind this is just me, that the constant fatigue is because your body is trying to deal with the fact it has is turned on itself and it is a constant struggle to overcome that fact...................

[Hidden in reply to jinasc]

Yes it is like when proper flu gets you and you body just needs everything leaving you with nothing. I say proper flu because I knew people at work who always said they had flu but had the energy to go to work. I have had lots of colds that make you feel unwell and able to work and play, but on 3 occasions I have had flu, one of which was gastric, swine flu and a common or garden flu. I was bed bound for a week, living paracetamol to paracetamol and a month or more getting over it. I don't know why that was important but it seemed to be to me 😂😂😂

[jinasc in reply to Hidden]

Yup - proper flu once at 18 years old and never repeated to date and hopefully never will be ............ I did get broncho pneumonia later in life and that was a doddle compared to proper flu.

[Hidden in reply to jinasc]

I will keep my fingers crossed that we both (all) avoid the flu.🤞

[Marijo1951 in reply to Hidden]

I know what you mean. Also if you can eat, it's just a cold. If you have flu, you hate the thought of food for the first few days at least. I've been healthy most of my life, but always susceptible to flu which in every case was hell. I will never miss my flu jab until the day I die.

[Hidden in reply to Marijo1951]

Me too. I am usually first in the door but the first year I missed my flu jab I got the swine flu thing. Within an hour it was like my lungs filled with tar.

[Marijo1951 in reply to Hidden]

My commiserations. It must have been terrible. The worst thing that happened as a result of my having flu didn't affect me. I was in the very early weeks of pregnancy when I caught a bad bout. My daughter is partially sighted in one eye as a result. She's been told that she was lucky as some people are affected in both eyes. We all know about the possible effects on the foetus of rubella, but other viruses can have serious effects too.

[Hidden in reply to Marijo1951]

Crikey that is awful. It must have been worrying.

[Marijo1951 in reply to Hidden]

She copes very well with her disability. She has patchy vision in her right eye which is apparently rather like the macular degeneration that some elderly people develop. However as she's always been like it, she developed useful strategies from the time when she was very little. We didn't know she was affected until she was 4 and had various health checks, including a sight check, before starting school.

[SnazzyD in reply to Marijo1951]

I was feeling more tired than usual during my 100 miles an hour life and sometimes just flopped in the evening but not this deathly fatigue people speak of. I kept forgetting what I was saying mid-sentence and my short term memory was unreliable in the months before too. The fatigue I got with Pred lasted a few hours and was accompanied with being uncoordinated and feeling squiffy. The high doses of Pred made me very weak and tired and I kept having to have naps and this has reduced with dose. I certainly didn’t have this before diagnosis.

[Conundrum in reply to SnazzyD]

I can relate to this too

[PMRCanada]

Pred at higher doses caused insomnia. I get tired out easily at times, and nap occasionally, but it is likely more due to my sleep interruptions (taking pred at 2am followed by at least 2-3 trips to the bathroom before rising for the day).

And as has already been mentioned, PMR causes flu like symptoms so it could be the condition.

[jinasc]

You could try this:

If you wake up anytime say after about 3am, cup of tea, slice of bread, take pred. Go back to sleep for at least an hour then a warm shower. Worked for me.

I took a flask of hot water and a tea bag and the honey sandwich in cling film.

[powerwalk]

Extreme tiredness is listed as a common side effect of Pred. So maybe a bit of the pred and the condition also. I'm seriously fatigued. Cannot get a hold on it all.

[Noosat in reply to powerwalk]

I had fatigue when on high dose of prednisone and still have it on Low , 3.00mg dose. Also still get the wobblies after morning 2mg dose. , but it wears off somewhat as time goes on.

[powerwalk in reply to Noosat]

I know, I find the fatigue horrendous. That's mostly why I had to finish work early retirement.

[Gary1310 in reply to Noosat]

I had a strange fatigue a year before diagnosis of PMR. That was my first

Indication that something was wrong. I was not on Prednisone. Fatigue

Is my biggest complaint. Need a nap or 2 each day.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Showing his ignorance! Everyone is different. There is the fatigue of autoimmune disease anyway but some people have some really bizarre reactions to pred. One lady found all she could do after a morning dose was sleep but then couldn't sleep well at night - so she switched to night only dosing and slept like a top at night. Others have "the wobbles" an hour or so after taking their pred - taking it before bed deals with that too.

[Noosat in reply to PMRpro]

You are so right !! Years ago I was given medication to help me sleep, instead, I was so wide awake that I could see and hear tree shadows "walking" across the ceiling.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

For your Rheumy - taken from the patients information leaflet -

Other side effects you may experience:

• tiredness

• increased number of white blood

cells

• blood clotting

• nausea and vomiting

• heart problems which can cause

shortness of breath • convulsions

• dizziness

• vertigo

• headache

Okay maybe not top of the list, but definitely there!

[Daffodilia]

Pharmacist said they make you tired - I get some fatigue but not sure if from tablets or pmr

[GlynisE]

It’s the illness that causes the fatigue. I have just had to sit down as I was exhausted and felt shaky.

[Suffererc]

I feel exactly the same and could cat nap all day. At night I am shattered by 9pm and fall asleep for a couple or so hours then am wide awake until 5am. I then take an antacid which seems to give me two hours of deep sleep. Find it all a bit weird.

Have thought about splitting the dose but don't know how to start. I am on 7.5

[Jackoh in reply to Suffererc]

Why don’t you start a new thread then folk could give their opinion. This may get lost in this thread of comments. X

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Suffererc]

If you have taken 7.5mg in the morning, you could try taking 2.5mg later in the day the same day and then 5mg the following morning. Then you have swopped immediately. If that works - all well and good. If not, play about with the timings until you find one that works for you.

[Noosat in reply to Suffererc]

At your level I started tapering all by myself - doctor too hard to get an appointment. I am now down to 3mg. I take 2mg in morning and 1mg in evening. Have some leg discomfit early morning, but it goes away quickly.

[Christophene47]

Everyone reacts differently to medication; I have the same reaction, but try not to return to bed and push through. I think the fatigue is from the disease, not the prednisone. Since prednisone shuts down the adrenals , which, are in part responsible for our energy source, your doctor's logic is not out of whack.

But I don't think any generalizations can be made about individual responses to any medication; there are just so many other variables that can come into play. But I'm with you; would love to crawl back into bed around 10am. It helps to distract myself from the feeling by doing a simple task, or watching the news with a 2nd cup of coffee.

Even stimulants can cause fatigue in some people. Good luck!

PS. On reflection, when first started prednisone, at full dose of 16mg., it did give me a big surge of energy with a great mood. Didn't last when started tapering .