Do you take anything for fatigue?

[Colie]

I've just gone off prednisone after being on it for awhile and am so tired. I've been sleeping a lot at night and can barely work 4 hours a day. Was just wondering if anyone takes any supplements that help with the fatigue that comes with IBD. Thanks

 

[spiggie]

Are you on any supplements at all? I have personally found that turmeric curcumin w/bioperine, vitamin D3 (5,000 iu daily), probiotics and a multivitamin high in B vitamins and zinc have all helped my fatigue and overall well being. Many Crohn's sufferers are deficient in omega 3 also (if you do not eat fish in your weekly diet, it may be worth while taking cod liver oil/fish oil daily to help that.)

From all of those, I would say that the turmeric and vitamin D3 help my fatigue the most. Everyone is so individual though, so you may have to do some trial and error to find what works for you.

 

[ronroush7]

I was anemic and getting b12 shots.

 

[Walt]

Sorry Colie,
I cannot rec. any sups.
The only thing that helps me deal with extreme fatigue is...
stubborn-*******-determination!
wishing you only well,
peace
w

ps
If anyone with IBD fatigue can declare something specific helped them...
I would certainly be willing to try it.
: D

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I had really bad fatigue last year which was due to low iron and low ferritin (which were in turn due to me having a lot of rectal bleeding at the time). My GI prescribed me a series of iron infusions, and that made a huge difference in my fatigue, I felt so much better after the infusions.

For those who are dealing with fatigue, get some bloodwork done if you haven't done that recently. In addition to iron and ferritin, have your vitamin D and B12 checked too. Deficiencies in those can cause fatigue, and those deficiencies are pretty common with IBD.

 

[ronroush7]

Yes. Get blood work done.

 

[shamrock15]

What do I take? Two pillows and a wake up call in the morning. I have had mine looked at and so far no one has come up with anything that can be done. do the bloodwork as mentioned and combine it with the determination that was mentioned. Depending on your case, you may have chronic fatigue indefinitely.

 

[Colie]

Thanks for the replies

Spiggie - I've been taking 2,000 units of D3, 2,000 mcg of b12 and 1 culturelle a day. I was taking turmeric but was thinking that it was giving me diarrhea at one point. That might have just been in my head though. I may try going back on it. I never thought about it helping fatigue.

Cat-a-tonic- I'm not sure if I'm anemic at the moment. When I was the iron made me constipated. Is there a difference between infusion and a pill?

Thanks guys!

 

[ronroush7]

Thanks for the replies

Spiggie - I've been taking 2,000 units of D3, 2,000 mcg of b12 and 1 culturelle a day. I was taking turmeric but was thinking that it was giving me diarrhea at one point. That might have just been in my head though. I may try going back on it. I never thought about it helping fatigue.

Cat-a-tonic- I'm not sure if I'm anemic at the moment. When I was the iron made me constipated. Is there a difference between infusion and a pill?

Thanks guys!

I have had iron infusions and you have to sit in the hospital room for a few hours.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Yeah, the infusions aren't as harsh on the gut as the pills are. I couldn't tolerate iron tablets at all, they gave me awful stomachaches. The infusions were much easier on me, and now I take liquid iron as a supplement to keep my levels up. If you're low on iron, the infusions are worth looking into. As Ron said, you do have to sit there for a couple hours while they do the infusion, but that wasn't a big deal for me. I brought my chromebook and watched movies and that was fine.

 

[aypues]

I recently retried Curcumin (turmeric) and it gave me abdominal pain. For fatigue there's a few tests they would need to run like others have said - vit D level, B12 level, CBC, CMP, iron, and ferritin. IV iron has helped me quite a bit but has led to a low phosphorus level which can cause fatigue too! I also take Wellbutrin and I think that has helped energy level significantly.

 

[DEmberton]

This is very unscientific, but I have been noticing the last few weeks I haven't been falling asleep in the afternoon and I have been taking some Vitamin D tablets (1000 IU).

I think there's different kinds of fatigue. When I was anaemic I remember that I could barely get out of a chair without feeling out of breath; that was more physical, but since it's been more mental. I run up the stairs feeling perfectly fit, but can barely keep my eyes open or concentrate on anything.

 

[Beach]

I've been using different light therapy ideas of late. Well, I say of late. I've been using them off and on for years. Of late though I've noticed being in the sun or using a UV vitamin D lamp consistently improves my fatigue. I've also placed full spectrum light bulbs around the house.

I also changed up my diet, avoiding beef and dairy products of late.

The result, of light therapy and diet change, has been much better energy of late. I'm not really fatigued it seems, though my energy levels can take a hit when overly exerting myself. I discovered that today.

Some positive health benefits seen with light can be read below. Of course some medications can make one sensitive to light exposure and is something to be careful with.

"Light Provides a Multitude of Health Benefits"

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...05/16/vitamin-d-uv-light-health-benefits.aspx

 

[teddytutu2017]

[FONT=&quot] I agree that fatigue comes with IBD.

But some medications can interfere with absorption of nutrients, and also deplete you of minerals. Which also makes you fatigued.

In 2014, I had a blood test, and discovered that I was totally deficient in both Zinc and Iron.

And also low in Vitamin D and Magnesium.

Within 6 weeks of daily supplementing I felt one thousand times better, and after three months I was like a new woman.

Here are the brands I used:

1) Yeast-free liquid (Floradix) Iron

2) High potency liquid (Nutrition Care) Zinc

3) Capsules of 1000IU (Eagle) Vitamin D3

4) Ultra-Muscleze Powder (Bioceuticals) Magnesium

5) Powder (Musashi) L-Glutamine

Now if you can imagine:

Before taking the supplements, I even struggled to walk from the lounge room to the bathroom, as I felt so lethargic.

Within one month of daily supplementation, I had taken up swimming and was doing laps. And enjoying it!

Sex life also improved with my new found energy, and poor hubby didn’t know what hit him [/FONT]

 

[woops!]

I found that by limiting my high carb high sugar food it helped my fatigue some what. I was eating easy to digest, get energy now food and then I would end up crashing. I don't think this works for everyone, but it did help.
Whoops!

 

[magy35]

Colie,giving the timing of onset, I would suspect your fatigue is due to adrenal fatigue which is caused by being on prednisone. Basically, while you were on prednisone your natural cortisol was not produced to compensate for the synthetic cortisol available in prednisone. I would call my doctor to explain my fatigue and he/she may restart your predisone with a slow taper. Since the reproduction of your body's cortisol takes a long time that is why it can take sometimes up to 6 mos to taper off prednisone.

Anyways, just my two cents and also agree lab work is good too.

Good luck!!
Maggie

 

[magy35]

Yeah, the infusions aren't as harsh on the gut as the pills are. I couldn't tolerate iron tablets at all, they gave me awful stomachaches.

Quick tip: take Iron supplements with vitamin C to reduce GI side effects. Some already come woth Vitamin C added.

Hope that helps!

Maggie

 

[Colie]

I recently did a metabolic panel and everything was fine. I think I just get fatigued from all of the inflammation / prednisone withdrawal.