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Forever Fatigue?

I was on Pred about 7/8 months ago. After massive flare (hospitalised for) lost 3 stone between April and July '12. Started Azathiprine in July '12. Everything going back to normal, lost all the 'Pred Weight' now (finally) and feeling generally okay. Still have loose bm and occasional abdominal pain.
But fatigue is a big problem for me. I can't go a full day without at least an hour nap as well as a normal nights sleep.
My long term partner has said (jokingly) it's like living with a cat. I suppose it's true.
It's starting to annoy me now, but the more I fight it the more it wins.
Does anyone else get Fatigue like this and will it go away?

Thanks, Holly
xx
 
I do, for me its the worst persisting symptom. I'm in remission but still suffer bad fatigue. Have been trying to find a reason, but so far no luck.

Have you had your vit d, iron, b12, thyroid checked? Think there's a few more, but can't remember them!!
 
No, I don't think so.. Are they checked via blood tests? I have monthly blood checks, but the fatigue is persisting like a bad smell :)
 
So know the feeling!! Yeh they're blood tests but I've found you have to ask either your gp or gi for these ones specifically. Think if your on aza they routinely check fbc, lfts and u&e's only.
 

CrohnsChicago

Super Moderator
I started 6MP a little over 2 weeks ago and am experiencing the same problem. I am having waves of fatigue during the day. I will be fine with good energy and then suddenly feel like I need a major nap. If i push through the feeling usually goes away but I usually wind up trying to find a place and time to at least get 15-30minutes in. And when I wake up it feels like I have been asleep for ages.

What makes it more interesting is that I am tapering off of 40mg Prednisone now. The prednisone usually gives me insomnia so my body doesn't know what it wants to do sometimes, stay awake, go crazy or pass out lol.

I got my first bloodwork done for the meds this week and the results had actually improved from three-four weeks ago when I was having a serious flare situation. I talked to my GI about it and he said that he has personally never experienced patients who had fatigue on the meds but he will not discredit my symptoms.

Right now I'm trying to learn to make do and will be adding small amounts of exercise. But I guess all I can really do is hope the fatigue fades away as my body gets used to this new 6MP drug.

On aza your CBC will be checked (iron deficiency is included in this), possibly CRP and whatever they need to help indicate problems with your liver and pancreas. You have to specifically ask for certain vitamin/mineral tests like B12. They are not typical blood tests drawn.

When I wanted my doc to do it for the first time I politely said (I have been feeling really fatigued. I know my iron levels are low but I have also heard that B12 deficiency is common in crohn's patients and was wondering if you could check my levels for me). Maybe asking like that will help.

Good luck!

Glad you are finally off of Pred and lost some of the weight. Hope you can find some relief from the fatigue soon.


I was on Pred about 7/8 months ago. After massive flare (hospitalised for) lost 3 stone between April and July '12. Started Azathiprine in July '12. Everything going back to normal, lost all the 'Pred Weight' now (finally) and feeling generally okay. Still have loose bm and occasional abdominal pain.
But fatigue is a big problem for me. I can't go a full day without at least an hour nap as well as a normal nights sleep.
My long term partner has said (jokingly) it's like living with a cat. I suppose it's true.
It's starting to annoy me now, but the more I fight it the more it wins.
Does anyone else get Fatigue like this and will it go away?



Thanks, Holly
xx
 
What's your hemoglobin? Anemia is undertreated and is a common cause of fatigue. http://www.ecco-jccjournal.org/article/S1873-9946(12)00361-3/abstract
If it's below normal, it should be addressed. Many people with Crohn's have iron deficiency and it may not respond to oral treatment. Some people get iv iron.

That said, inflammation itself can be associated with fatigue as can some medications. And of course, there are many other causes including hypothyroidism and depression. Here is a nice article on fatigue in IBD with a flow chart of things that should be checked. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2010.04347.x/full

It's depressing to see how common fatigue is in IBD.

Sending you wishes for increased energy.
 
I have had fatigue pretty much since I have had crohn's. I honestly can't remember the last time I really felt like I had the perfect night's sleep. Hopefully this will not be the case with you though.
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
I would say fatigue is my most debilitating symptom as well. I just get so weak and tired I can't do much of anything. I have been fatigued for years but not to this point.

I also recommend doing complete blood work to check iron, b12 etc to see if there are any clues. Otherwise it may just be disease or drug related.
 
I would definitely get your b12 and d levels checked. I found that getting b12 injections monthly helped a lot with the fatigue.
 
Hi Holly:

Have you had your Vitamin D levels tested? My daughter battles with Crohns and recently discovered that increasing her Vitamin D3 intake to 5,000 IUs a day plus taking 400 MCGs of Folic Acid helped tremendously with her fatigue. Also, earlier this week a man posted the story below about his experience with taking Vitamin D3. You should talk to your GI about it and consider giving it a try.

All the best!

Lisa
--------------

"Thought I'd give a quick update on my Vitamin D experience so far...

After reading this thread I decided to give Vitamin D a shot. While I was hoping for some improvement in Crohn's symptoms, my primary goal was to help with extreme fatigue and the lack of desire to do anything; the "nothing sounds fun" type of fatigue/depression combo that had become rather overwhelming. I also had pretty nasty "brain fog" that so many people with an auto immune disorder suffer from.

I started taking 6k I.U. of Vitamin D per day, along with Calcium and Magnesium on Feb. 6.

I didn't notice any change at all for the first week. Over the next few days, however, things started changing for the better.

As I write this, I am feeling better now than I have in years. Stuff sounds like it's fun and worth doing again, I have the energy to make it through the day, and (best of all) I'm Happy again. The "brain fog" has almost completely lifted as well. I even started Spring Cleaning without the wife's urging to do so (our bedroom carpet, walls, baseboards, doors, glass are all sparkling clean). I must admit, however, that starting on the garage Spring Cleaning is still a rather depressing thought.

While I feel *much* better overall, I have not noticed a decrease in Crohn's symptoms from Vit D, but that could also be due to the fact that I'm not taking it at a high enough level to have an effect on CD. I'm not going to increase the dosage anymore, though, until I have my GI check my levels at my next appointment in May.

While I can't (at least at this point) say that Vit D has helped my primary Crohn's symptoms, it has done wonders with the secondary symptoms (fatigue, depression, fatigue, brain fog, and fatigue) so many of us CD sufferers experience. Edit: I think I should add that another possibility for Vit D not helping with my primary CD symptoms could also be due to the fact that I've only been taking it for 21 days so far. That's most likely not enough time to feel the full effects/benefit of Vitamin D supplementation yet.

If you're at the point where doing the smallest things sounds like way too much trouble, you should at least consider adding some Vitamin D to your life. Hopefully you'll have results like mine... or better!

To me, it's pretty shocking that just a simple vitamin could be responsible for such an amazing change. I never would have imagined that such a simple thing could do so much.

Huge thanks to everyone for the information shared in this thread. Thanks to you, I feel *so* much better.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get to work on that garage...."
 
I was borderline anaemic last time he checked, I was full-on anaemic when I was at my worst. But they advised me to stop taking Iron Tablets due to the side effects. Don't know if i'm still anaemic.
 
Hi Holly,
That's the problem many people have.They need iron and it's irritating. Not all anemia is due to iron deficiency. A good doctor should be able to figure it out. The bottom line is that if you are anemic due to iron deficiency, you need iron one way or another. There are different preparations that can be tried orally and are best in divided dose (that is if you need 3 pills each day, taking 1 pill three times a day) Iron is also better absorbed when taken with vit c. If you can't tolerate iron orally, there is iv iron that doctors sometimes use.

From the abstract of the article I cited abov:

"Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) frequently occurs in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and negatively impacts their quality of life. Nevertheless, the condition appears to be both under-diagnosed and undertreated. Regular biochemical screening of patients with IBD for anemia by the gastroenterology community has to be advocated.

Oral iron is a low cost treatment however its effectiveness is limited by low bioavailability and poor tolerability. Intravenous (IV) iron rapidly replenishes iron stores and has demonstrated its safe use in a number of studies in various therapeutic areas. A broad spectrum of new IV iron formulations is now becoming available offering improved tolerability and patient convenience by rapidly restoring the depleted iron status of patients with IBD. The following article aims to review the magnitude of the problem of IDA in IBD, suggest screening standards and highlight existing and future therapies." http://www.ecco-jccjournal.org/article/S1873-9946(12)00361-3/abstract
 
That's really interesting, I will see if I am still anaemic and then enquire further if that is th case. The amount of time I spend tired or asleep would suggest that I am deficient in something!
 
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