When Should You Call Your Doctor
It’s important to talk to your doctor about any symptoms you may have.
- Severe fatigue that lasts longer than 2 weeks, causes you to limit your usual activities, and does not improve with rest.
- Sleep problems that last for more than 1 to 2 months. These problems may include being unable to fall asleep or stay asleep, tossing and turning, and waking up feeling tired or not rested.
- Swelling in the glands in your neck or armpits that lasts for at least 2 weeks.
- Severe fatigue along with frequent urination , extreme thirst, weight loss, or blurred vision. Fatigue that occurs with some or all of these may be a symptom of undiagnosed diabetes.
- Severe headache that does not improve with home treatments.
Characteristics Of The Study Population
Table 1 shows the characteristics of the 6120 patients with rheumatic diseases. Almost half of the patients reported a diagnosis of fibromyalgia . The most commonly reported combinations of rheumatic diseases were fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis , fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis and another rheumatic disease , osteoarthritis and other rheumatic diseases not being fibromyalgia , and rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic diseases not being osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia . In total, this study covered 30 rheumatic diseases.
Table 1 Characteristics of the 6120 patients with rheumatic diseases
The Advice I Would Give To Others Includes
- Dont ignore any odd pains that go on for any length of time!
- Check family history as many autoimmune conditions are hereditary. My mother has been ill for many years and it turned out rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis runs in my mums family.
- Looking back there has been a pattern to my pain, if you have a list of similar things, please get it looked into. When speaking to busy medical professionals, bring up similar things that have happened in the past.
- No matter how bad the pain and condition can become, if you can get the right treatment, it can become better and easily manageable.
- Support from family and friends can be crucial. At the beginning they wont understand unless theyve been through it. Information from organisations like Versus Arthritis can help explain and educate.
- Overall health is so important diet, weight, and physical activity play a vital role. You need to find out what works.
- Youre not alone. It can be difficult to adjust but by speaking to others whove been through the same can be reassuring and supportive.
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Stick To A Relaxing Bedtime Routine
A good nights sleep is essential for combatting fatigue. A relaxing routine at night can set you up for success.
Try taking a warm bath to ease your joint pain each night before bedtime. If possible, go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
Here are a few more tips for a healthy sleep routine:
- Avoid alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.
- Keep your bedroom cool and dark.
- Turn off computer, cellphone, and TV screens before bedtime.
- Keep electronics out of the bedroom.
- Avoid large meals before bedtime
Work On Your Sleep Hygiene
The National Sleep Foundation defines sleep hygiene as a variety of different practices and habits that are necessary to have good nighttime sleep quality and full daytime alertness. These practices include:
- Limiting daytime naps to less than 30 minutes
- Avoiding stimulantssuch as, coffee and nicotineclose to bedtime
- Exercising during the day
- Staying away from foods that may disrupt sleep or heavy meals close to bedtime
- Getting enough exposure to natural light during the day
- Establishing a regular relaxing bedtime routine, which can include anything from a warm shower or bath, reading a book, or light stretching
- Ensuring a pleasant sleep environment, such as a cool bedroom, blackout curtains, eye shades, earplugs, and devices, such as a white noise machine or humidifier, that make your bedroom more relaxing for sleep.
Read Also: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms And Treatment
Can Psoriasis Make You Feel Tired
Scientists arent entirely sure why this happens. What is clear is that many people who have psoriasis say they feel exhausted. Some people say the constant fatigue, which can interfere with everyday life, is one of the most troublesome symptoms of psoriasis.
While theres no quick fix for ending the fatigue, dermatologists say you may be able to boost your energy by making some changes.
Follow A Healthy Diet
Being mindful of what is on your plate is an effective way to keep your energy up. Avoiding processed and junk foods, saturated fats, sugar, and alcohol, will help keep your body fueled and your fatigue down.
Following a healthy and balanced diet primary involves eating lean proteins, whole grains, fresh produce, and healthy fatsa diet considered an anti-inflammatory diet. Your healthcare provider or a dietitian can be helpful in finding the right diet to reduce your fatigue and other PsA symptoms.
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Get Specialist Care When You Need It
Visit your doctor every few months to help track your symptoms and check for any need to change your treatment.
Get specialized care if you need it. For example:
- A rehabilitation specialist can help you treat pain and improve your ability to do your daily tasks.
- A pain management specialist can offer a number of pain treatments.
- There are some specialists who work with experimental treatments such as antiviral medicines.
Schedule Your Rest Time
When living with a chronic disease, youll inevitably feel tired from time to time. You might find that the best way to manage your fatigue is to schedule it into your daily activities.
A quick nap or just lying down in the middle of the day could be just what you need.
You can also plan to do your most intensive tasks when you usually have the most energy. Consider dividing up your exercise or other activities into shorter segments.
Also Check: How To Tell If You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Strategies For Surviving Psoriatic Arthritis Fatigue
Researchers and physicians are just starting to explore the link between the condition and fatigue. Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic health condition that involves inflammation, and inflammatory conditions can bring about some fatigue as a symptom, says Christine Alexander, MD, chair of the department of family medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.
A recent study found that severe fatigue was common in people who had psoriatic arthritis, and that fatigue intensifies with disease severity. Depression linked to chronic illness and pain could also contribute to fatigue, Alexander adds.
Whether your fatigue is due to your psoriatic arthritis, a coexisting condition such as fibromyalgia, or treatment, try these strategies to regain some of your energy.
What Are The Symptoms
Symptoms can vary with ME/CFS. If you have ME/CFS:
- You feel exhausted all or much of the time. And it doesn’t get better with rest.
- Your symptoms may flare up after a mental or physical activity that used to be no problem for you. Often there is a delay before it starts. And it can take days, weeks, or more to feel better.
- You have problems sleeping. Or you may wake up feeling tired or not rested.
- It may be harder for you to think clearly, to concentrate, and to remember things.
- You may feel dizzy, weak, or in more pain when you have been standing or sitting upright for a long time.
- You may also have headaches, muscle and joint pain, a sore throat, and tender glands in your neck or armpits.
Depression is common with ME/CFS, and it can make your other symptoms worse.
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Is Insomnia A Symptom Of Psoriatic Arthritis
As if thats not enough, chronic pain can also make it hard to sleep. While psoriatic arthritis does not directly cause insomnia, the tendon, ligament and joint pain can interrupt your sleep and lead to restless nights. Whats more, psoriatic arthritis is associated with an increased risk of other illnesses that are linked to sleep disturbances or fatigue, including:
Increased Risk Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Following Psoriasis: A Nationwide Population
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
2Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan
3Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate Institute of Long-Term Care, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan
4Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA
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British Columbia Specific Information
Many Canadians are affected by complex chronic diseases . CCDs are illnesses that last a long time, require treatment and management, and often do not get better on their own. Fibromyalgia , Myalgic Encephalomyelitis , which is also called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome , and Chronic Lyme Disease are examples of complex chronic diseases.
To learn more about fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic Lyme-like disease, visit HealthLinkBCs Complex Chronic Diseases health feature.
Demographics And Comorbidities According To Psoriasis Status
Our study included 2616 patients with psoriasis and 10,464 participants without psoriasis. The comparison between demographics and comorbidities of the psoriasis and non-psoriasis groups are presented in Table . The mean age of patients with psoriasis was 45.2 years, with a mild predominance in men . In addition, patients with psoriasis suffered from more comorbidities such as diabetes, depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, and renal disease than did the participants without psoriasis.
Table 1 Demographic factors and comorbidities of study participants according to psoriasis status
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Raynauds Phenomenon And Other Arthritis Types
Raynauds syndrome has been linked to another inflammatory type of arthritis called rheumatoid arthritis. Still, Raynauds is less common in rheumatoid arthritis compared with other types of rheumatic diseases, such as lupus.
Raynauds phenomenon is a type of vasculitis. The sudden narrowing of the arteries in your fingers or other extremities is called vasospasm, and it happens in response to triggers like cold and anxiety.
Over time, people who have been living with rheumatoid arthritis may develop vasculitis. Where rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints, vasculitis causes inflammation in the blood vessels. This affects blood flow to certain areas of your body.
Vasculitis can cause artery walls to become inflamed, which narrows the passage through which your blood travels.
Cardiovascular Disease And Diabetes
Psoriatic arthritis is linked with having a higher risk for a number of other chronic health conditions, especially if youre overweight or obese. Two common ones cardiovascular disease and diabetes are also culprits of fatigue.
While the mechanisms are not clearly understood, heart disease, especially heart failure, can cause you to feel fatigue and make it difficult to tolerate exercise. With diabetes, fluctuating blood sugar levels, as well as inflammation in the body caused by high blood sugar levels, can lead to fatigue.
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Tips To Manage Psoriatic Arthritis Fatigue
If you have psoriatic arthritis and need a nap to get through the day, some simple changes can boost your energy and make you feel better.
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Managing Chronic Pain And Fatigue
The key to reducing pain is reducing inflammation.
Thanksgiving 2019. Andrea Klockow of Alpharetta, Georgia, notices the middle finger on her right hand looks really âcreepyâ â like a sausage. Fortunately, it goes away, and Klockow doesnât give it much more thought.
Over the next four months, though, she starts struggling with overwhelming fatigue, sore fingers and pain in her ankles and knees. âMy joints, particularly the joints in my fingers, hurt the most,â 36-year-old Klockow recalls.
Summer 2020. Klockowâs scalp begins to itch so badly that it wakes her up from a deep sleep. âI couldnât see what was going on with my scalp, but I suspected something was up because I have always been a very sound sleeper,â she says. Klockow knows not to take all these symptoms lying down, so back to the rheumatologist she goes. This time, the rheumatologist suspects Klockow has psoriatic arthritis and suggests she see a dermatologist.
The dermatologist examines Klockow, looks at her scalp and puts her on a biologic, which works like a charm for her itching. âWithin 10 days of my first injection, I was starting to feel great,â Klockow says. The biologic doesnât help the joint pain as much right away, but her doctors tell her to be patient. With time, it will help her PsA as well, they say. They turn out to be right about that too. âNow I have all my energy back, and my joints donât hurt,â Klockow says happily.
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Treating Fatigue From Psoriatic Arthritis
The key to treating or managing fatigue is identifying the contributing conditions and addressing each of those. Fatigue can be linked to both physical and emotional triggers, and the conditions that may be contributing to fatigue must each be treated.5
As with all symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, treating fatigue begins with treating the underlying disease. Recommended treatments include disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs . The first step for treatments is usually DMARDs such as methotrexate, leflunomide, or sulfasalazine. Other treatments include medicines that target tumor necrosis factor , a chemical that produces a wide range of inflammation in PsA. Examples of TNF blockers include etanercept , adalimumab , infliximab , golimumab , and certolizumab pegol . Other DMARDs that have proven effective in clinical trials include ustekinumab , brodalumab , and secukinumab . 6 The FDA has also recently approved Inflectra , a biosimilar to infliximab, for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis.7
Lifestyle changes can also improve the symptom of fatigue. Exercise can reduce pain and improve well-being, both of which have an impact on fatigue. Some patients also find anti-inflammatory diets improve their energy levels and reduce fatigue.5
Many Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis Consider Fatigue To Be One Of The Most Problematic Symptoms After Joint Pain Being Able To Identify And Describe What Fatigue Feels Like May Help Both Loved Ones And Health Care Providers Better Understand Your Experience
Check out Fight Back Against Fatigue: A Psoriatic Arthritis Patients Guidefor more information on this topic.
Wiped out. Utterly exhausted. Like youre coming down with the flu. Unable to get your head above water. Pumping gas, but the gas tank is empty.
The fatigue that people with psoriatic arthritis have is real and it interferes tremendously with daily life.
In fact, nearly 50 percent of patients with psoriatic arthritis report high levels of fatigue and consider fatigue a high-ranking problem, after joint pain and before skin issues, according to a 2016 study published in the journal Joint Bone Spine.
If you live with fatigue from psoriatic arthritis, we dont have to tell you what it feels like. However, hearing from other people with PsA who are also wrestling with this nagging, persistent feeling of exhaustion can help you feel less alone.
Talking about what fatigue feels like can also help you explain to loved ones why you arent able to do certain activities or why you turn down invitations or leave things early. Perhaps, most importantly, it can help you figure out if you need to talk to your health care provider to get better control of your fatigue.
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Psoriasis And Fatigue: Why Am I So Tired
People diagnosed with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis often experience fatigue mental or physical exhaustion that occurs regardless of how much rest a person gets. Fatigue is more common in psoriatic arthritis, affecting at least 3 out of every 10 people with the condition.
Feeling tired after physical exertion, a busy day, or a night of insufficient sleep is normal. Having fatigue, however, is different from simply being tired. Understanding this fatigue, how it affects ones physical and emotional state, and how to manage it can help minimize its effects.
