Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Question about fatigue

Hi all,

I have had AS for a few years but it is mild - I fortunately don't have to take medications, and it hasn't affected my daily energy.

One symptom that really concerns me is the fatigue. I know that some folks get very tired very quickly, and I am scared of the day that it might happen to me.

Does it happen all of a sudden for you? Or did you just gradually notice you getting tired more early in the day; or needing more sleep?

Each day that I feel a little more tired than usual, I get scared that the condition is progressing. Or maybe it's just age - I just turned 40.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Mike

Hello Mike,

When I had issues with fatigue, it was typically when AS was more active and I did not have any effective treatment (medication or diet).

You feel very run down/tired... I guess it could be gradual or hit you all at once depending on your circumstances. My cases was hit me all at once since at times I had to come off of medications due to elevated liver enzyme tests and before I found alternative with diet.

Best to you,

Tim

Hi Mike,
The small of my back has hurt for 50 years.
The systemic pain has come and gone. But the overall fatigue has been here for 20 years. It can be grueling.
Eat right
get enough exercise that it helps you get some endorphins going. Which is very hard to do. But the only way I can get energy is to eat sugar or exercise.

When I am so very tired, if I can get up and move, I begin to feel a little bit better.

Tell us what you find out about your own health.

I have had very active AS for decades but only found fatigue a problem when the inflammation was causing pain. Fighting the pain caused the fatigue

Never had much fatigue when there was no pain

My fatigue has been constant all encompassing for years. Loads of test done but nothing conclusive, Dr has told me I should just learnt to live with it. Trouble is it ain't living if I have such fatigue.

The last test I had involved wearing a monitor. Results came back normal despite me being aslepp for 16 of the 17 hours monitored 4pm to 9am. Thing was I was still asleep at 9am and slept for another hour, then had another sleep around 1pm for several hours. Granted they were testing for sleep apnea but even so.