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Is this fatigue permanent? Options
Dorothy-W
#21 Posted : Friday, June 08, 2012 9:09:55 AM Quote
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i thought that the blood was tested for everthing as well, i will enquire about that but as said i am not as bad as i was but when it hits me it hits big time, i am off for the weekend and feel drained just packing and i am the driver,i will nap now for 10mins and asap when we arrive hopefully,hope things go ok for you,dorothy.
zena_mary
#22 Posted : Friday, June 08, 2012 10:27:29 AM Quote
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Hi,
About a week after my monthly blood test I am sent a print out of my blood test results. Yes I am checked for aneamia every time. If my blood count is low, which it is from time to time, my surgery rings to tell me to make a telephone app. with a G.P. I would think that everyones is checked as a matter of course in our situation. Could you ring the nurse who does your test to check?
Zena x
JulieM
#23 Posted : Friday, June 08, 2012 11:47:16 AM Quote
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Mine isn't tested for anaemia so I think it would be well worth asking just to check Naomi. Also maybe a thyroid check too?
YES I'VE CHANGED, PAIN DOES THAT TO PEOPLE.
Kathleen_C
#24 Posted : Friday, June 08, 2012 2:45:04 PM Quote
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I`m like Zena, I get a print-out of my bloods about 3 days after the blood tests at my GP surgery. If there`s a problem he always phones me, and about six months ago there was a problem with my iron levels, so I was given a three month course of iron tablets. When they were finished my iron levels were OK, so I`m no taking iron at the moment. If your surgery doesn`t check this you could ask them to.

Kathleen x

Paula-C
#25 Posted : Friday, June 08, 2012 5:45:52 PM Quote
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I've just had a look at my MTX booklet and it's the Hb test that is for anemia. It will tell you in the back what the ranges should be. Mine dropped to well below what the range should be for a few months on the trot. Hospital said nothing, so I spoke to my GP on the telephone and I had to go in for an iron count blood test, but was told that came back OK. I think, not 100% certain about this, but if your inflammation levels are up this will bring your Hb count down.

What Sylvia's RA nurse told her rings so true with me. I've always been very healthy, hardly ever had a cold, if I did I would call it a one day wonder, a few sniffles and sneezes, then it would be gone. Went on holiday, six of us, everyone bar me came down with a sickness and diarrhea bug that was going around the town. Even with me cleaning up the you know what, I never caught it.

I always use to say that I must have a super duper immune system and that the medical profession should test my blood to see what I had in it. Then RA struck. The wonderful super duper immune system of mine, got a bit fed up because it had nothing to do, so it decided to attack me!

Paula x
Naomi1
#26 Posted : Friday, June 08, 2012 11:01:33 PM Quote
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I checked with a friend who was head of a bloods lab before RA forced her to give up work a year ago and she assured me that the regular Mtx blood monitoring would include an anaemia test. Thanks for that info on fatigue and infections Sylvia. This makes sense as I've only had one cold in a year and a half whereas before RA I'd get around 5 per year.
Anthea1948
#27 Posted : Wednesday, June 13, 2012 6:52:57 PM Quote
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Because a lot of us are on MTX, which is an immune-depressing drug, I was under the impression that we were more likely to catch infections, not less, which is why we are entitled to the 'flu vac whatever our age. And I also understood that our anti-bodies are so busy attacking our joints that they don't have time to protect us against other infections but that doesn't tie up with what Sylvia's nurse told her, so I'm a bit confused now Huh .
Naomi, it's worth having your thyroid checked as well, as Julie suggested. It's just another of those auto-immune things that attack some of us, I had to have radio-iodine treatment before Christmas as my thyroid was over-active, so worth mentioning to your gp.
Anthea
LynW
#28 Posted : Wednesday, June 13, 2012 7:38:50 PM Quote
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Clearly some areas of confusion and misinformation are brewing here!

With RA we have over-active immune systems which basically target bits that it wouldn't normally be bothered with such as joints, lungs, heart etc. Majority of the drugs used in the treatment of RA suppress the immune system (ie it no longer works as well as it should) in order to control the inflammation and any subsequent tissue damage. This leaves us MORE susceptible to infections and hence the need to be aware of this possibility. Some of us are just less prone to common colds etc. and this can change with age and environmental factors, be glad and make the most of it!

The normal methotrexate blood monitoring does include a check for Haemaglobin levels. These are the proteins in the blood that carry oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues and returns carbon dioxide to the lungs. A lower than normal (11.5-18g/dl) count is indicative of anaemia but this is usually checked out by a Ferritin count to check the precise levels of iron in the blood. Those with RA tend to have low Haemaglobin readings due to the nature of the disease, it doesn't always mean that the anaemia needs treating.

The patient monitoring book, for those who are unsure of its purpose, is used to record blood test results and other tests. It is used in instances where there is shared care, such as GP and Rheumatologist, to ensure that all results are available to all parties at all appointments. Be careful when using the guidelines for 'normal values'; often laboratories use different ranges and frequently levels for men are quite different to those used for women. The values also change with a person's age! They are just guidelines!

Hope this helps Smile

Lyn x
My son, Ian, completed the BUPA Great North Run on 15th September running for the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS). You can read his story at http://www.justgiving.com/ianlukewilson

Naomi1
#29 Posted : Thursday, June 14, 2012 1:14:33 AM Quote
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That was very helpful. Thanks Lyn.
Paula-C
#30 Posted : Thursday, June 14, 2012 3:26:17 PM Quote
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I've found a thread that I started some time ago (two years), you may find it interesting. It is about the immune system and a helpline I once rang up and what I was told about my immune system and probably, according to them why I developed RA

http://www.nras.org.uk/m...aspx?g=posts&t=1156

Paula x
jenni_b
#31 Posted : Thursday, June 14, 2012 10:36:48 PM Quote
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I'm not sure this is quite right, the immune system is over active in ra
It's like a guard dog attacking its owner.
It's busy attacking the lining around the joints and other bits too and so isn't robust enough to fight infections. In effect although it's overly active immunity- its overly active in the wrong bits.

Sometimes with a serious infection the immune system does decide to play ball and leaves joints alone and the ra will calm it down a bit while the infection has been fought off.
when ra is raging on, you can have more fight against infection in the short term but your guard dog gets knackered!
But generally the ra means you are more likely to pick up infections and not get rid of it as easily as you other wise would have.
You get run down much easier, the disease needs calming down or it will chew your joints/organs etc so you've got to calm it down.

That's what dmards, biologics and other similar drugs do.

They alter the course of the disease (at least in theory!)

Jenni
how to be a velvet bulldoser
sylviax
#32 Posted : Saturday, June 16, 2012 9:17:33 PM Quote
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Thanks LynW for your clarification - I'm sorry if I mislead anyone about getting bugs etc. I've only been diagnosed for a month and hence have only been taking DMARDs for a month! What I meant is that I haven't been getting many colds etc prior to my diagnosis - in retrospect my RA was very active (lots of pain and swelling) but I didn't know what it was and of course I wasn't taking any RA medication. The nurse explained that the pain and swelling was due to an ever-active immune system that fought off any bugs that I was exposed to plus it attacked my own tissues - however, now that I am on MTX my immune system will be suppressed and I am more likely to get colds/flu etc, so I will need to have a flu jab to minimise that risk.

Fingers crossed that meds work as intended!

Sylvia xx
Be kinder than is necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle
LynW
#33 Posted : Sunday, June 17, 2012 6:39:49 PM Quote
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Hi Sylvia

I think sometimes people who have had Rheumatoid for some time forget that life carries on regardless of the diagnosis and everything can easily become centred around the disease and the medication. We start to blame Rheumatoid and meds for things that happen and it can sometimes hide the reality of a situation. Coughs, colds and other viral oddities are going to come our way at some point in time but we will, like the rest of the population, develop some immunity to them. As we get older we are less likely to be plagued by these things as our bodies are generally more able to cope with them.

Hope you get an early response to the drugs and things start to improve for you very soon. Those first few months can be so miserable whilst the inflammation is brought under control. Do try to be positive, stay in control and pecker up ... it will get better ThumpUp

Lyn x
My son, Ian, completed the BUPA Great North Run on 15th September running for the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS). You can read his story at http://www.justgiving.com/ianlukewilson

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