I was diagnosed with RA when I was 38. I am now 43 and feeling very old and tired! I can deal with the pain, I'm currently on Celebrex 400mg daily. I have been on a total of 18 different meds-mostly early on in my diagnosis. I seem to be getting more and more tired everyday. I do work full-time and when I get home I MUST take a nap. This is making me feel very old. I try to workout-bought a Gazelle which I love, just can't get motivated to use it like I should. I'm just curious how many of you are also having this problem and maybe some ideas of how you deal with this. Also, I get up around 4:00 a.m. since the mornings are my best time-by 2:00 in the afternoon I am exhausted.
Thanks to all who respond.

Crumbs, mak0395......... :eek:
If you are up at 4.am each day and going to work then coming home and doing things there , as a normal healthy person you'd be a superman ( woman?) but with R.A. congratulations............but why?
Yes, l agree with you , l am much better in the mornings and by the afternoon my body has more pain, stiffness and the tiredness creeps up on me ( l see you, you b*****d ) !
This excessive tiredness seems to hit most of the R.A. sufferes l know , and the ones who exercise to help with the stiffness tell me they still feel just as bad.
l cant exercise because becuase of 'other nastys ' that have taken up permenant residence in my body and refuse to relocate, even after offering my ex hubbys body as a 'much nicer residence ' for them! tut, tut, tut. :nono:
I have had R.A. and O.A. for years ( l'm now 50 F/M) but l was left undiagnosed , this at one point had me thinking l was going stark , staring mad as l couldnt understand why at 25 years old l was so tired all the time, then at 30 why l was stiff in the mornings and found it hard just to get going , why at 40 my hands / hips hurt so much along with the stiffness and now overwhelming tiredness, so now, here l am at 50 , pain in ; neck,hands, wrists, hips, base of spine ( ahhh! :eek: ) knees, ankles, feet, tired and the most terrible flue like symptons that wash over me every two to three weeks leaving me so unwell l have to take to my bed for 24-48 hours rest , as well as my joints going north ,east and south ....when l'm going west!
But as you will have gathered by now 'still as happy and crazy as ever' l've changed my profession from a company managing director / chairman to a biographical comedy writter and work from a glorious cottage by the water in Devon, at my own pace.
Changes will at some time be needed to your life style, l'm not talking now , or big ones, but your R.A. will not change to help you will it?
Best wishes and l hope you dont get to tired this week end, hey life is for enjoying to its fullest not to its fastest.............holeinheart. :wave:

what meds do you take now, maybe the meds are causing drowsiness, also, there is a drug out there, I had to BEG my doc to let me try it and now I have taken it for over a year. It's provigil. It was originally for narcolepsy, then docs started using it for chronic fatigue patients or depression. It does help but it's not a solve all. But it does stop the constant falling asleep all the time. Maybe you can cut back on work hours?? I have not worked in 5 years and I studied 20 years to enter my career. I loved it but had to leave it. I cannot live but so long so why live tired all the time?? But do take a look at meds, I know at one point I took a med that was a severe cause of fatigue but did not know it till I looked into things more. Hope this helps.