EDITORIAL - Fatigue in patients with RA: what is known and what is needed

[Guest guest]

This gives me the opportunity to ask " What do you do to handle fatigue? " I

am a go-go Type A person. The fatigue is hard for me to handle. I try to

make time for a nap or at least have 'down time' but this often frustrates

me so much I can't actually sleep! (Ironic, I know) I use the 5-hour energy

drinks. I try to eat a balanced diet of 'energy foods'. But I'm still

exhausted when I wake up and ready to drop by mid afternoon.

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15:36:00

[Guest guest]

I found a strict sleep schedule helps me the most, go to bed at the same time,

get up at the same time, allow a nap for a specific amount of time. Then you can

begin to define what and when the fatique hits and what's causing it, RA or what

you're doing. For me, I found it easier to control that way.

Stan,

Seattle, Cloudy

RE: [ ]  EDITORIAL - Fatigue in patients with RA: what

is known and what is needed

This gives me the opportunity to ask " What do you do to handle fatigue? " I

am a go-go Type A person. The fatigue is hard for me to handle. I try to

make time for a nap or at least have 'down time' but this often frustrates

me so much I can't actually sleep! (Ironic, I know) I use the 5-hour energy

drinks. I try to eat a balanced diet of 'energy foods'. But I'm still

exhausted when I wake up and ready to drop by mid afternoon.

No virus found in this incoming message.

Checked by AVG - www.avg.com

Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1965 - Release Date: 02/21/09

15:36:00

[Guest guest]

Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on October 16, 2008

Rheumatology 2009 48(3):207-209; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken399

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EDITORIALS

Fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: what is known and what is needed

H. Repping-Wuts1, P. van Riel1 and T. van Achterberg2

1Department of Rheumatology and 2IQ Scientific Institute for Quality

of Healthcare, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen,

The Netherlands

Concept and definition

Fatigue is, just like pain, a subjective symptom which may occur in

patients with many different diseases and thereby also in patients

with RA. In the literature, a consensus definition for fatigue is not

presented. However, most authors define fatigue as: ‘an overwhelming,

sustained sense of exhaustion and decreased capacity for physical and

mental work’ [1]. For chronic fatigue, Piper's definition is widely

used in international studies and is as follows: ‘chronic fatigue is

perceived as unpleasant, unusual, abnormal or excessive whole-body

tiredness, disproportionate to or unrelated to activity or exertion

and present for more than one month. Chronic fatigue is constant or

recurrent, it is not dispelled easily by sleep or rest and it can have

a profound negative impact on the person's quality of life’ [2]. To

distinguish between chronic fatigue and the chronic fatigue syndrome

(CFS), the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has

formulated special criteria for CFS [3].

Read the full editorial here:

http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/48/3/207

Not an MD