Pain itself

Post your questions about pain management for our experts here.

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Rachelouise1
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Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:41 am
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by Rachelouise1 on Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:06 pm

Pain itself

Why does long term pain itself cause you to be tired?

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Arthritis Action
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Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2016 1:27 pm
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by Arthritis Action on Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:51 pm

Re: Pain itself

That's a great question. There are many possible reasons but one of the most common may be that having pain often causes people to either lose hours of sleep completely or because sleep is fragmented and restless. Being sleepless then causes more pain and more fatigue. Having pain is draining emotionally and this also contributes to fatigue. Being in pain can lead to reduced social interactions and feelings of isolation and ofter people in pain who are tired feel less like exercising which then makes fatigue worse. In addition,many people who have pain are not very good at pacing their activities which means that on a good day they tend to do too much and suffer for it afterwards.
Tackling all of these things with self-management is the key to reducing pain and fatigue. See our website for ore information but essentially fatigue can be improved by improving sleep quality, learning effective pacing, gentle exercise, relaxation and mind therapies to calm or distract the brain. YOU should also make sure that there is not a medical reason for your fatigue, including thyroid function tests and checking that you don't have anaemia or other hidden health issues.

Dr Wendy Holden
Consultant Rheumatologist and Medical Advisor to Arthritis Action.
https://www.arthritisaction.org.uk/

020 3781 7120

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