Feeling tired! Do others with PMR feel significantly more tired?

When I first took 40 mg of prednisone, I was energized and didn't seem to need any sleep. That lasted a month until sleep deprivation kicked in.

The longer I stayed on prednisone, "deathly fatigue" was a huge problem. I think it was caused by adrenal insufficiency and low cortisol levels when prednisone suppressed my adrenal function. Prednisone became my primary source of cortisol because my adrenals weren't producing very much.

On many days, but not all, I find myself dozintg off for a few minutes. I worried about this in relation to driving, but for some reason I have not gotten sleepy at all while behind the wheel. Hmmm

... and that's a good thing! If I'm at all sleepy or drowsy when driving, I roll down the window to get a lot of fresh air even in the winter time 🙃

Yes, my weakness and fatigue kept getting worse to point where my eyes wanted to close on an off all day. I am newly diagnosed and what I find hard is understanding what is PMR and what is affect of medication. Stay vigilant and continue to ask doctor questions. It seems due to variable or unique nature of how PMR affects individuals being an advocate for yourself is needed even more. Thanks and good luck.

I am experiencing extreme fatigue most days with occasional spurts of energy. My primary doctor does not want to see me or do bloodwork unless I experience shortness of breath when walking until after I’m off of prednisone. I used to have boundless energy with 5/6 hours of sleep. Now I can’t stay awake after 8pm and sleep 9+ hours easily and readily fall asleep throughout the day if not involved in an activity. I’m very hypersensitive to medications and have an eye condition where my eyes feel very irritated and heavy most of the time. I shut my eyes for relief and fall asleep. I don’t know if it’s PMR, depression, prednisone, etc.

Fatigue is intermittent, usually occurs when I wean. I am currently working on reducing my dose from 25 to 22.5mg over the course of a month and was surprised at how tired I was after a few days. If I sit down at all I doze off. I guess I thought it wouldn't kick in until my dose was lower. It doesn't occur when I have to drive thank goodness.

Yes, some days I need a nap in the morning. And I feel very tired at other points in the day, worse about 2 pm. Between the PMR and steroids, hard to know what causes the fatigue, but it may be the new normal. Take naps and don’t feel guilty. Listening to music helps. Right now at 18.5 mgs medrol. Plan to go down to 16 in 11 days. Will see how it goes.