LauraB wrote, speaking of her husband: "He is currently off work and is so bored sitting around the house. I have been trying to encourage him to get out and about, but he is so constantly exhausted he is not up for it. His leg muscles seem to be fading away, so much so that his legs have actually given way on 4 occasions and he has ended up on the ground. The hospitals stock response to this fatigue seems to be 'give it time' - but how much ?? Has anyone else experienced this extreme tiredness ? "
Laura: tell your husband that nobody with a computer is ever bored. I, too, am currently off work [well, it's hard to get a job when one is nearly 80; potential employers seem to have a hang-up about employing octogenarians - I can't think why] but I am never, ever bored. Boredom is a foreign country to which I have been denied a passport. When one is no longer fully active the computer opens up a whole new world - indeed, much more - a whole new universe. And, yes, I am often tired and my legs feel as if I've swalllowed lead weights and they have sunk to my feet but I don't let that keep me housebound or keep me away from visits to theatre, concerts. I've been on dialysis for six years and find that this feeling of fatigue tends to come and go. At the moment I feel this fatigue less than I did in the first year of dialysis but there are still many times when I feel not up to going out. Very often, however, this feeling lessens once I am out and even though I have to walk very slowly I do get to where I want to go, aided, of course, by bus, tube and taxi.
Laura's tired husband
Moderator: administrator
Hi,
I still very tired and worn out after work but it has slowly got much better than the way I was feeling before dialysis. I still find it difficult to motivate myself to go out to the pub as I don't want to drink anything and also if I am working the next morning it is very difficult to go out and still do 8 hours of APD and get to work in time. I'm a big big film fan so I do watch lots of films to pass the time.
Just stick with it as it will get better slowly.
Mike
I still very tired and worn out after work but it has slowly got much better than the way I was feeling before dialysis. I still find it difficult to motivate myself to go out to the pub as I don't want to drink anything and also if I am working the next morning it is very difficult to go out and still do 8 hours of APD and get to work in time. I'm a big big film fan so I do watch lots of films to pass the time.
Just stick with it as it will get better slowly.
Mike
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Robin in Hungary
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2004 6:29 pm
collapsing legs
I don't think I remember (or ever read) the exact situation of Laura's husband, but if he's on predisolone or another steroid, there's a possible explanation for the weak legs - something called steoid myopathy, I think.
In my case, the top thigh muscles get weak - stair climbing gets hard, getting up from a chair without support from arms gets hard, getting up from squatting or sitting on the floor involved contortions. Arm and stomach muscles also suffer some, but not to the same extent.
This is my second round with it, it progressed much faster this time (higher steroid dosage). The pred is being tapered off, and muscle strength is coming back, slowly. It does eventually come back, I can testify from experience - it did the first time.
This time I was taken off Lescol, a cholesterol drug, because the interaction of that and pred can worsen this side effect.
If this might be the case with your husband, try asking the doctor (specialist - my family doctor knew nothing about it). It might just help to know that it's not forever and not something all that weird and -- well, it helped me to know that it had a name. (It also affects cancer patients and others on steroids).
Robin in Hungary
In my case, the top thigh muscles get weak - stair climbing gets hard, getting up from a chair without support from arms gets hard, getting up from squatting or sitting on the floor involved contortions. Arm and stomach muscles also suffer some, but not to the same extent.
This is my second round with it, it progressed much faster this time (higher steroid dosage). The pred is being tapered off, and muscle strength is coming back, slowly. It does eventually come back, I can testify from experience - it did the first time.
This time I was taken off Lescol, a cholesterol drug, because the interaction of that and pred can worsen this side effect.
If this might be the case with your husband, try asking the doctor (specialist - my family doctor knew nothing about it). It might just help to know that it's not forever and not something all that weird and -- well, it helped me to know that it had a name. (It also affects cancer patients and others on steroids).
Robin in Hungary