Family Physician: A Friend to Depend On

Posted on: 14 May 2019

Psoriatic arthritis is a condition some people may develop along with psoriasis. If you have psoriasis, you most likely have red patches with silvery scales. This condition can be itchy, cause burning or pain and inflammation. Psoriatic arthritis can develop and cause issues with pain in the joints such as the elbows and knees, as well as pain in the feet and hands, and lead to fatigue. Read on for tips to help treat your fatigue.

What Causes Your Fatigue?

Fatigue associated with psoriatic arthritis is usually caused because you could also be experiencing a lack of sleep, have increased anxiety, or have pain in your joints that can make getting to sleep difficult, even if you are tired.

Even when you do get a full night's sleep, you may still feel fatigued when you wake in the morning. This continued fatigue will lead can lead to depression, weight gain, irritability, liver issues, anemia, and other health problems.

What Can Be Done To Treat Your Fatigue?

Some treatments that can be done to help with your fatigue include medication or an adjustment to the medications you are currently taking. Some medications may be contributing to your fatigue, so an adjustment of what you are taking or how much you are taking may need to be adjusted.

Other treatments include iron treatments, sleep medications, or therapy. An increase in iron can help boost your energy levels by increasing your red blood cell count.

Prescription sleep aids can give you the sleep you are lacking and help reduce the anxiety that may be disrupting your sleep at night. Therapy can help you talk about your issues with psoriatic arthritis or other things that are weighing on your mind to give you the sleep you need.

What Can You Do To Treat Your Fatigue?

To help improve your own fatigue, there are things you can do on your own, including:

• Change In Diet. Change your diet to include fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and fresh fish. Limit the number of carbohydrates you consume that cannot give you the right type of energy you need throughout the day as other foods will.
• Increase Physical Activity. Increase your physical activity and exercise daily. If you are too fatigued to get to the gym, walk around your neighborhood, stretch at home while watching television, or just do something where you are moving more than you normally would.
• Lose Weight. Along with the dietary change and exercise, focusing on losing weight can help with your fatigue. If you have noticed extra weight gain, it can weigh on the joints in the body, making just walking around or doing daily chores more difficult. Losing weight will help with this.

Psoriatic arthritis can lead to a number of other medical issues, including chronic fatigue. Battle the fatigue by getting the right treatment. Talk to your physician about what psoriatic arthritis treatment is right for you.