How do you handle your fatigue?

[cmorris975]

Some weeks I barely have any. Then others, like the last few weeks, I am absolutely floored by it. Sometimes coffee seems to help, other times not really. Sometimes I have drank too much coffee trying to function during the day and I have to take sleeping pills at night to fall asleep. But then I fear those pills make me even more tired the next day than I would have been.

I eat healthy, do not smoke or drink, take vitamins, take naps but fatigue really is getting me bad at the moment. Makes it hard not to get depressed when I cannot do much (nevermind that when I do have some energy my coordination, vision and cognitive impairments make most things a challenge!). Anyways, sorry for the venting there.

But back to my question, how do you handle your fatigue?

Thanks,

Chris

[Tonya499]

I take naps and 300 mg of Provigil. I have central sleep apnea and my doctor added oxygen to my CPAP. It helps a lot.

[cmorris975]

Ok thanks Tonya, I may have to try Provigil again. It made me feel pretty anxious when I tried it before (but so does coffee).

Chris

[palmtree]

Hi Chris,

I wish I knew how to handle the fatigue. It seems some of us have it more than others. I know that toughing it out doesn't work. I just get more tired. I have planned my life so that there are at least 3 days in between activities.

My main headquarters is my bed. I have my IPhone and my IPad and a book to read. Even though I am exhausted I still can't sleep. So I have to take sleeping pills, too. If I don't get a good sleep I am useless. When I do get to sleep, I sleep so deeply it's almost like a coma. When I look at the clock I don't know if it's am or pm.

I wish there was a cure for this terrible disease. I want it out of my system. These new treatments that reboot our immune system interest me.

I wish you the best and let you know you are not alone in this fight.

[babymonkey]

I take Adderall and it works for me. I tried Provigil, but I became immune to it quickly. That is when they gave me Adderall. I take it early in the morning and am ready for sleep by 9 at night.
I have no side effects.

Best of luck and you are NOT alone!

[SNOOPY]

Hi Chris,

There are options in trying to treat fatigue.

Medications:

- Provigil
- Nuvigil
- A.D.D. meds (adderall, Ritalin, ect.)

I may have to try Provigil again. It made me feel pretty anxious when I tried it before (but so does coffee).

The above mentioned medications as well as coffee are stimulants and can have the side effect you experienced.

Amantadine is an anti-viral medication which some have found helpful for fatigue.

Non-medication options to help fatigue:

- Naps when needed

- Exercise --- yes, even though you may be tired exercise has been shown to help with fatigue.

I am unable to use any of the medications to treat fatigue. Stimulants cause more fatigue (for me) and Amantadine increased my tremors.

So, I use the non-medication options to treat fatigue: Exercise and naps

[andreagwolford]

hi

Have you tried dealing it with Exercise? Your doctor may prescribe physical therapy to address your specific needs. You may want to try occupational or physical therapy. It really helps. In occupational therapy, a trained specialist helps you to simplify activities in your work or home environments. This may involve using adaptive equipment or changing the environment to help increase physical and mental energy. In physical therapy, a trained professional helps you more effectively perform daily physical tasks—for example, using techniques or devices that may help you to conserve energy while walking. I hope it helps.

[cmorris975]

Thank you for the responses everyone!

Most interesting. I too seem to get tired when I take stimulants as one of you mentioned. But my girlfriend, who also has MS, has some Nuvigil so I am going to try that again (I was prescribed it in the past but threw it away as Provigil was making me nervous at the time).

The exercise theory has me most intrigued. I used to love long distance cycling and also weight-lifting before my MS got worse, so this is a natural thing for me to want to try. I will start with walks around the neighborhood and some short hill hiking.

I will let you know how it goes!

Chris

[jjs]

Have you tried dealing it with Exercise? Your doctor may prescribe physical therapy to address your specific needs. You may want to try occupational or physical therapy. It really helps. In occupational therapy, a trained specialist helps you to simplify activities in your work or home environments. This may involve using adaptive equipment or changing the environment to help increase physical and mental energy. In physical therapy, a trained professional helps you more effectively perform daily physical tasks—for example, using techniques or devices that may help you to conserve energy while walking. I hope it helps.

Thank you for explaining this; it was helpful for me.

[knuckle]

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) and Acetyl L Carnitine (ALCAR), both inexpensive supplements, help with MS fatigue.

ALA is also in clinical trial as a MS therapy for SPMS.

Malic Acid will help with MS fatigue. Google: malic acid fatigue

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) will pretty much eliminate MS fatigue - see my "Useful LDN Information" thread on the Medications Forum.