Please describe your M.S. related fatigue

[mystery37]

MS Fatigue

You have all given a very good description. My fatigue is so strong that when I take a shower I must sit rather than stand. When it is very bad, I will pass out any where in my house. I have been found by family members in the tub, on the toilet etc. Very dangerous. Also, I have been in two car accidents b/c when I reach my limit my blurred and double vision began. It is so scary that I am very scared to leave my home. Usually when it hits me hard I will flat line (pass out) for 48 hrs and then I will be okay for a couple days and then it hits again. I can take a B12 shot on Sunday and by Tuesday the following week I will flat line. It also makes my nightly vertigo unbearable.

Mystery37

[iadopted3]

Just making a meal for my kids makes my skin hurt. My arms often feel like they are full of led. Just like others have said, I am not sleepy, but tired, weary. My legs start to tingle even more than they usually do. I can't even explain it aside from hurting skin, but it doesn't really hurt, just tingly like hurt. Feels like I have lifted a ton of weight hundreds of times. I have used the term bone weary or bone tired many times since my first major flare started at the end of December 2011.

[JayEm]

I came across this several years ago, written about Lupus, but it makes sense for anyone with this kind of fatigue: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/ar...e-miserandino/

(If the link doesn't work, Google "Spoon theory" and the first several links should take you there.)

I've described the physical fatigue as what would happen if you had the flu, ran a marathon, and then helped someone move from a 4th floor walkup apartment to a 5th floor walkup apartment two doors down the street. You get so exhausted your body shakes, so tired you can't sleep, so tired it feels like gravity has double the pull on you that it should.

The mental fatigue I've described as feeling as though my thoughts run on little tracks (like those Brio trains kids have), and those tracks have been filled up with oatmeal. It jams the wheels of the thoughts, and takes so much effort just to push one thought to where it ought to go.

And, for me, either one can hit almost without warning. Some days, I feel "fine" (although "fine" has been downgraded over the years). And some of *those* days, I can be pretty active without consequences. Other days, I'll feel fine, and then I do something wild and crazy like try to get dressed, and I have to rest for half an hour. And then there are the days where just sitting up exhausts me.

[Ihb7337]

all of you have explained your episodes of fatigue so well. I do love the "gravity is mad at me" quote! I feel like my body is made of lead.....and my ability to think clearly and sort through issues is a mess! I've had to break down my brain activites to one issue at a time. When and if I finish the one brain exercise, I move on to the next. It does make paying bills very hard.

Seriously I get so frustrated I just quit! Then that gets me in trouble but what can you do? It's the way it is! I agree with one of the posts above.....when I have a good day, I go like mad and get as much done as is humanly possible!!!

[DebbyV]

WOW BLUZ...You took the words out of my mouth! Exactly how I feel. I think this MS Fatigue might be the worst symptom of my MS. I simply can't explain it to people, I try, but it's almost like I can't find a word strong enough to explain just how exhausted my body and "brain" feels.

And it's so true, when I DO have a little bit of energy, I'm around the house like a mad woman doing dishes, laundry, cleaning because I know...it's not going to last very long. I left the house yesterday with a list of errands to run, I made it to ONE stop and had to come back home. Even my eye lids were so heavy.

It's so tough.

[spoiledbrat]

YOU ALL HAVE DESCRIBED WHAT I FEEL ONLY NOT ALL THE TIME....

Have you attempted to have your neuro fill out an exception form? A lot of insurance companies have a policy in which items that are not covered can have an "exception" for them to cover it. Contact your insurance company to check if they have something like this and their procedures.

[Thinkimjob]

Treading water in the middle of a swimming pool full of treacle.

[rexhemi]

FATIGUE

YOU ALL HAVE DESCRIBED WHAT I FEEL ONLY NOT ALL THE TIME. ONE OF MY DOCTORS GAVE ME NUVYGIL AND IT REALLY HELPED BUT MY INSURANCE COMPANY CLAIMS THAT THIS WAS NOT IT'S INTENDED USE SO THEY WOULD NOT COVER IT AT ALL. IF THEY JUST KNEW.

[spoiledbrat]

@ mercadies25 - My husband does the grocery shopping and I think the same thing every time he comes home. I feel since he went out and picked every thing up from the LONG list I made, the least I can do is help put every thing away! But then I am just sooo drained and do not feeling like doing any work. I will force myself to at least put the thing in the refrigerator, but even that is draining so I will wind up just taking every thing out of the bags for him HA!

@ CGMoonbeam - Wow! Unfortunately, I also suffer from chronic insomnia no matter what time it is. If I have been awake for 3 days and become very tired, I am able to just "pass out". However, it is never for more than 2 hours and then I am awake and fatigued again. That is even more difficult to explain.

People are always like, "Wait, you have fatigue and insomnia? How is that possible?" I have to tell them that fatigue is not just being sleepy and insomnia is the difficulty either falling asleep or staying asleep.

[spoiledbrat]

Sometimes I feel as if I do not have the energy to breathe...

I get like that as well. I feel like breathing takes work. One day I even tried holding my breath for a moment thinking that maybe my natural impulse would kick in and the breathing would get easier.

I think I am going to stop trying to explain to certain people. I have explained more than enough times to the same people and they still do not get it. My husband acts like he gets it, but then he will tell me to just go to sleep then, and I am like I am not sleepy, I am drained. Then he will say it again. ARGH!

Having a little bit of energy is good. The problem is that becomes the time when a person will try to do everything they can because you never know when you are going to become fatigued again. And that is sort of going against the M.S. since there is also a rush you place on yourself.

Adderall is the first thing that worked for me even a little. It also helps cognitive. But it does not last all day and by the time I remember I can take another one it is only a few hours before bed HA! Even though it does not work every time, I am grateful when it does!

[spoiledbrat]

Ah, MS Fatigue. It is one of my favorite things to try to explain to people.....

:-/

It is like gravity is mad... PERFECT! I never thought of it like that HA! I love it! When the specialist do not seem to understand makes it worse. You want the specialist to be compassionate and have empathy at least. It seems that some specialists just went through a list in college to see how they can make the most money, and not actually had a passion for the field they chose.

[ars320]

I feel like I have taken a large dose of Benedryl but then have to stay up. I could fall asleep at any time. This makes driving home after work a little scary. Meds, first tried Provigil then Adderal, only help a little. Drinking more and more coffee only helps a little.

[CGMoonbeam]

I HAVE to lie down. I can't do anything else. It feels like their is a string attached to the top of my head inside my body that someone pulls, and I'm done. My husband will call and feel bad that he woke me. My usual response is that I didn't even know I was asleep until he woke me. I just pass out. It's more like being unconscious rather than just asleep.

[mercadies25]

WELL BLUZ---U have just discribed my fatigue to the T.

I take a shower and then sit on my bed and ughhhhh I'm pooped!!!!

Grocery shopping-do we really did to have food in the fridge. Gosh who's gonna put this stuff up?

No, I don't try to explain it to others without MS, They just would not get it. It's hard for me to understand. My husband and my kids are very understanding. They new what and who I was before so they now this is beyond tired.

Love this web-site, it helps bunches.

[BLUZ]

I get both physical and mental fatigue.

Physical Fatigue ~ my muscles do not have the energy to continue on. Whether it is blow drying my hair, walking up a flight of stairs or getting dressed my body does not have the strength to complete these tasks. Simple events that the average individual takes for granted become chores for people suffering from MS Fatigue.

Mental Fatigue ~ everything begins to blur, I read and then re-read information and still am unable to comprehend and I feel an overwhelming need to sleep. My cognitive functions have decreased significantly because of the Mental Fatigue.

No amount of medication the neuro has prescribed me has helped...