What strategies to you use for fatigue?

[Mac87]

My MS-caused fatigue has been particularly bad this week. I'm wondering what strategies others use to cope with their fatigue. I plan my day so that I can lie down for at least 3 hours each afternoon. I've learned through experience if I don't do that I can't make it through the early evening. If I become too exhausted one day, I know that I will experience worse fatigue into the next day and sometimes even beyond that. I try to avoid dairy; rarely eat red meat; and take Vitamin D, fish oil, and other vitamins. I have a dog, so I'm forced to walk every day. Besides these strategies, are there any others that have helped you? I'd love to hear about your experiences. Thank you!

[MSer102]

Taking vitamin D is good, but is your blood level high enough? It isn't just how much you take but what your blood level is. My fatigue was much worse until I got my level up to about 70 ng/ml.

Have you tried one of the stimulant medicines? Amantadine works for about half the people who take it. Provigil works for about half the people who take it. Provigil has been "updated" as Nuvigil. Some people find that Aderall or Ritalin or one of the other stimulants works better. Some people do well with a combination of acetyl-l carnitine and alpha lipoic acid.

Napping and trying to conserve energy are nice but often they aren't enough for dealing with MS fatigue. Sometimes it takes medication.

[misslux]

I take 4-aminopyridine which helps some, but my fatigue is still pretty bad. Soon to start amantadine.

I rest in between activities and have to plan everything, which is a pain in the butt, but seems to help. So shower, rest, change, rest, put my AFO and shoes on, rest. You get the idea.

[BarkingDogs]

Vitamin D & B12, and Nuvigil (as needed).

Nuvigil has helped me immensely.

[aspen]

My PT recommended energy conservations strategies. The best one, which seems entirely counter-productive is ... if you wake up feeling pretty good ... REST. Don't spend the whole morning rushing around doing chores. Just stay in that healing place.

Surprisingly, this has worked for me. Rest, then start tackling the energy-sapping stuff later in the day (when it's closer to bedtime).

I don't know why it works but it works for both myself (undxed) and a friend with ms. I get much more accomplished by delaying chores and errands, and end up with more energy overall.

[justacowgirl]

I schedule my work for morning when I feel the best.
I exercise.
I keep my weight under control and eat lightly.
I try to do enjoyable things and focus on the things I enjoy throughout my day.
I nap when I need it and never feel guilty about napping.
I let things go if I don't feel I have the energy to accomplish them.

I fight fatigue by being kind to myself.

Works for me.

J

[Thinkimjob]

Weirdly enough, I can't sleep of an afternoon. Lying down, with my feet elevated, helps.
Awful nightmares dozing off of a daytime.
Don't try to fight the fatigue, you won't win. Flow, go with it.

[Mable]

This one is silly, but it's working.

I'm in a research study for MS and fatigue put on by the Occupational Therapy department at a local college. One suggestion they gave us is to sleep with light blankets and make sure we aren't getting overheated at night.

Before I started doing that, I always thought it was just normal for my MS symptoms to be worse first thing in the morning. I also felt every morning that I wanted to spend the day in bed, and didn't really come alive until I'd been out of bed for a while. Turns out, I was just overheating myself all night.

May not apply to you at all, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[Strhuntrss]

Overheated at Night

This one is silly, but it's working.

I'm in a research study for MS and fatigue put on by the Occupational Therapy department at a local college. One suggestion they gave us is to sleep with light blankets and make sure we aren't getting overheated at night.

Before I started doing that, I always thought it was just normal for my MS symptoms to be worse first thing in the morning. I also felt every morning that I wanted to spend the day in bed, and didn't really come alive until I'd been out of bed for a while. Turns out, I was just overheating myself all night.

May not apply to you at all, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Thank you Mabel!

When I was searching the site today, I found yours to be an eye opener.

For reasons I didn't know, my fatigue, a few times, were when I wake up in the morning. Not realizing it might be my blankets.

This past month I have put on the winter beddings on all of our beds but one, the guest room. No need to make that one until we have guests, lol.

In two instances sleeping in my bed and waking in the morning found me in extreme fatigue. Not knowing why, I chucked it up to, must be that time again for my body to do what its doing with this disease.

After reading your blog, it dawned on me that I have heavy thick blankets on my bed and that I would wake up overheated. Mind you, I have left the thermometer in my room set to low to keep it cool.

Not realizing its my blankets. Thank you Mabel you dear heart!

I will take the heavy ones off and put on lighter, cooler ones and see if that helps.

I will let you know how it goes

[Lisabelle]

I too feel worst in the morning and will switch to a lighter blanket. Interesting.
Provigil does wonders for me.
Didn't know about the B-12 and will try that.

Eating right is good for maintaining energy levels.
Some exercise is important for increasing stamina.
Reducing stress conserves energy.
Using an assistive device can also conserve energy.
I have my groceries delivered and this is a Godsend.
Plenty of sleep is an obvious one, but we often overlook sleep quality.
A stool in the kitchen is helpful to break up the time that you stand.
Good music helps pep me up or keep me going

...a few thoughts to ponder :-)

[agate]

Hi Mac87,

Slow down. If you're in the habit of trying to get a lot of things done in a certain time, rethink that.

I've found that slowing down often saves me from fatigue. If necessary I stop the activity and wait till a better time to finish it. I don't like interrupting some job that's all set up but sometimes you have to.

Rest when your body tells you it's tired. I can tell because symptoms start up. My vision will blur, my speech will slur, I get confused, I stumble easily, drop and spill things more easily.

Other people have different signals, probably, but those are mine.

[zeak]

my solution

What worked for me was: lighter pj's and no blankets what so ever. Thanks for posting about blankets, I had never given that a thought. Love this site, lots of helpful info for all.

[sunshine008]

I work out about 5 to 7 times a week, I eat heatlhy and i drink buckets of coffee

everytime I"m exhausted I push through it and get back up on my feet. I find if I cave into it it only worsens

[agate]

sunshine008, everyone's different, but I don't think of it as caving in if I stop what I've been doing and rest, even if I have to rest for a couple of days or a week before making that effort again.

Just one example: If I clean one venetian blind, I'll be too tired to do the other two. They'll probably get put off till another day. Lots of reaching up does me in.

I'm starting to see the point of buckets of coffee. I've never been a coffee drinker because coffee made me jittery. Recently I tried it again and decided I like it well enough to keep drinking it--a 16 oz. mug every couple of days seems to make me feel more alert.

[misslux]

I agree that everyone's different. If I try and push through the fatigue, it will put me out for DAYS. My physiatrist, PT and OT all stressed to me that I need to stop before fatigue hits.