exhaustion

Hi

Can anyone give me some encouragement? I’ve been going downhill very slowly since before diagnosis 2 years ago. This week I’ve been hit by a virus. It just seems like a normal cold, but My God, I cant do anything. Been housebound for 6 days. Can’t make my left leg work at all. Completely exhausted. And my wife thinks I’m faking. Can somebody tell me its going to get better?

Andy, I had that virus too and ended up with a chest infection. Christmas completely wiped out & MS symptoms seemed worse. Don’t normally get colds and stuff (make sure I have flu jab) so I don’t think you’ve got ‘man flu’!!! Loads of folk I know had the same virus so Mrs Andy, please be gentle with your beloved, it’s a nasty virus which takes a while but he will be back to pre-virus state very soon.


xx

Hi Andy

When you get a virus, it can often make your MS symptoms worse. Even just your fatigue level. And that then makes everything seem like you’re slogging uphill carrying one of the stones from Stonehenge on your back (maybe a small exaggeration there!).

And if it’s already a nasty virus, then no wonder you feel so dreadful. It’s not man flu. It’s just horrible.

Feeling like you’re going downhill since diagnosis is quite common. Are you relapsing remitting? And are you on a DMD? If you are still having relapses, then maybe it’s not the right DMD. If you’re RR and on a DMD but still feel like you’re going downhill, then it could be your muscles that are getting weaker. Or that small relapses that you’re not really noticing are causing insidious damage. Viruses like the one you have now won’t help either.

When the virus is over, maybe you should try to see your MS nurse to talk through how you’re doing overall?

I hope the cold improves soon. And you start to feel a bit better.

Sue

Hello Andy.

Sue has wise words.

Most people I know have been knocked for six by this virus. It got me too. It’s still lurking but I’m getting some energy back.

I’m more concerned that your wife thinks your faking.

After thirty odd years of up to sixty-hour weeks, my retirement through ill health, late morning sleep-ins and falling asleep on the sofa were accredited to a sudden, new-found deliberate case of laziness by my now ex-wife.

I have a simple explanation; our immune system is constantly at war with the rest of our body, even when we’re asleep. Anything like a virus makes the battle harder.

Best wishes.

hi andy

i love the fighting talk by steve!

i’ve been torturing the poor burglars (yes they are bad but torture is worse) in my head all week.

i’m all violenced out now, so love and peace all round.

it’s not just the battle with our immune systems that makes us weary.

simple thinks like getting up and going for a pee require concentration and planning.

ms is like those burglars, sneaks in uninvited and takes things from you.

carole x

in case you didn’t know we were burgled last weekend,