Hi all, Hope you’re all having a good weekend? I would like to ask, how does everyone cope with tiredness? Everyday I’m tired but can usually push myself through it but today I’m really struggling. I usually get up at a reasonable hour but today I have slept in, I woke up but too tired to get out of bed. I finally got out of bed at1.45pm but got back in at 4.30pm. I haven’t slept any more today although I feel I need too but I just dont have any energy. Towards the end of the week I was finding it hard to concentrate, can that be part of it as well? Sorry its a boring post but any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance
Hi Yes, the inability to concentrate as it builds, is part of it…it’s called fatigue. Fatigue can be totally debilitating. At my worst, I was sleeping from 9pm to 9am, napping mid morning and mid afternoon. I don’t know if there is anything to help…I didn’t ask, I just rode it through and as I was off work sick, waited for my body to adjust. I can still sleep for 12 hours a night and still sometimes nap in the afternoon but the general level of utter fatigue is not as bad as it was 6 months ago. Xx
Hi Anon,
As Mrs H has said fatigue is the worst, I find I need to get up reasonably early then as the morning goes on my knees begin to buckle and I know I’ve had it and need to rest. Every day I have a rest and wake up and am then able to carry on, sometimes when I sit down in the armchair to watch a programme I actually wake up just as it’s ending. It is one of the most common symtoms of ms.
Janet
x
My inability to walk is the most obvious symptom of my MS but the one that causes me most grief is fatigue.
I’ve given up trying to “push through it” because it’s the road to nowhere. After a long time of railing against it I have to accept that I can do very little and I need to sleep more often than my 3 month old granddaughter!
The MS Society booklet on fatigue is very good (and not because I’m quoted in it!)
I think the key to survival is to find ways of doing things that don’t kill you. Packs of prepared vegetables for example. I’m all for pierce and ping if it gets cooked food on the table. Guilt is the first thing that you have to cast off. There is no place in surviving MS if you expend energy on worrying about what you are not doing (like the dusting)
As for concentrating – ha! Can’t do that.
Jane
Fatigue has always been my worst symptom 
I’ve been very lucky - modafinil really helps me. It doesn’t help my muscle fatigue so doing physical things isn’t much easier, but it allows me to get through most days without sleeping and that makes the world of difference.
Modafinil isn’t easy to get hold of these days, but it’s worth asking to try it. The other med is amantadine. Like modafinil, it doesn’t work for everyone, but again, is worth trying.
Karen x
Hi all Thank you for the posts, I do often feel guilty for being so tired and not doing much. I suppose I just have to except this is what is going to happen. Its nice to know other people feel the same (although not very nice for anyone to feel so tired) Apologies for posting anon, I must have hit the tick box whilst trying to post! Em x