I'm interested in this discussion about the difference between "fatigued," "weak," and "tired." My arm muscles get tired, by which I mean they feel like they would feel if I was just lifting weights or shoveling snow or something. They have an actual sensation in them of fatigue, that I can feel even if I'm resting them.

But my side and back muscles get weak. If I'm lying down, they don't feel unusual. I can't tell until I stand up if they're working or not. And when they're not working, they don't feel tired--they just don't hold me up like they're supposed to. If I move my upper body sligtly to the side, as you do when you take a step forward, I tend to just keep going, because my side and back muscles fail to tighten up. So I have to take a step to the side to catch myself, or when I'm seriously weak, I crash into the wall.

For this reason it took months before I understood that I didn't have an inner ear problem that was messing with my balance, or some sort of ataxia. I didn't feel any _sensation_ of weakness, like I do in my arms and neck. As for my legs, sometimes they feel fatigued like my arms, and sometimes they are just weak. When they're weak, I tend to do a slow-motion collapse. They just stop holding me up and I end up on the floor, but I don't hurt myself because they let me down verrrrrry slowly. I think I must be lovely to watch.

Does that make sense to anyone? I am still trying to figure all of this out. It would be encouraging to hear that anyone knows what I'm talking about!

Abby