Quote:
Originally Posted by scrubbs
To me, tiredness and muscle fatigue seem like two differant things. I think.
If you are taking your Mestinon as prescribed and you get out of bed one day and able to walk around the block and then the next day you know you are not going to make it so you get three houses away so you turn around and go home is that because your muscles are more tired or fatigued?
If you are sitting in your chair and you go into crisis, is that your diaphragm gotten tired or fatiqued?
I know Webster would define them the same but to us it might be called something besides tiredness or muscle fatigue when our muscles just shut down. I wish I knew.
scrubbs
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What word to use to describe what you are experiencing is semantics.
The problem is that when you talk with someone who has experienced something similar they can easily understand what you mean, regardless of the words you use. But, when you talk to someone who has not experienced something similar it is important not to use words which may be ambiguous.
I have learned not to use the word "tired" of even "fatigue" to describe my MG symptoms, because those words are being used in everyday language with a very different meaning. Instead, I give an exact description of what I am experiencing (sometimes with pictures if required which are easy to obtain with a cell-phone).
When I show a set of pictures of me with my respirator and then gradually recovering and eventually able to smile a normal smile, after trying to swim a few meters and then slowly get out of the pool, it's enough.
When I say that after I move my arm up and down a few times I can't move it at all and it becomes nearly paralyzed and then I can move it again after 10 minutes of rest, it gives a clear picture.
When people ask me why I am so sad, and I say that I am not and it is just my muscles which can't create a smile and my eyes which are drooping that create this impression, they fully understand.
When I use words like tired or fatigued, they say-yes I know what you mean I too am so tired after a day at the clinic. But, a cup of coffee makes me feel much better. Maybe you should try that?