What causes the exhaustion I feel almost all the time? Even after an okay night's sleep, I go through almost every day with that feeling you have after being in a swimming pool for hours . . . heavy, weighted down, and exhausted.

Anyone know what causes this?

It could be a lot of things lefthanded. Do you suffer a lot of stress? How's your iron? Do you take vitamins like B-12 or B-6? You might want to have a blood test and possibly a stress test. I know when I'm stressed there are times when I can't move. Well hope you feel better soon.

It was once explained to me that similarly to when you have a cold or flu, you're body takes a while to fight any infection. Same with ms lesions, they're inflammations. All your spare energy goes to healing inflammations and the release of chemicals when you do this is what causes tiredness, exhaustion and fatigue.

or just get to bed earlier, who knows

That and if you have MS, demylinization, I've heard, will cause exhaution.

Hi Lefthanded,
Most of us experience MS Fatigue, then if you keep on going past you point of fatigue, it leads to exhaustion.

Having said that, I also want to say to get a good check up from you PCP. It could be an added problem, like sugar, high or low, Thyroid, high or low, vitamin deficiently of some kind, lack of absorption in the intestines, not eating properly, like the right foods for energy.

So yes, MS can cause this exhaustion, but so can other issues, disorders, and other diseases. When I relapse it causes me to be exhausted, well beyond the fatigue mark. So I sleep when I can, wake when I do, and sleep again until it passes.

Some medications can cause exhaustion, even those for MS symptoms, like Baclofen, etc. even antihistamines, OTC meds, and other Pharmacy drugs can cause this too.

If you have a busy day, or work, try to cook or clean, have a family or animals to tend too, you have a busy day and it can be expected. If you are a couch potato, or in bed, that too can lead to being more tired than normal. Less activity does not build up stamina.

These things I have found to cause exhaustion. If I am busy one day, I rest the next. Too many consecutive busy days, can surely be exhausting.

Find out the cause and work with it, that's all you can do.
Take care, and rest when you feel this way.

Fatigue and exhaustion is a very common issue with MS. They are not quite sure what causes it, and I've heard many theories. One that my neuro threw out there is that our bodies are working twice as hard trying to rewrite new pathways around the damage caused by demyelination. Being sick, stress, etc. can make it worse. Sometimes extreme fatigue can be a signal that a flare is coming on, sometimes not.

A check for any vitamin/mineral deficencies is a very good idea. My fatigue can get so bad that they have done bloodtest checks a few times.

I call what happens to us sometimes the "pay to play" program. If you push one day, then the next is a day of rest. If able to, break big projects into small ones. An example would be work on something for 15 minutes, break for 15-30, then repeat. It takes longer than it used to, but it helps to see something being accomplished.