I got an information sheet from Caremark that I might photocopy and hand to a few select friends and family members...not as an "in your face" thing, but because I haven't done a very good job of explaining it myself.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the sheet:

"For many patients, fatigue is the most disabling symptom of their disease..."

"The fatigue experienced by patients with MS is more severe than fatigue experienced by other people. This is because it is a neurological fatigue, associated with the MS disease process..."

"The extreme fatigue that characterizes multiple sclerosis is different from normal fatugue in that it: occurs daily; gets worse late in the day; manifests suddenly; often worsens with heat, physical exertion or emotional stress."

"The fatigue of MS has no direct correlation with a person's degree of physical impairment, nor does it occur because of depression..."

"One of the most frustrating aspects of MS is that sometimes friends, family or coworkers mistake fatigue for depression or laziness..."

You know what really gets my goat? When my neuro puts my fatigue off to depression...grrr! Maybe I ought to get a copy of that and mail it to him...

I'd hand it to him in person, Debbie, with the one finger salute.. JK.

Thanks blessings. We all know this, but I sure am glad it's in writing for our caregivers and others to see.

i have to agree.
in the summer the heat can almost paralyze me. i just can't move and my breathing is labored from the effort to move.

hit the nail on the head. if I get upset I get drained. that really upsets me, because I have a chaotic family and need to stand my ground sometimes, but am simply not able. I have just let it go, and that appears to be allowing them to win.

Thanks for this.

Actually, Dej, your Family loses...again!!

Hi this is carol and I had much fatique. Even though my neuro doesn't like me to take anything I do take aderol to help me and it does. Why suffer if you don't have too. Have you tried anything to help you.