Also, the unpredicability of fatigue makes it so difficult to have definite plans throughout the week. I have been thinking about volunteering at the hospital or library, just to get out of this house and interact with other humans.
But if I have "one of those days", there is no way that I would be able to function. Now, when fatigue hits, I can barely walk, let alone think coherently.

It bites, it really does. This is when the victim mentality kicks in...that is so hard to keep at bay.:(

I don't bother calling the neuro about it...they just ask, are you sick? do you have a UTI? a cold? They can't do anything about it anyway.

I WANT MY LIFE BACK!!:mad:

OMG that is so funny Blessings and sooooo true..:D:p:D I remember my GMother wearing a bib when she ate. Even at a restuarant she would wear a napkin like a bib. Like you do when you're eating lobster.

I'm always dribbling something that drops before I get the spoon to my mouth.:rolleyes::cool: Yes, I said spoon, because it's safer than a fork.:eek:. And I hang a paper towel on my chest/lap, if my meal is especially juicy.

It's hell getting old, I tell ya.:Crazy 2:

I did this just today.....dripped the juice from a tomato on the front of my shirt. :rolleyes: When I got up it looked like a two year old had been sitting there! :o These are the times I'm glad I eat alone. ;)

Fatigue...
 

I am bummed because I manage about 3-4 hrs. per day of productivity. Then it's rest the day away. I am not accustomed to being this inactive. I'll be taking a lot of notes to my next dr. visit.

:winky: Thanks for being able to spout off.

Any time Somebody's Mom.:hug:

Yes, yes, yes, you know
 

I'm so glad to hear you say that. I can't make it through the list either. I read where Anne Romney said she was sometimes too fatigued to talk and that was music to my ears. No one gets what ms fatigue is like and I get that look so often. You know that look that says "you slacker." For the last several years the thought all I need to do overwhelms me and I can't seem to even move. Thanks for your thoughts. I needed to know someone "got it" today. Sues1697

Welcome to the community, Sues...I agree with you that sometimes we just needs to know that someone gets it. When I connect with someone else that's on the same page with fatigue, I feel almost euphoric!

The closest I ever came to that kind of fatigue before my MS diagnosis was after I had just been home a few hours after surgery. I thought I'd make a sandwich. I got it half made and was so exhausted physically and so brain-tired that I just left the bread and stuff on the counter...didn't know if I could make it back to the living room chair. I was weepingly tired.

Excellent description. I was like this yesterday. And even part of today. I waaaaay overdid it yesterday and couldn't even form a sentence when I got home. Too tired to even think OR talk. I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon and feel so much better now. How on earth did I used to work upwards of 60 hours a week and still be able to function?? Fatigue is my most limiting symptom.

If I dont have any on the front of my shirt, I didnt eat today. I swear I just cant seem to eat without looking like a 3 year old. a bib may not be a bad idea.

Im too tired to care. :(

I know, Dej. Some days I'm doing good just to fix myself something to eat....let alone worry about whether or not I got it on my clothes. That's why I jut stay in my jammies some days.

It's taken me two days to begin to feel somewhat "normal" again.....whatever that is. :rolleyes: Normal for me is tired for someone else. Tired for me is exhausted for others. Exhausted for me is immobile for some folks.

My oldest DS was asking about fatigue when we were out on Thursday. I tried to explain it to him and couldn't really make him understand. Once we got home and he witnessed me not even being able to get up to tell him goodbye I think he got a glimpse of it.

To someone who has never experienced MSFatigue, it's useless trying to explain it. There is NO comparison and they will always think you are exagerating..:rolleyes:

Ever been too tired to think? I simply couldnt form the words in my own head to be able to think, let alone speak. Just tell DH, "must lay" and he gets it. After a rest break he comes in and says "got your words?" Too tired to think is an awful feeling.

Yes, to tired to think and sometimes too tired to breath!!

I am just now feeling a little closer to what my "normal" is after a full day out on Thursday. It's taken me two full days just to get back to tired.....not exhausted. :rolleyes: It's such a good feeling to know there's nowhere I have to be and to just be able to stay at home.

I have hit the wall. I am so tired and resting does not seem to be helping. Fro some reason, sleep has been eluding me lately. I have four more days to go (three classes of final exams to give and grade) and two dinners to attend. Then I will be done. I don't know if this is the MS or the low iron/B12 counts or a combination, but I have not been this fatigued since the first year when I was dx.

If you all would just listen to me-
1000mcg's B12 soon as you get up, B100 complex after lunch, Iron if you need it, Testosterone if you're low. And that only works if YOU do the work pushing yourself more every week till you build endurance.
DIET- Hopefully all know fatty foods such as potato chips ROB energy & has been proven. PROTEIN is a must I don't care how you get it.
If you buy prepackaged food, lowest salt highest protein works for me. I never look at calories.

If all above fails, buy a pusle/ox meter online for $35 like my neuro's office has as do I, and see if your oxygen's low. Adderall is precription speed if needed.

I'll have to look into adderall.

Barb, I was a teacher too, and I know how those final days of a quarter can pile up. You have my sympathy. Trying to rest--maybe you need to increase the dimness of your room, decrease TV and radio in your home for now....get stimulus out of your house for now.

I had an episode of debilitating fatigue yesterday. :(

Today is garbage/recycling day and I usually take mine to the curb the night before.

Well, there was no way I was going to be able to do this last night. I knew better than to even try.

My legs felt like I had a cinder block tied to each ankle. Just walking from my bedroom to the front of the house was exhausting. My feet felt like I was walking on tennis balls.

So I just went to bed.....and figured the garbage would just have to wait till next week. It's not like I have alot anyway.

Got up this morning and felt 100% better. Knew I'd be able to take the garbage and recycling out to the curb. Took it slow but it got done before the trucks arrived.

Sometimes a day makes all the difference. :)

It's so FRUSTRATING to me that sometimes I think, "I'm probably overdoing it today and I'll be toast tomorrow"...but other times, you just hit the wall. No warning, no reason, random times of day. Just BAM. And you just sit there slack-jawed because you're too tired to shut your mouth, and if somebody asks you what you're thinking about, you can honestly answer "nothing".

So true, B2Y. I've stopped fretting about it, though. I just go with it. Too much energy needed to fight it. I just take the opportunity to lay down and give thanks that I can. ;)

So far this has been a good week for me. All kinds of energy and strength, when I'm up. I think my secret is to take lots of naps and before I get up, do my stretches and stuff.

Of course I know that this beautiful weather could change on a dime and the wind could shift, then my shoulders could droop and that same look that B2Y gets on her face, and boom.:thud:

The only two meds I've tried for fatigue were amantadine and provigil. Fail! I was allergic to the amantadine, and the provigil made me jittery and gave me nightmares. I decided I'd just use diet coke, save some money!

Others have tried different meds; perhaps someone will chime in?

One thing that frustrates me is the impossibility of determining whether a bout with severe fatigue is an exacerbation, a pseudo-exacerbation, or just a reaction to overdoing it. Or none of the above!

A period of 24 hours or more of SEVERE fatigue, separated from other episodes by at least 30 days, CAN be an actual exacerbation (otherwise known as relapse, attack, or flare-up). It CAN be, but that doesn't mean it is.

It can be a pseudo-exacerbation, or pseudo-flare--a temporary worsening of fatigue due to heat, illness, any number of things. OR....??

Every once in a while, like every year or two, I have a few days of extreme fatigue...I'm not usually sleepy, just tired, but during these spells I just can't get enough sleep, and can barely drag myself around. I guess it wouldn't change anything to know if they are technically flares.