You'ld think I want them to diagnose me with MS. I'm not fishing for an LP but I match so much. I am at the end of my rope wanting an answer.

OK, we have talked fatique,but is it just being tired or having to sleep? It seems like the more I sleep the more I have to sleep. I plan my days so I can sleep 3-4 hours in the afternoon and still sleep all night. I do have an appointment with my neurologist in a couple weeks.

It's not just being tired, it's that crushing fatigue that stops you from functioning, and makes you too exhausted to even roll over in bed.

It isn't necessarily the need to sleep, but the need to stop, regroup, and revive. It's when you brain says 'enough' and the messages just don't get through, it all seems too hard, too complicated, real life is too far away, nothing makes sense, tears are close and reallity is something you only wish for. When it truly hits me, I feel like I am in a hole and there is no way out.

Of course, I do get out of it, and I get back on top of this stupid disease. There is a difference between being tired and MS fatigue. It's kinda like someone letting the air out of your tires, and clubbing you with a baseball bat all at once.

Sure, I get tired like everyone else, but when my MS is active, fatigue is a whole different monster.

Lyn

*winner winner* I just feel paralyzed. I won't make a sandwich because it's too much effort. I'm afraid this is rolling over to working out, fencing. Are we allowed to just freaking give up? It would be so much easier.

No, never give up hope SD.

What would you do with a DX of MS if you got it? You seem to have enough on your plate and you most likely do have MS, but there is no cure and not even a really effective Med.

Have your Doc treat your symptoms with the best ammunition he has, to relieve them as well as can be done. I've been officially DXed for 40 years, and that's all I can do.

I think it would be the satisfaction of knowing and plan accordingly. It's a pain when my family doesn't know what it's like. I agree with you, hell, just rolling over in bed is a chore. Then comes the unsteady gait (weaving up and down the hall bouncing off of them. Trouble balancing on a small step wringing the laundry in. I have already done work-arounds of setting a folding chair in front of the machines so I can load and unload them. When I take a basket upstairs I set it up a couple of steps, climb, then move it up again

I'm registered for two tournaments, one here in November and a national qualifyer in December in Milwaukee (gee,that sounds fun) I need to practice or I'm going to get stomped and lose my national ranking.

I just don't feel like I am pulling my weight which leads to the "what am I trying to get better?" It's nice to talk to folks who get it.

I read something the other day about MS fatigue. The author related it to our batteries dying down, only our battery charge is malfunctioning and doesn't fully charge our batteries. It was a pretty good analogy.

For me, it's the need to just stop what I am doing and rest. There is no other option. You just can't fight through it. Some times it's mental fatigue from too much stimulation and I just need to have some quiet time. Other times, it's physical fatigue where just taking a shower is so physically exhausting. And, other times it's a combination of both of them. I do nap daily and take frequent "breaks" from what ever I am doing. I often feel as if nothing ever fully gets done. Like 1/2 the dishes loaded in the dishwasher or 1/2 the laundry or 1/2 of the vacuuming, etc.

I used to fight it like the devil but after learning the hard way, I just give in to it and rest. Trust me, it has taken me 5 years to finally get it through my head. haha If you overdo it, you will pay for it later in the day, the next day, and/or even the next several days.

At your next appointment, discuss this with your dr. It may be MS or it may be something else. You have had a lot of circulatory things happen and it could be circulatory in nature. Hang in there and know that most of us MSers totally understand the fatigue you are experiencing.

Funny you should mention circulation. In my last Brain surgery I had the full craniotomy (there was a special that month) In addition to placing a clip on the second aneurysm they did an STA-SCA bybass which resulted in a flow reversal in the brain. I swear, I'm going to end up as a journal article.

i literally can't walk anymore. i have to go to bed. over the yrs i've learned to recognize the s&s (signs & symptoms) of impending depletion and have gotten better at intervening and not pushing past my limits.

i'm glad you'll be seeing your dr. even without a dx your dr may be able to tx your sx's.

dx = diagnosis
tx = treatment
sx = symptoms

With my fatigue I have no choice but to go to bed. My body has made the decision for me. When I am really really fatigues I want to lay on the floor. It makes me feel more fatigues to think of sitting on a chair. I don't know how many times at church or in a doctors office I have wanted to lay down on the floor. Just thiking about bathing, dressing, any household activities makes me even tireder. I was so glad I had a battery operated toothbrush the other day cause I don't thik I could have brushed my teeth. I don't have severe fatugie any more but I have read past threads or emails from me that the thought content is so vague. I have hung up the phone becuae I can't hold a conversation. now almost all of this is in the past. I don't even take any mdedicine for it anymore.

I've used a chair to sit on while loading and unloading the clothes dryer and the dish washer for many years (18?) Now I use my late husband's wheelchair to do these chores,
and many others, because I can't squat without either snapping my knees or falling over.
Making the bed is a big problem in case I get my back out. If I get my back out, it's time for PT and chiropractor.
I have found that when I am terribly fatigued I must just stop doing anything that requires focus. I can still watch TV without trying to focus on what's being said, or watch the internet without caring a lot about what they are saying...just goofing off. Or if I need extra sleep, just go take it.
I usually try to suggest Swank diet to people with MS, as it makes a difference to me over the last 25 years. I recently posted about losing balance more than ever before--and since then I have cut out of my diet any saturated fat I can, in conformance with Swank diet, and I believe that once again it helped, and it might especially help if you have circulatory problems. Read Roy Swank M.D.'s book, at least. Also do you take a good vitamin supplement? It doesn't cure anything but if I didn't take it I would be without the juice to continue operation of the body. I take Megafoods multivitamin without iron, plus other vitamins and minerals.