Anyone who has any of the debilitating symptoms of MS, is certainly
welcome to make a comment here.

Fatigue for me often means I have the feeling of having been in a swimming pool for hours and it is that "heavy body feeling" you get when you climb out of the water. Just moving wears me out. Fatigue also necessitates breaking down tasks into bits and pieces and taking frequent breaks. And sometimes I think my brain gets fatigued just fighting the stress and physical fatigue 24/7.

And yes, the worst part is the unpredictability! You can be up for an activity right up to the point of starting it, and 'wham!' the energy and ability is gone! Gr-r-r-r! I hate that!

Fatigue means that I cannot organize myself. Can't pull myself together to do specific things, in order. Just halfheartedly try to do a few things and give up for a while, unfocused. Unfocused mentally or physically.

Like having cognitive dysfunction that affects the whole body. And it can be bad enough so one cannot remember that one will come out the other side of this. Of one faintly remembers this, and therefore lies on the couch staring balefully at the television.

I think it's important to note that, fatigue and depression sometimes
go hand in hand. Talk to your Doc, if you haven't already, about
an AD that may also have a bit of an upper effect, such as Prozac.

Be careful though, I take Prozac now and I love it, but couldn't take
it years ago, when I suffered from anxiety.. I think LDN also helps
to curtail fatigue...IMHO.

I think that LDN does too, Sally.
I think that it also takes the edge off of depression and helps to shorten the periods of hopeless despair.

With love, Erika

Fatigue (for me) is when someone has let the air out of my tyres, and brain fog rolls in so I can't move fast, everything about me (including my brain) is in slow motion - while the rest of the world is at normal speed - and nothing computes, except a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness when it's really bad.

I almost feel disconnected from reality. I stumble through physical movements like a drunk, trying to communicate using words that I can't seem to find, and thought processes that I can no longer put into any semblance of order, with little retention of information.

And it can come on just like flicking a switch - no warning - just bam!

Fatigue has been my most debilitating symptom, and the hardest one to explain. Like virtually all aspects of MS, it's not the same for everybody. I was never greatly troubled with "sleepiness". Until the last few weeks, I virtually never napped during the day--and it's been about 13 years.

Much of the time my fatigue is physical. My leg and arm muscles tire quickly and easily. I thought about making fudge, then remembered how much stirring was required. Forget it.

But for me, most of the time, fatigue is an overall combination body and brain experience. I am empty. I have nothing. That feeling of "I'm too tired to think--ask me later". I can almost feel my brain hurt as I struggle to focus my thoughts, the same way tired leg muscles hurt and you groan as you struggle to get out of the chair.

Sure, I had experienced crushing fatigue before; who hasn't? But it was always the RESULT of something. Fatigue after an all-nighter, after Christmas, after a long car trip, after surgery, after child-birth. The concept of mentally and physically hitting the wall when I haven't DONE anything has been very hard to get my mind around, and virtually impossible to explain to others.

On a day when I'm experiencing my worst level of fatigue, I also have emotional fatigue. I'm too tired to be excited, I'm too tired to be sad, I'm too tired to be worried. I'm too tired to care, and too tired to CARE that I don't care. It's as though my brain is in slow-motion.

I'm thankful that it isn't at its worst every day. Some days (not many) I'm almost normal, most days I lack physical and mental energy to a varying extent; and some days I feel a hundred years old. Some days (like yesterday) I read threads (like this one) and want to comment, but my brain is just too tired to put thoughts together. Not "fog", but fatigue. Not "regular" fatigue, but MS Fatigue.

"Fatigue has been my most debilitating symptom, and the hardest one to explain."

Blessings, your description explains it extremely well. Unfortunately, it also indicates that you have an intimate knowledge of the subject through personal experience...and I'm sorry for that.

With love, Erika

Wow, what great responses and useful information! Thank you all so much! I really appreciate the effort and thought that you've put into your explanations!

Is certainly does sound like there are lots of different kinds of fatigue, and even within those categories, it varies somewhat from one person to another. Just like MS in general, hunh? So I'm getting from this that what I need to emphasize to the doctor is muscle fatigue and spasticity* after minimal exertion.

*I initially mispelled that word, and found it hysterically ironic.

You got a lot of great info here…I have fibromyalgia as well; that form of fatigue felt like I couldn't hit the couch fast enough…but the MS fatigue make me feel as if I am slogging through thick molasses. I also have a narcolepsy-type of fatigue like Erika described that makes me suddenly fall asleep, which scares me when I'm driving. It occurs during mealtimes too.

I agree that you shouldn't use terminology but rather what things feel like to you. For instance, "Sometimes I feel as if I am walking through wet concrete," rather than "I experience fatigue." It is the description of the symptoms that helps the docs understand.
When I saw my neuro a couple of weeks ago with severe spasms in my legs, he asked me, "Does it feel like stinging?" I said, "No, it feels like a mop being squeezed." He totally understood what I was experiencing.