What is the fatigue like for MS?

Hi shimlad,  For me the fatigue is probably the symptom I have the most experience with.  Some days I can't get out of bed, and rest or sleep don't improve it.  I've had days where I could hardly lift my head off the pillow, and months when I rarely got out of bed.  It led to me having to retire when I had 6 months off work with fatigue.  It's like hitting a brick wall - you can't fight it. I've had times when I couldn't eat because it was too much effort.  You're brain slows down, it can impact things like bladder function.  I hope this helps.

Perhaps a bit of a stupid question Libra, but how do you know you have MS and not ME? How did they diagnose it?

I only ask beacuse i feel like my impending ME diagnose seems like they havent fully explored everything to me.

I've had various symptoms since 1999, and had an MRI that showed lesions on my spinal cord.  I was told back then that it was a viral infection of the spinal cord. To cut a long story short I had an MRI in 2010 after a severe attack of numbness in my left leg, and the week after the MRI I had an attack of Optic Neuritis.  When the neuropthalmologist checked the MRI there were white spots in my brain.  That's how I got DX.  If I was you I'd ask for an MRI before they give you a definite DX.

So did you have an MRI in 1999? But they diagnosed it as a virus of the spinal cord?

Yes, there was no disease activity in my brain in 1999, hence the misdiagnosis.

Hey, shimlad!

I have MS for 3 years. First sympthom was dizziness when I was doing some physical activities.

Now: until 12pm I feel prety good. Little coordination problems, but ok.

After 12pm it starts to get much more difficult especially if I'm most of the time on my feet. It seems just like my legs don't want to function correctly. My back gets weaker at about the level of navel and as I mentioned - legs, coordination, more dizziness.

Wishing all the best,

Rolands.

Whilst still struggling to work as a medical secretary I would find I would be OK for first two hours of the day then suddenly I would be overcome with absolute exhaustion.  I could hardly climb the stairs to my office and would have to tell the manager that I needed to lie down.  I would go to my car in the car park and recline the seat and sleep.  Once I was there for two hours before staff found me and I still could not function.  Also my eyes become wet and glazed looking.  I am not having an attack at the moment.  (Had a 4 month attack which stopped in April).  I still need an afternoon sleep of at least an hour.  If not called I would sleep for longer than this.

Hope my reply is helpful to you.

hi, i was diagnosed (abbreviated to dx) with ms in 2004. after having a huge relapse (following a fall on ice), i finally got to my dx after being MRI'd in a few different machines, which offered different, increasingly useful resolutions, over time, showing progression. MRI's along with lumbar puncture (looking for oligoclonic banding in a cerebro-spinal fluid sample) and physical examination testing neuro responses, balance, gait, vision etc; are the accepted tools used to dx ms. an evoked potential test can also be done to test electrical brain responses while watching computer screen images. 

re; fatigue, like most people with ms, i find that i can be hit by a wall of exhaustion, these last for varying amounts of time. one of the issues with ms, is the fact that sufferers have wildly varied experiences, hence the accepted dx tools.

i hope you get to the bottom of things really soon.

take care x