One of my most enduring and constant MS symptoms is fatigue. I’m not talking about simply feeling tired or being sleep-deprived; this is the kind of fatigue that settles in your bones and makes it hard to lift your head. Coffee doesn’t help, having a full night’s sleep doesn’t help, and having a toddler DEFINITELY doesn’t help. The other day, I woke up after a night of MS-induced insomnia and had a shower–that was enough activity to ensure that I would be parenting from the couch. Oh my God, it’s SO tough.
I read somewhere that MS patients use 5 times more effort to complete a simple task than a person without MS due to changes in their brain. That explains why making dinner some days absolutely crushes me.
I didn’t realize this until recently, but there are several types of MS fatigue, the kinds of which I think are helpful to highlight here:
Indirect fatigue
Indirect fatigue can be caused by stress, side effects from MS medications, trouble sleeping due to MS symptoms, and depression that may go along with an autoimmune disease like MS. I don’t know about you, but I have been dealing with all of these factors since the beginning of my diagnosis.
Neurologic fatigue
Muscle weakness, tremors, and spasms use up a great deal of physical energy. Think about it: your body is working extra hard to function normally, but it has to also deal with the damage that has already been done to your nerve pathways and nervous system. For example, I’ve noticed that extreme temperatures (but honestly, not that extreme) really affect my MS. If it’s very cold or hot, my fatigue feels much worse due to the fact that most of my symptoms rear up and my body has to work extra hard to function.
Autoimmune fatigue
Unfortunately, lassitude (persistent tiredness) is common in many autoimmune diseases and is the most common form of MS fatigue. It’s not due to strenuous ongoing exertion, it’s not due to a previous medical condition, and while rest does help, it never completely relieves you of your fatigue. In short, you are fatigued because your body does not give you a choice in the matter.
However, I’m not willing to succumb to my fatigue without a fight. Here are a couple things I’m learning and putting into practice to help me make it through those especially difficult days:
Get that vitamin D
It seems to me as if my energy has increased a great deal since I started regularly taking a vitamin D supplement. My MS symptoms seem to have lessened in severity and vitamin D is known to help strengthen the immune system.
I eat a lot of salmon, sardines, eggs, and mushrooms: all great sources of vitamin D. I’ll share some of my favorite recipes on this site that feature these ingredients (I’m still in the process of discovering new, healthy recipes).
Enjoy the sunshine…in doses. DISCLAIMER: you don’t get enough vitamin D from the sun to have any meaningful impact, but being outside in the sun improves my mood tenfold! I can no longer spend all day outside in the sun, but a short walk or a having a seat outside (and on hot days, preferably under an umbrella…with an ice pack…and water…and a fan…) makes me feel as if I’m doing something for my health and well-being.
Eat well and exercise
Having made the commitment to eat well and exercise regularly, I’m not surprised that it’s helped my energy levels. Admittedly, when you feel fatigued, it’s very, very, VERY difficult to motivate yourself to do either of these things. I struggle with this often, but I find that even if I do some form of exercise for 5 minutes, it helps give me a boost to keep going.
I especially enjoy yoga and spinning as forms of exercise. I am no longer as balanced or as graceful as I once was, nor do I “push through” a 90-minute, 100 degree vinyasa yoga class, but it’s been great for helping with my neurologic fatigue. It has the added benefit of helping my indirect fatigue by encouraging mindfulness. Near-daily exercise has helped to greatly reduce my muscle spasms and tightness and strengthen my general left-side weakness. I love spinning because I don’t have to worry about my balance, it’s great for my cardiovascular health, and it takes me out of my head and reminds me of the athlete I once was.
I’ve noticed that when I consistently eat well, my energy levels are up and stay up. When I eat a lot of processed sugar, I find that my energy levels go up for about 20 minutes and then I crash. Hard. Therefore, I make sure I eat often, and I eat well (most of the time): lean meats, veggies, fruit, and lots of water!
Work with your MS provider
I think it’s important to remember that your MS provider is your best resource–not the internet, and not this blog. I’m still learning that my doctor is here to help ME navigate this illness. I am not a great patient; I don’t like to be a “bother”, tend to withdraw, and worry, worry, worry (the stress and anxiety I felt after my diagnosis made my hair fall out in CLUMPS). I t took a good couple of months to work up the courage to go back to my doctor and talk to him about my symptoms- all because I didn’t want to be that hypochondriac MS patient. By the end of my appointment, we had worked out a plan that made me feel MUCH better. He validated my concerns, and I walked out with some peace of mind and extra meds.
Avoid the heat (or cold) as much as you can
I have come to realize that heat drains me of energy like nothing else. This past summer was my first summer with MS, and it was brutal. I’m confronted by my new reality and I HATE it. My remedies for dealing with the heat are pretty common sense: air conditioning is my best friend, as is water. People tell me that cooling packs are a great idea, but I haven’t tried those out yet. I try to avoid being outside during the hottest part of the day, and I wear loose, light-colored clothing.
Simplify, simplify, simplify
My life was thrown into chaos once I got my diagnosis. Chaos = not good. I now try to plan a little better, and I give myself a routine to follow every day. I don’t overschedule myself, I take breaks during the day to conserve my energy, I go to bed early, I ask friends and family for help, and I try to give myself permission to say “no”. Admittedly, I’m not great at these last two parts. I’m a work in progress, but I will say that everything seems much more manageable now that I’ve streamlined my life.
Dealing with fatigue is, for many of us, a full-time job. Don’t lose hope: there are so many remedies and tricks you can try. I’m trying to give myself a break–I hope you can give yourself one too! Let me know what you do to combat your fatigue–I’m all ears!
In health,
D
Living in Color 