This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I'm a 48-year old self-employed husband and father of 2 young boys. I feel so very weak... so very tired all the time... so pitifully short of what I want to be. Because of this fatigue sometimes I feel I should no longer be driving. Provigil might help some, but it certainly does not bring me back into the normal range. Caffeine does not awaken me enough, either. I'm discouraged wondering if this will pass or if this is the way it will be.

Hi Rick,

You may be helped by Amantadine or Acetyl-L-Carnitine (a supplement). Check out this thread:

http://www.thisisms.com/modules.php?nam ... viewresult

(or just search for "carnitine")

Hi Rick,

I am sorry to hear what a hard time you are having, it's a really horrible way to feel. I think most of us have been there or near to it at sometime. I can only write from the experience of what helped me which has been to

1. Give up coffee - I know this seems paradoxical but there are good reasons for this. Coffee is pretty destructive to many supplements including ALCAR as well as vitamin C. I drink organic green tea (actually to be really picky I drink white tea but its pretty hard to get hold of) and still at a different time of day to when I take ALCAR). This still gives a slight caffeine lift but nothing as drastic as coffee.

I always switch to a herbal tea by 6pm so I don't stay 'wired' when I should be feeling tired.

2. Take ALCAR ( Acetyl-L-Carnitine) and Alpha lipoic acid. Note ALCAR needs to be taken on an empty stomach to have any effect and it takes a bit of time before it begins to work effectively as you need to get your serum levels up. I find it works extremely well for me.

3. As well as taking a good multi-vit take a yeast free multi B vitamin (100 mg minimum in the morning), preferably slow release and 500 mg of Vit C am and evening.

4. Cut out as much sugary food, including simple carbs. Complex carbs such as pulses are not a problem but anything that creates rapid sugar highs will have an effect on your strength and levels of tiredness.

It is always a good idea to identify any secondary causes for the fatigue - depression, muscle use etc etc. Are you getting enough sleep at night? People with MS can have very disturbed sleep so if there is a god out I want her/him to know it's a pretty mean trick!

Sometimes you may not realise your sleep is disturbed, if the usual warm bath and unwinding doesn't help try something like Kava Kava (but check it will not interfere with any other medication first), passiflora or valerian may help. Again this will take a couple of weeks to kick in. Often with herbal medicine people give up too soon because they expect magic bullets and instant results.

Two people I know have done incredibly well by taking prozac, this doesn't mean they were both depressed, the one that wasn't still found it gave him the extra energy he needed to get through the day without feeling like a wet rag by 6 pm.

Don't despair just yet, there are still lots of thing you can try and sometimes the time tiredness can just lift of its own accord too.

Good luck,
Felly

_________________
Debe
dx 04/04 RRMS
Avonex 6/04-1/06
Rebif 1/06

There's nothing like a good cup of coffee and I haven't given it up completely. I probably have a cup of black coffee every couple of weeks. The rest of the time it's green tea, which still contains some caffeine but nearly as much.

Have a look at this link for a good idea of what caffeine is doing to your body http://www.pe2000.com/caffeine.htm

Scary, eh?

Goodluck Debefree.

Felly

Felly, if you don't mind I am going to have your post above turned into an article... really great material!

I had similar problems. I could have easily taken 3 naps per day and I did on the weekends. I tried Alcar/ALA and other supplements and I found them to help rather well. However, since I started LDN, I have not once felt the fatigue set in (unless I was doing physical work). I am getting quality sleep which means I wake feeling totally refreshed and having alot of energy to get through the day.

I know people are reluctant to try LDN but this is yet another positive aspect of this drug.

Felly

That really is excellent material! I do the coffee too, so another thing to change.

Rick, if none of the above seem to work you can also check out
www.medscape.com which has a continuing medical education program for docs entitled Awake and Involved II: Addressing Excessive Daytime Sleepiness and Fatigue in Neurologic Disorders

I think you have to register, but it's easy and free. Once you're at the site go to CME, follow the neurology link and you'll see the link to the article. The whole bit is about 50 pages and the very last segment is on fatigue in MS. I thought it was relatively understandable even though I don't have a background in science. And, my experience so far, some docs are open to what you may present to them and of course some aren't.

Good luck and be sure to let us know what works for you.

Sharon

Thank you, friends, for taking the time to respond to my online post. I appreciate your thoughts and support! Now I have ideas to persue and learn more. greatly appreciate your help.
Rick