I have secondary progressive MS. Over Christmas, I pushed myself, being the sole support for a recently bereaved friend. As a result, I have awful fatigue and can’t pull up from it. Have also got worse symptoms: swallowing problems, speech, muscles, slowed digestion. Am I right that I should be careful not to push myself. Even with SPMS, is it possible to get back to how I was before Christmas? Many thanks. Jane
Hi Jane, fellow Canadian here. I understand the fatigue, and how doing too much can leave you in a huge deficit. MS fatigue is not being tired or lazy it’s your body telling you it needs to rest to be able to heal (ie make more scars in your brain). I pushed through for a long time then finally look my neurologist’s advice to take a break from work. It took me 3 full months for me to stop feeling completely drained all the time. It will improve, but you need to get to know your limits. I found an occupational therapist very helpful. A key piece of advice she gave me was to never let yourself get more than 70% of your energy used up. It is hard to say no to others when they are in need, but it gets easier with practice. Take care.
It's probably just take a while longer to re-coup, but once at this stage it is tough to "just push through". The body does not agree with "mind over matter" and really pushes back.
Howdy Jane, you can get back ,try taking it easy for a week or so , recharge and try to not push to hard, it's a learning curve , trying to find that balance between doing to little and to much. (and as much as possible). Adapt as best you can,don't try to keep up with your old self ,
Remember stress is the enemy. Be kind to your self ❤️
Jane Denise again I know you are home less but maybe you can find a police station and ask them to take you to a shelter hopefully they can and if they can then you go from there.