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Summary & Participants

One of the most common symptoms for patients with multiple sclerosis is fatigue. Though it varies from person to person, fatigue can seriously interfere with normal activities, even when the other symptoms of MS are under control. Join us as we take a look at some helpful techniques for dealing with fatigue.

Medically Reviewed On: July 08, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Hi, and welcome to our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in multiple sclerosis It can vary from person to person, but it can seriously interfere with normal activities, even when other symptoms of MS are under control. Today we'll take a look at some techniques for dealing with fatigue.

Joining me are two experts: First, a real expert is a patient, Rick Sommers. He is an MS patient here in New York City. Thanks for being here.

RICK SOMMERS: David, nice to be here. Thank you.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Next to him, from the physician side, we have a neurologist, Dr. Jeffrey Greenstein, and he's from Temple University. Thanks for being here.

DR. JEFFREY GREENSTEIN: A pleasure, good to be here.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: How common is fatigue in MS?

DR. JEFFREY GREENSTEIN: It's actually very common. It occurs in almost as many as 90 percent of people with MS. It varies a lot from day to day, and it can be a considerable disabling feature of MS.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Now, Rick, you look very healthy. You look great. Do you feel tired at all?

RICK SOMMERS: Yeah. I think fatigue, in MS that is the one thing people will often say you'd never know, because unless you're walking with an apparatus you look great, you seem like you're functioning, you seem like you're getting along, but I, more often than not, deal with fatigue on a daily basis and have had to find ways to manage it.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Why does this occur?

DR. JEFFREY GREENSTEIN: We don't really know exactly why fatigue occurs in MS. Some people think it may be because of the inflammation that exists in the brain, but it quite equally could be because nerve damage has occurred and pathways in the brain which keep us alert and keep us activated. So there are two actual aspects to fatigue. One is more of a mental fatigue that occurs, and the other is a physical fatigue where people's muscles may give out on them, and that's particularly common. For example, some people walk very far and start limping because their leg will give out. So there are two components to fatigue that we have to bear in mind.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Now, Rick, you're here nodding your head, both for the mental and the physical. Give us some examples of how it interferes with your life.

RICK SOMMERS: Well, basically, just on the job I am tired. If I am out late at night, my friends will see me yawning at the table, and it's not because the conversation isn't entertaining. It's because I may have been up early, and it's hard for me to keep up. I'm not going to lie. Life in New York City is especially fatiguing, because everything is a production. And then when you add on top of it the stresses and strains of everyday life, and then a chronic disease, it's enough to wear you out. I find, as I said, you really need to pace yourself and you have to redefine what your limits are.

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