No, they don't understand. Sometimes my teenage son comes back at me with, 'Im tired too' or 'My legs hurt' and I try to get him to try to imagine what that would be like to deal with EVERY DAY. . .

Hi

Anne, don't dismiss others, my daughter kept complaining somethings hurt and guess what,,,, she also has ms.

I don't tell people I get tired anymore, I just say, I can't and no explaining as I don't owe anyone any. Nobody will understand as I don't understand people that suffer from asthma,,, two of my kids do.

Alma

My former father-in-law used to always say with so much enthusiasm that I look like there is nothing wrong with me...

Try googling the "Spoon Theory". This little story/poem describes why MSers fail the fight with fatigue. Fatigue also is the number one reason why MSers go into retirement. A normal brain fires one command, to do something, whether it's walking or moving an arm. An MS brain takes several fires of command for you to do something. Hence the fatigue comes in.

Like Alma said, you don't owe anyone an explanation, but if you still want to give one, just generalize it and say that your MS is bothering you today. Don't put yourself in a position for anyone to challenge you. That is not fair because they really don't understand.

Outside of my large extended family, only about 6 very close friends know that I have MS. Many have seen me limping, and I just say "I have dropped foot syndrome" or "I must have done too much yesterday." Seems to satisfy them.

Just realized that my previous post had very little to do with the topic. That's the way my mind DOESN'T work these days.

As for the fatigue, I don't go out much, I don't combine trips into town into 6 stores in one day, and my boyfriend knows I have MS and knows a lot of the symptoms (he's an RN). so he recognizes when I'm getting tired and asks me if I want to go home. But since I don't go out I don't have much explaining to do.

Many people will not understand the fatigue with MS. My family says that they are tired too when I absolutely can not do anything. It does aggravate me because they should know that when I am "tired" it is my fatigue. But I have to let it go sometimes. If people continue to not understand, just cancel and not tell them why. If you feel like you need to explain just simply tell them you are having problems with your MS.

What I say instead of fatigue is call it influenza like symptoms except for the high fever. Not the "cold"/upper respiratory symptoms some say when they try to get out of work. Seems to be something people can relate to other than fatigue.