I know how you feel about the showering. I used to be like that when I had to put the stool in & out etc. You wont believe the difference once you have a disabled shower with the seat in it permanently. We had the bath pulled out & made into a disabled shower. With the rails & seat in there it does make the showering a much easier time.
Do try & have a shower or at least a wash each day as it does make you feel fresher, even if a bit tired immediately after. its a matter of balancing time & energy so that you can sit after your shower too.
Hope this helps/

I too have had periods of SAS, but I do see the relationship to when depression is uncontrolled. I have a lot of trouble with fatigue in the shower, so I put in a step stool with a towel on the seat. This is relatively light,and can be folded up when I'm done (needed to do this, because I have a very small bathroom). That has really saved my bacon! I can also use the stool for sitting on when brushing teeth, doing hair etc. But often have to lie down after shower - too much energy taken. Good luck in coping until the shower is converted, and pay attention to getting your depression under control. It will definitely help with your energy levels. Sending you lots of healing thoughts.

I do, but only in the Winter. The thermostat is set at 60, but the heater is only turned on when the temperature indoors hits 57. It's too damn cold to get naked ! The real kicker is that the only time I am truly warm is while taking a shower, but then I risk using too much hot water and staying in too long. Not to mention the infamous rubbery legs !

OMG! Thank you so much for posting this thread! I just had one of those moments wehre you go, "Now I get it!"

I was always a bath person, my mother thought that if you were ill, depressed, had a pain, or just generally anything was wrong, or even sometimes right, a hot bath was part of the remedy. I had to stop that years ago, well, to be more exact, I had to figure out how to get my aching bones in and my feet out. So I went more to showers. But at some point, I began to sit down in the shower.

I thought that it was just because, well, I don't know. I really thought maybe it was because I had spent so much of my life sitting in water, that I just sat in the shower now. But of course, that was not the case. I think back and realize that it was uncomforatble sometimes, that I felt dizzy, that I almost was like conserving my energy to make sure I could get out, and was probably scared of falling while standing in the heat.

So this gives me another marker as to when I was really starting to feel the MS before I was dxd. I know that it doesn't seem like something to be excited about, but I am sort of trying to see how "it" changed some things in my life before I knew what "it" was.

As for now, well, I live in a rental and there is not much altering I can do. Some days I look at the shower and just shake my head. I think it has alot to do with depression, so I force myself in, but something I used to love has become such a chore.

Many years ago, my father remolded his condo. The decorator suggested that, if for no other reason, resale value, he make the bathrooms multi-functional. Came in handy when he became so ill in his later years. But anyway, in all he put in the seamless walk-in shower, a shower seat, all the grab bars, the heated lamps and heated floor, and then in one a jaccuzi, and in one, a bidet. Now that he has died and the condo will be sold, I have to say that I will SO miss those bathrooms! I took a long shower all the time when I would visit. So much easier.

got it, don't like it, showers use my whole "gas ration" for the day.

I thought it was just me. I used to take at least two showers a day. Now I do get in at least one...right before my nap.

Here is my secret when I have those SAS days.....baby wipes!!! They are a great way to get clean without wasting energy on a bath! Good hygiene is what is important. We probably take too many bathes, which dries out our skin. If you don't like that idea, then just take a quick sponge bath or as I call it, a "bird bath". You also don't have to wash your hair everyday either. I just wet mine, put a little conditioner in it and let the curls fall where they may!!

I only shower every 2-3 days and only wash my hair every 4-5 days. On the in between days, I do what reply #7 called a 'bird bath', I just refer to it as a wash cloth bath.

It is just tooo exhausting to shower or bathe every single day and do all that it requires! I also do what someone else mentioned on another thread and when I wash my hair in the evening, I put it in a bun on top of my head to sleep. By morning, it's in waves that last for a few days. That seems to keep it feeling clean longer. Ponytails and braids are also staples :o)

It's not that I don't like a shower, I just don't like how it makes me feel after all the work!! So, yes... I would have to say that I have SAS! I go as long as I can with the wash cloth in between the real thing :o)

Thank you for this post, now I finally have a name for it! Showers absolutely wear me out. My shower stall is too small for a seat, but at least if I fall in it I won't fall far, lol.

OMG!!! I too thought I was the only one!!!!! I do have SAS. I know that I avoid showering as much as I can and like Reply #8 do the wash cloth bath in between showers.

I just remember when I was in my 20's and early 30's it was a shower every day before work. This meant of course doing the hair too.... I mean I wouldn't go outside without my hair being done! Now, not so much....The hair now can last at least 3 or 4 days (I think anyway).

Don't know about you guys, but I sweat sometimes in the shower!!! Which is really kinda crazy because you are getting in a shower to clean off and not to start 'stinking' more.....This is even when I turn the water to coldest water that can be used (if that makes any kind of sense). It is like I need to "COOL OFF' after a shower my using very cold water!!!

Provigil worked for a little bit with my energy level, but it was like my system got 'used' to the medicine or something and didn't work like it was supposed too. Then, of course, the cost is crazy expensive too.

I really wish I could afford to have my bathroom shower/tub re-done, but since I am now on disability it isn't possible.

I guess that my depression may have something to do with my SAS and I am glad I am not the only one!!!!

Thankfully I am still able to shower although it has become more difficult... luckily I did a shower remodel when I was somewhat mobile, roll in with lots of grabars, it would be hard to have too many, they have "saved my ass" more than once.

FWIW, the "Safe-er-Grip" grabars made my MHI work REALLY good. Google it!!
I take one anytime I travel.

Attitude is Everything

Everyone here has some great ideas! It is also good to know that I'm not the only one with SAS as I feel like a lazy bum some days not wanting to exert the energy to get clean. But as one said, you feel so much better when you are clean, and we MSers try to find whatever makes us feel better!

I hope to receive a VA grant to make modifications to my bathroom. I, too, feel dressed up if I put on clothes that can be worn outside. In the last couple of months, I have tried to do a bit of makeup. I have never worn a lot (foundation, powder, lipstick). So currently my makeup routine is putting on lipgloss.

I store my shower seat in the tub, but I find it difficult to lift my legs to get into the tub without holding onto something. I had several grab bars installed after I took a nasty fall. About a year ago, I stood up in the shower, lost my balance and fell backward out of the tub/shower. Yeah, it HURT! I hit my back and head.

My shower sheet is pretty light, and easily removed if someone wants to use it, yet I do not have much of a problem here.