It was one of those nights. I was up all night. I had a little bellyache. I ate Chinese food, I never eat Chinese food.  My belly didn’t agree with the Chinese food. Instead of going into the details of why I was going on all night let’s discuss the details of sleep. The average American sleep 6.8 hours a night. The average MS patient probably needs a good 12 hours a night.  I’m willing to bet they don’t get that.  Lack of sleep with MS can worsen every symptom. We need time to shut down the body needs to recoup. When I was working full-time I would take scheduled days off just so I can sleep the entire day.  I’d go went to bed at 9 or 10 o’clock the night before and wake up at 4 or 5 o’clock the next day. Every time my mother would say do you feel any better? And every time the answer was the same, NO.  It wasn’t something that ever made me feel better it was something that my body just needed to do.

The lack of sleep can make every MS symptoms worse it also creates fatigue. Fatigue, to me, is one of the most awful MS symptoms because it comes on very very quickly and there’s very very little you can do about it except for stop doing anything and rest.  Fatigue is very difficult to explain for people that do not have MS. I have posts on it any other MS blogger I’m sure has posts on it. Fatigue is when the simplest task is 1000 times harder because your muscles are so heavy and weak it is hard to move them.  Fatigue is where you walk 10 feet to the bathroom and you’re exhausted. There is no way to describe how horrible fatigue really is to someone with MS. There is not one MS patient that has not felt this at some point. Not only is it very common but the it can last hours, days, weeks or years in anyone.  Having lack of sleep for a period of time or as little as a night can bring this symptom on full force.  Therefore one unfortunate night with a bellyache can not only effect my belly but can effect my entire day.

So after my Chinese food experience I am now on my couch, pretty tired and have to face a trip to the mall today. My iPhone touch pad isn’t working and I have an appointment at the Apple Store.  This in itself would be quite an ordeal with the scooter now I get to do it with lack of sleep. Where I probably won’t come back and update my blog after to say how it went I will honestly tell you I’m riding a pretty high anxiety train.  I know that the ordeal of the scooter in and out of the car will cause exhaustion and I’m so tired but I’m going to do it because I don’t always listen to my own advice. However when I’m done I’ll come home and rest, I promise.