Tell us about your symptoms and treatment experience. Take our survey here.

How Does MS Affect Your Sleep?

Fatigue is one of the most common and frustrating symptoms that comes along with multiple sclerosis. In MS there is both fatigue and what is known as lassitude. Lassitude is unique to people with MS and a particularly severe type of fatigue. It can happen daily, get worse throughout the day,  and greatly interfere with daily tasks.1

Fatigue, lassitude, insomnia

My biggest symptom and largest hurdle with MS is my fatigue, and sometimes lassitude. It has always baffled me how I can be so incredibly tired all day long, and as soon as I climb into bed my mind won’t shut off enough to let my body rest.

I have had trouble sleeping for as long as I can remember. Cue the counting sheep – in fact, many nights I have to count as high as I can until I finally drift off. Many things can affect your ability to sleep, but side effects from medication and stress were once my biggest issues. I no longer have issues sleeping because of those things, but it is still extremely difficult for me to close my eyes and fall asleep like any other person. I often have to take an over-the-counter sleep medication just to fall asleep, otherwise it will take me hours trying to do it on my own.

I have heard from several doctors that MS and insomnia are not directly related. However many MS symptoms, such as spasticity, frequent trips to the bathroom, temperature dysregulation (hello, hot flashes) and medications can most certainly disturb your sleep.

Needing sleep to function

Sleep is crucial in order for me to function daily. In college I tried the staying up late and surviving on as little sleep as possible, but honestly that just wasn’t for me. Today, I make sure to get in bed at a decent hour so that I can get at least a good eight hours in. But, it seems that no matter how much good sleep I do get, some mornings I wake up and feel as though I have not slept at all. Some days it seems that no matter how much actual sleep and rest I do get, that my body and mind are just never fully rested. This can be so frustrating, because you feel as if you need to get up and start the day, get things done, etc. but your body is so tired it won’t let you.

Sometimes, when I wake up feeling so fatigued I feel as though I just wasted time sleeping, while I could have gotten things done – because when I do wake up it feels like the sleep didn’t do me any good after all. And, then on the days I am unable to get adequate sleep I can become so tired that I almost feel hung-over. My body will feel sick and my head will ache as if I’ve spent the entire night on a drinking binge, when in all actuality I haven’t. Oh, and then there are the times that I do get adequate sleep, but because of my bizarre dreams I wake up feeling spent.

I can tell you one thing: life with MS is anything but boring…especially if your sleeping issues are anything like mine. So, tag you’re it! Please, tell me how does MS effect your sleep?

By providing your email address, you are agreeing to our privacy policy.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The MultipleSclerosis.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

Join the conversation

Please read our rules before commenting.

Community Poll

Were you misdiagnosed with something else before receiving a MS diagnosis?