Indiana Social Security Disability Attorney Blog
For those patients who have multiple sclerosis, fatigue is a common, if not predominate, symptom. As they know, fatigue is not the same thing as tiredness. Tiredness can be taken care of with rest or sleep. Fatigue on the other hand is really a lack of energy. The feeling or symptom is something that cannot be resolved with sleep. Often times it is chronic. Environmental factors such as wetness or heat, make fatigue worse.
When SSA evaluates a claimant with multiple sclerosis, it considers the fatigue of the person. SSA’s policy on looking at fatigue is:
The best means of assessing fatigue is by inference in terms of the claimant’s activities of daily living, the extent of physical activity before fatigue occurs, and the frequency at which the claimant requires periods of rest.
POMS DI 24580.015B (1-23-90)
Journaling is an excellent method of documenting the feelings and frequency of bouts of fatigue. If you do keep a journal, you should include how your daily activities have been affected or limited. Notes should also be made of how much rest was required on a particular day as a result of the fatigue.
