Hi. I have been in a paraplegic for 17 years, and have been working full time for the past 7 years. In the last 3 years I have been suffering from fatigue and really need to cut back on work, however the insurance company wont accept that bthe fatigue is a consequence of the paraplegia.
Has anyone else suffered from fatigue and been able to show medically that it is caused in some way from their disability?
Also I do not get spasm so my legs are really skinny, and I wondered if thid lack of muscle tine might contribute.
Any responces will be appreciated.
Thank you
Karl.

It would probably be very difficult to show that an SCI were directly linked to fatigue, especially if you were trying to prove it to an insurance company, which would be trying to prove you wrong.

I get tired easily from moving myself about in the chair when I'm out, and on crutches in the flat, and I frequently don't sleep well due to pain/discomfort. My friends and family all would agree with the link between fatigue and disability, but from a medical view: I could take different meds to control the pain or get a better night's sleep; I could rest more and better; they might want to look at my diet for caloric intake, protein levels and so on; and finally they would want to show that the level of fatigue was such that I had to work less.

What has your main doctor said on the subject?

Isn't there a chance that you may have cronic fitgue syndrome? It is an actual reconized condiition in the health care system. I would search it on you computer this may help you.

Nipper

ps. sorry for all mis-spelling my hand, arms, and head are in spasms today.

Hi Karl,
What type of fatigue are you suffering from, sore achy muscles or tiredness.
If its just tiredness this can be due to diet or sleep, you may be sleeping through the night but this does not mean you are getting a good night sleep. (I had this problem for a while & its was due to my leg spasms while I was sleeping)
If it is muscle fatigue, again poor diet can be a cause or get some blood tests done just in case there’s another underlying problem.
All the best,
CR

Hi Karl,

I agree with the others, we all get fatigue for different reasons so a full health check is vital. You don't say what your job is? Even stress can cause fatigue so maybe your job is stressfull?

I get fatigue, but mines down to old age and over 50 years injured. I don't sleep too well, due to bad nightmares so I never feel refreshed in a morning.

Trying to prove something like fatigue is due to your SCI would be difficult. In any type of Insurance case, for every expert who said it was due to your SCI, the Insurance Company would have a similar expert who'd say it isn't; its the way of the World, and it sucks.

I hope you get something sorted soon. Good Luck.

Mike

Hiya Scribbler

Great to see you back. Missed your many words of wisdom ......

Have you tried to change your 'going to sleep' routine?

I have had sleepless nights and have found listening to familiar podcasts an amazing way to get me off to sleep. I have a notebook at my bedside, get it turned on at a podcast as I'm all settled down and ready to go off to sleep, and amazingly 5 minutes later I am fast asleep.

My fella is very patient as I used one podcast over 100 times in a row - I use it now when I'm bad (usually after caffeine, chocolate or alcohol after midday) as I'm asleep before the intro ends :-)

Alternatively radio 4 / the world service works as an all night thing. If I am waking at 3 or 4 I don't want to hear music, but words. Hope that helps.

Hugs

Izzi xx

H,
I presume you are talking about the ACC as an insurer? I am similar to you but I feel mine could be either caused by almost constant kidney or bladder infection. I used to think my brain cells had been damaged by all the drugs and painkillers. I got home and just sleep some nights. I used to do three full days a week and had no rehab plan so basically did all my return to work by myself. My final assessment was 127% disabled and they told me I didn't have to go back but I did. I am glad I am working full time but sometimes I wonder what the point of it all is.

Most weekends I seem to be recovering from work and as such do not do much more than work to save for my retirement because I just get too tired to really do much more than the necessities. Just mowing the lawn and washing the car seems to tire me out for the day - toss in a severe UTI or some urethritis and I may not even make the lawns some weekends. You may also want to look at whether or not you are depressed. I find it is worse in Winter too and sometimes nod off at work if I don't get up from my desk during the day. As we are both under the same system, perhaps we should compare notes by PM.
Regards
Slowlegs

Hi Izzi and thanks for the welcome back.

I used to listen to talking books, which sent me off to sleep fast but I discovered the sublminal messages from the stories affected my sleep. I would pick the most gentlest stories with a female narrator, but still had nightmares.

I don't drink caffeine after noon and have little alcohol. Because I have full feeling I usually wake due to feeling uncomfortable. What I now do is switch on my TV to something very boring, turn the sound down to just a mumble, and find that helps me get back to sleep.

Enough of me; I think we've hijacked the thread; sorry you guys in NZ... Any of you live near Katikati on the North Island? I have a Sister living there; I'm sorry about that also, but we have to send our Criminals somewhere....

Scrib's

hi Karl NZ

Ever since I've been spinal injured (30+yrs) I've wished I had higher energy levels.

But I'm not sure here if we are talking about some constant level of fatigue OR running out of energy before you can complete all the marvellous things you aspire to achieve.

If you always feel tired then that needs further investigation - could be something serious like ME (chronic fatigue syndrome) or something as simple as mild depression or too many Weetbix for breakfast.

But even in prime health it makes sense that spinal injured people will run out of steam sooner than when AB. Fewer muscles are having to do the job of a whole body. Legs are more efficient than arms for mobility, etc.

I'm preACC so don't have direct experience with them. But I know the 2 most contentious issues for insurance are fatigue and back injuries and ACC will have all the ammo to block you. If you do have a case it will need to be strongly backed by medical support.


SCRIBS - your sister is responsibly keeping alive the tradition of the English cup-o-tea in the colonies and yours is getting cold. Welcome back to the forum you far sighted man. For now, I'm mostly lurking in the shadows but I am around from time to time.

You lurking Nomis; never!... I did notice you weren't on as much as before, but you always pop up for the important issues. Your eloquent words of wisdom put things into perspective and I feel sure must help everyone. I'm glad you're ok.

Scribs

Thank you all for your comments. Yes I have looked at all the possible causes you have suggested. I know that it is caused from my disability it is just a matter of medically proving it.

Thank you everyone. Please keep the ideas coming.

Hi 'Travelling Blackbird'
Thanks for your comments. Everyone can see the link between fatigue and dissability, so there must be some medical documentation out there somewhere. But where?.
And yes my doctor agrees with me.

If your main doctor agrees with you, that's a good start. If he could write you some kind of documentation to show that his medical opinion is that your disability is the primary cause of your fatigue, then you'd at least have a fighting chance with the insurers. Unfortunately, since the primary goal of medical insurance companies seems to be keeping a tight hold on our money, they'll probably try to pull an expert of their own out to disprove it. It could be a fight.

In terms of documentation, I did a search for studies relating SCI and fatigue and came up with these four. In terms of informing yourself of potential arguments that you and/or your doctor could use, they might be useful.

Fatigue and SCI study

Fatigue description

Post SCI fatigue factors

Pain and fatigue post SCI

Be warned though: in my experience as a translator and editor of such medical and scientific research papers, I've found that just because something is published doesn't mean it is accepted by the medical community. Furthermore, researchers sometimes fudge their conclusions to avoid being too definitive on an issue they're afraid of getting challenged on.

All the best,
Derek.

This is another thread I'll have to watch.

In my case, I think mine might have to do with a lack of good sleep over a really really long period of time. I didn't notice until recently that my shoulders and back twitch. They act like they seriously have restless leg syndrome. Of course, if I ever bring that up people laugh cause I'm paraplegic.

Besides that, I think because of that combined with just having a harder time getting around as a general rule, its what makes me fall asleep during class and have to take a nap when I get home from school. Doing that really didn't help my grades at all and now I'm paying for it. There's something going on, not sure what though.

If we're ever to prove this (which I kind of hope we do) its going to be an interesting answer.