Fatigue is often a unavoidable consequence of the disease. People with MS often spend much of their energy simply trying to control their movements. They have little energy left for other activities. This lack of energy causes further worsening of symptoms which can cause further fatigue. This may leave the patient feeling that any attempt to be active is futile if not counter productive.
Inactivity can lead patients to shut themselves off from the world.
While the motor symptoms are the most visible, MS patients also exhibit some cognitive problems. The MS Center lists some of the most common problems of cognition as problems of attention and concentration. Patients often have problems concentrating on more than one thing at one time. They are easily distracted, and when they try to get back to the initial activity, they often have to begin over. This distraction can then affect their memory of those things because it may fail to be encoded in memory.