May 20, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Get Out of Your Own Way: Growth at 36,000 Feet I find peace at 36,000 feet. Quasi-calm. My surroundings and I move in unison with little friction. The hum of the Boeing 737 lulls me to sleep. Tranquility is a powerful provocateur when turbulence is your norm, a juxtaposition to the bed of billowy clouds below. As if…
April 15, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell To Ease My Suffering, I Had to Shift My Perspective, Not My Pain Levels Many believe pain and suffering are interchangeable. While they can and often do coexist, one is not reliant on the other. Pain can occur with or without suffering, and the inverse is true. Physiological, psychological, and psychosocial factors influence our experience with each. The meanings and relationships of these three…
March 18, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Excising the Complaints in My Life Helps Me Manage MS I failed the complaint challenge. The goal was to go 24 hours without complaining — no complaining about anything. Yet while the objective is commendable, a win is nearly impossible. I’m not much of a complainer, and I still fell short. I’d venture to say that many others would, too,…
March 15, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Ampyra Aids More Than Walking in MS, But Side Effects May Be of Concern Treatment with oral Ampyra (dalfampridine) improves walking ability, finger dexterity, and cognition in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), an analysis of nine randomized clinical trials shows. But the investigators caution the therapy should be taken only under expert medical guidance, due to its higher rate of potential side effects. The…
March 4, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Learning to Ride Along With the Ebbs and Flows of Multiple Sclerosis I am uncomfortable amid ambiguity and unknowns. I find myself searching for rationale when, at times, none exists. I crave clarity yet mostly exist amid the fogginess of MS. I live this way literally and figuratively. My lack of clarity grows with the wait for the COVID-19 vaccine. When I…
February 11, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell My Fear of Failure Blocked Me From Both Risks and Rewards Bravado is lost in the blink of an eye. Self-doubt erodes certitude until we find that our default modus operandi is to refuse. Opportunities, happiness, possibilities, and growth seem to pass. This no-risk mentality brings no reward. Chronic illness is a breeding ground for skepticism. We live in a world…
January 28, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell To Thrive With SPMS, I’m Learning to Accept All of My Emotions Optimism is kryptonite to the fear and doubt I keep inside. I am grateful for my cheerful disposition because it allows me to maintain balance. But balance is not healing. Left alone, those feelings that I fear ultimately fester. I tend to push aside sadness or frustration. I…
January 7, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Positioning Myself to Embrace Change There is something poetic about transitioning to a new year. It’s the melancholy of farewell fused with hopeful expectancy, the bittersweet juxtaposition of closing one door while opening another. Yet for a moment, I am noncommittal. With one foot in each year, I eventually shift my weight from 2020…
December 17, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell What Do You See When You See Me? If I were using a wheelchair, would you question why I use a handicapped placard? Perhaps some (or all) of the condemnation I now receive would diminish. Maybe the notes left on my windshield would not be written. Perchance, it might temper some of the ugly comments spoken to my…
December 3, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Reflecting on a Year of Blessings in My Life With SPMS The holiday season has always been a time of reflection. The year passes by in a montage of memories. I am reminded of the past 11 months. The highs and the lows. My hopes and my aspirations. Those lives that have been lost and those that have just begun.
October 16, 2020 Columns by Jamie Hughes Peace, My Heart, Peace Despite the melatonin and Kava tea, the hot baths and weighted blanket, I’m not sleeping very well these days. I haven’t been for months actually. In addition to the “low-burn” stresses that come with adulthood and the utterly average cares of the workaday world, I have felt a…
October 9, 2020 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Almost Half of US MS Patients Surveyed Report Using Cannabis for Nerve Pain, Sleep In a nationwide survey of cannabis-based therapy use among Americans with multiple sclerosis (MS), almost half of respondents endorsed such products, primarily for nerve-based pain and sleep disturbances, and the perceived benefits for sleep and pain were highly correlated. The reported…
September 24, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Restarting Rituxan: One Down, and a Lifetime to Go Last week, I again started my twice-annual infusion of Rituxan (rituximab). After 384 days without my disease-modifying therapy, my team decided I could no longer wait. In its absence, my symptomology had worsened. Halting progression trumped a pandemic, and with personal protective equipment in place, I begin…
September 10, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell The Contrast Between Positivity and the Realities of MS I am tired of having multiple sclerosis. I am just so tired of this disease. And you know what? That is OK. Being tired of MS does not negate my gratitude. It does not replace my joy and zest for life. It is granting myself the grace to be honest…
September 10, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Ponesimod Superior to Aubagio in Delaying Disability Progression in Relapsing MS, Trial Data Show Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ investigational oral therapy ponesimod is superior to Sanofi’s Aubagio (teriflunomide) in delaying disability progression in adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to exploratory analyses of OPTIMUM clinical trial data. These and other findings from Janssen’s MS research program, including on the health…
July 2, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell How to Feed Your Soul and Find Positivity Amid MS Our thoughts influence our being. The stories we tell ourselves frame our reality. They affect the decisions we make, our behaviors, and ultimately our overall mindset. These serve to either nourish or starve our psyche. If we are what we eat, then are we what we think? Absolutely. We cannot…
June 11, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Laughter Is Good Medicine: Levity in an MS Life If laughter is the best medicine, then I have a functional pharmacy. I love to laugh and enjoy humor. If you are a friend of mine, then you know my dry wit. I use that wit to shield anxiety and fear. I ease the tension by creating humor. I…
May 28, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Words to Live by: ‘I Am Fine’ “I am fine.” Three words I know as rote. I say them frequently and without hesitation. I utter them as much for others as I do for myself. My reality is too much for most. At times it is too much for me. This packaged response is almost expected. And…
May 7, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Finding Myself in Multiple Sclerosis: Loving the B-side I lie on my stomach in a Downward Dog fail. I am doing yoga, or something like it. I open my eyes. I spy a golden retriever tumbleweed float across the travertine floor. I feel my body flinch. It knows how much I want to get up and clean. It…
May 5, 2020 Columns by Jessie Ace 3 Techniques to Help You Overcome Anxiety and Stress Bookmark this page! Why? Because in this column, I’ll give you three techniques to help manage your anxiety. Anxiety and stress are unhelpful for anyone’s mind or body, particularly with a chronic illness like multiple sclerosis. Feeling anxious or stressed is our brain’s mechanism to prepare the body…
March 17, 2020 Columns by Jessie Ace 5 Free Activities You Can Do at Home During COVID-19 Hibernation I don’t watch or listen to the news, but luckily, fellow Multiple Sclerosis News Today columnist Ed Tobias does. I’ve found that avoiding the news has helped to improve my mental health, because I realized that all the doom and gloom happening…
March 12, 2020 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: Are Poor Sleep Quality and MS Connected? Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the post, “…
February 27, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell I Am Beautifully Rare Despite SPMS I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and I am rare. In honor of Rare Disease Day on Feb. 29, I honor myself. I honor you and anyone else with a rare disease. I have been asked if multiple sclerosis qualifies as a rare disease. It does if…
January 23, 2020 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: Sleep and Myelin Plasticity Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the post “Researcher Receives $130K Grant to Study Sleep and MS” from Aug. 27,…
December 5, 2019 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Thankful Awakening: Accepting Change with SPMS My happiness quotient correlates with my ability to give. I find tremendous satisfaction in doing this. This is one reason that I cherish Thanksgiving. I derive immense pleasure in creating this symbolic meal for those I love. For a subpar cook, I knock the socks off the classic Thanksgiving…
November 21, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: MS and Drowsy Driving Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Are you still driving? Should you be?” from Dec. 27, 2018. At…
September 12, 2019 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell We All Have Bad Days Mama said there would be days like this. I just never thought there would be so many. After three days of insomnia, I am heavily fatigued and weary. I wait, bleary-eyed, for signs of pain to appear, watching the sunrise and praying for renewal. As if on cue, the birds…
September 11, 2019 Columns by Stephanie Towler I Struggle with Sleep Disorders, but They Don’t Stop Me Imagine that you’re sitting in your 7 a.m. clinical psychology class and fighting to stay awake. Energy drinks were part of my morning routine in college. I usually went to bed around the same time every night, so I couldn’t figure out why I was still tired and…
September 5, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: Expanding Your MS Symptom Journal Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How do you feel about journaling? It’s a good way to keep track of…
July 25, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: How Does Occupational Therapy Help People with MS? Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How Occupational Therapy Is Improving My MS Home Life” from April 15, 2018.