living with MS

“Thanks, I hate it.” Odd way to begin a column, I know. I suppose I’d better explain myself. That phrase regularly appears in memes and other pop culture media as an expression of dislike for an image or tweet. No one seems to know where or from whom it…

Smoking is associated with lower brain volume, more brain lesions, and greater disability and attention deficits among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) after 10 years, according to a study in Norway. “The findings imply that patients should be advised and offered aid in smoking cessation shortly after diagnosis, to…

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” ― Gloria Steinem For as long as I can remember, my father has always had a saying: “Perfect planning prevents piss-poor performance.” Much to my husband’s frustration, though, I’m still…

Lower levels of income and education, as well as other socioeconomic factors, are associated with the presence and severity of fatigue among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study in Norway found. Women, smokers, and those with other co-existing conditions or a higher disability level also were more…

An assistive device made it significantly easier and more comfortable for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with arm and hand mobility problems to self-administer nabiximols — an oral spray containing compounds found in the cannabis plant — a study found. Trained nurses involved in the study agreed with its…

OK, I know I look silly wearing this — maybe even scary — but the Father’s Day gift I received from my son and his family is really cool, especially for someone with multiple sclerosis. Just in time for the hot days of summer, I now have a…

In poker, a tell refers to a change in an opponent’s behavior or demeanor that may offer clues about the cards they’re holding. This could be a facial movement, an unusual breathing rhythm, an unconscious shift in body position, or a strange monetary bet. Recognizing a player’s tells may help…

Fatigue is a common symptom among people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), and has a significant negative impact on physical and psychological function, as well as quality of life, a U.K. study reported. Citing the study as the “largest study on fatigue in MS from U.K.,”  researchers emphasized that…

“A holiday is an opportunity to journey within.” — Prabhas Last week was only my second weeklong holiday since my relapsing-remitting MS diagnosis in 2017. My husband and I have had weekend getaways here and there, mainly to visit family. Of course, COVID-19 has placed a huge restriction…

aHSCT, Stem Cell Therapy for RRMS, Troubled by Unknowns, Paper Says This research team says more studies are needed before aHSCT should be used for people with MS. But this has been the standard response for years to those who have seen benefits with stem cell transplants. Yet there…

So I’m at my multiple sclerosis (MS) exercise class working out on a sit-down bike. Yes, I know, by their very nature bikes tend to be of the sit-down variety, but for us lot in wheelchairs, these bikes are designed so we can roll up to them and have…

Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), I’ve used several medications to treat my MS symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three of them that I’d stopped using for various reasons.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England has updated its guidelines for the diagnosis and management of adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Called Multiple sclerosis in adults: management, the new guidelines update and replace the 2014 recommendations and are meant to be followed by…

If you weren’t aware (I wasn’t), last Friday, June 17, was National Eat Your Vegetables Day. The day wasn’t created to tout any special diet per se, but to increase awareness of the benefits of vegetables in a healthy diet. If you were already aware of those benefits, then…

Imagine this scene: There’s a rowdy crowd of nearly 40,000 people in a rugby stadium with music blaring over the Tannoy speakers. Newfound numbness spreads throughout the majority of your body, and on top of that, you can hardly see. That was the perfect myriad of factors to elicit my…

The risk of erectile dysfunction was about three times greater in men with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with healthy men, according to a recent meta-analysis of published studies. It was identified in nearly half of the 2,760 adult male patients in these studies, highlighting the importance of diagnosing…

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada has opened MS Bike, an annual cycling event to raise awareness and funds for research and services that make the difference for the more than 90,000 Canadians living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Conducted in an entirely virtual format due to COVID-19 in 2020…

I recently did a little research to write an article reflecting on a photograph of the Library of Celsus. This marvelous piece of architecture was commissioned by a Roman consul named Gaius Julius Aquila as a funerary monument for his father. It was once home to…

Compared with living with multiple sclerosis (MS), the anxiety of what on water (Earth has always struck me as a misnomer as water comprises 71% of our planet’s surface) I’m going to write about next week is but a slight fluttering. Yer, yer, I know; underneath it’s…

It’s a decision most of us with a chronic illness have to make sooner or later: When do we disclose our illness, and to whom, and how do we do it? Thirty-one-year-old Katie Coleman faced that decision not long ago. Coleman has stage 4 kidney cancer, and, in April, she…

When I turned 50 in 2013, I blew out the candles, and bam! I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I started seeing an endocrinologist and a neurologist, taking daily diabetic medications, and testing my blood sugar every day. At that point, I was not physically disabled in any…

I’m heading to the beach with my family soon. Not a resort, or any sort of popular, touristy destination. Far from it, in fact. We like to go to the old family beach house on Florida’s Forgotten Coast, where I went as a child and now want my…

In relapsing-remitting MS, relapses and exacerbations involve a worsening of symptoms or the appearance of new ones for 24 hours or more. My disease baseline has changed many times over the years, but has never returned to how it was before my symptoms began. I’m intrigued by how…

Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA), a form of purified botulinum toxin, has received a positive opinion in Europe for managing urinary incontinence in adults with neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO), or overactive bladder. The opinion is specifically for those who experience bladder issues due to multiple sclerosis (MS) or spinal cord…

The overall risk of death is about 75% higher for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in the general population, according to a new study. “The association was independent of demographic, socioeconomic variables, lifestyle factors, baseline diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer status,” researchers wrote. The study,…

Erin Stevenson’s doctor laughed when she asked him 13 years ago if the vertigo she felt while training for a first 100-mile bike ride could be related to her mother’s multiple sclerosis (MS). MS isn’t a genetic disease, but Stevenson managed to persuade the doctor to schedule a brain…

I’ve just received four intramuscular Botox injections in my right arm to relieve the muscle spasticity that comes with multiple sclerosis. (OK, it wasn’t actually Botox, but Dysport, or abobotulinumtoxinA, another medication derived from the botulinum toxin to block muscle contractions.) And “my right arm is going…

Will your doctor approve you to buy medical marijuana (MMJ)? Two of mine will and one won’t. The doctor who won’t, a primary care physician who works within a medical group, told me it’s the group’s policy. The problem, she explained, is that there are no guidelines. How do you…

Formal consideration of legislation to establish a Canada Disability Benefit, with the expectation the measure will provide financial support to Canadians who live with multiple sclerosis (MS), is being praised by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. On June 2, the legislation was tabled in Canada’s House of…

FDA Decision on Ublituximab for Relapsing MS Pushed to Year’s End Ublituximab is similar to Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Kesimpta (ofatumumab), which also target B-cells, the immune cells that play a role in the inflammatory attacks that harm the central nervous system of people with MS. Each of…