stress

Note: A story mentioned in this column, “Prime Signs Agreement With EMD Serono to Improve Mavenclad’s Cost-benefit Value,” was updated on June 15, 2020, to clarify that the agreement allows for possible reimbursement for Prime’s health plan clients, not patients…

My favorite line in the “Downton Abbey” TV series, uttered by the dowager played by Maggie Smith, is “What’s a weekend?” When you’re retired, if you’re working as a freelancer, or if like me you’re doing both, it’s easy to forget what day of the week it is. There are…

I just turned 42, and though I am wiser and stronger and more independent than I was a few decades ago, not everything is coming up roses. Some days, I feel weak and helpless. Other days, I’m overwhelmed. And that’s just part and parcel of life for every human being…

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…

I give freely of my heart and wear it proudly on my sleeve. Those who know me would say it waves. I care deeply for my family, friends, and colleagues. I derive immense joy in my volunteer work with rescue animals. Be it Walk MS, animal welfare, or a…

No one needs to be reminded of the pandemic we’re in the midst of. We live it every day. The novel coronavirus has attacked with a vengeance, proving that no one is safe from its ruins. The actuality of being quarantined and the practice of social distancing have resulted…

Living through this unique time is nothing like I’ve ever experienced before.  There’s so much doom and gloom around lately. I don’t know about you, but the constant government alerts and updates don’t feel like they’re helping me. It’s enough to drive me insane if I…

Life is unscripted. It is messy and uncertain, with change being the only constant. Much like living with multiple sclerosis, adapting to change is directly correlated to our ability to thrive. We are reminded of this as we adjust to our new reality in the throes of COVID-19. Seemingly…

Take a deep breath, and I don’t mean the kind promoted by fake memes infecting the web to “prove” that you don’t have COVID-19! My deep-breath moment was in a small elevator at my doctor’s office. An able-bodied woman in her 50s bounded into the elevator behind my wheelchair…

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…

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is offering a host of educational activities on wellness strategies that address both the mind and body in its efforts to mark Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. Each year, a month is set aside to heighten awareness of multiple sclerosis (MS),…

I am hyperaware of the fragility of life. More specifically, the fragility of mine. Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease. My immune system eats away at the myelin sheath surrounding my nerves. My disease-modifying therapy is an immunosuppressant. This further weakens my immunity. I have known…

Jan. 1, 2020 was a special day in our house, and not just because a new decade came into being. (Or did it?) It marked our 20th wedding anniversary, and my husband and I chose to celebrate in style this year by taking a cruise together. (Yes, if you’re…

Welcome to 2020 and a new decade! I am thankful to still have the gift of life and to continue to share this space with you. I have read a multitude of writings and intentions for 2020. Resolutions are penned as the quest to live intentionally persists. 2019 was an…

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, “Have you learned how to pace yourself?” from April 13, 2019. Have an…

Caring for children with multiple sclerosis (MS) can affect the mental health of their mothers over the long term, a study has found. The study, “Increased mental health care use by mothers of children with multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Neurology. People with…

Well, this is one way of showing that I attended first-year philosophy seminars: Draw on the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle, then leap two millennia to Descartes. I never studied history, but I’m actually far more comfortable with it! Also, I don’t think I’ve ever built a column based on…

As a little girl, I loved Christmas. My parents went to great lengths to make the experience magical. Santa was as real as the stockings that hung from our mantle. On Christmas morning, the filled stockings lay right next to the half-eaten cookie. Santa had come! My jubilance grew as…

A few years ago, I penned a column titled “My Tired Is Not Your Tired” that expounded on the severity of fatigue that people with MS and other chronic illnesses experience. I contrasted the general fatigue most people occasionally feel with fatigue related to chronic illness. Reflections on that…

Can your mind control your illness? You might think, “No, of course not, the illness will do what it’ll do. I have no control over that.” What if I told you that you might have more control over it than you think?  When I…

Living with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis is a lesson in adaptation. The constant is change. This disease has given me sea legs. Nevertheless, some days have me fooled. When I think I finally have it in check, MS calls “checkmate!” And I remember. Let go of the reins, Jenn.

Several days ago, the headline “It’s All in Your Head” jumped out at me. The author of the Journal of the American Medical Association article, Matthew Burke, is a neurologist at Harvard Medical School who specializes in neuropsychiatry. According to Burke, the problem of physicians telling patients that unexplainable…

One of the best things about my job is something called fact-checking. Before publishing an article, we go through all the stats, facts, quotes, and assertions, researching their validity. That’s how I came across a humdinger of a quote by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk who lived from 1915…

My eyes are closed. Both arms are in a loose “X” across my chest. I feel my heartbeat quicken as I lean back. I fall. For a moment in time, I am afraid. But before fear takes over, a dozen hands cradle me instead. A trust fall. This team-building exercise,…

I have too much stuff! Why is this relevant? By the end of this column, I hope that you will comprehend my message. For the past few weeks, I have been cleaning out my closets. I hadn’t realized how many items I had collected over the years. As I go…

Last Thursday was the hottest day ever recorded in U.K. history at 101.6 degrees F. Heat sensitivity is enough to reduce me to the puddle I described last week. But it doesn’t explain the shaking of my body and the extreme pain in my right arm Thursday night. Not…

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 I Manage Stress With MS” from July 10, 2018. Whether physical, psychological, or…

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 forums. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Do Noise and Crowds Tend to Negatively Affect You More with MS?”…

One year of a vegetable-rich diet — combined with exercise, neuromuscular stimulation, and stress reduction techniques — is effective in easing fatigue in people with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers say the results may be linked to changes in blood fat levels, in particular cholesterol. This integrative…

A few weeks ago, I told you that I’d made a decision: I had to slow down. I think and talk quickly. I work quickly and drive much too fast for my grandmother’s liking. Basically, everything in my life was fast, and picking up speed with each passing day.