Articles

I think January is hard each year. You’re settling down from the holidays and trying to get all of your ducks back in a row. Each January, I’m exhausted for...

When MS is in the news, those actually living with the condition have a new spotlight on them, but if they "don't look sick" they face additional questions from friends...

How do we view ourselves and what does that say to the outside world? Having a serious disease challenges our identity at every turn. For those of us with a...

I don’t care what people think. I’ve heard it plenty of times from plenty of people throughout my life. As a kid I said it myself when somebody was really...

As I write this, we are closing in on February 2nd. For most, that’s Groundhog Day, for me, it is yet another MSiversary (what I call the anniversary of the day...

MS Research Spotlight covers key research news from the past two weeks. New research out of Italy suggests that obvious oxidative stress in MS patients is best measured using an...

MRIs are no fun. Going in for an MRI to track MS progression can cause a lot of anxiety for people living with MS. If a new lesion appears, it's...

When actress Selma Blair recently announced her Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, one of her first sentences contained the phrase “I am disabled.” This is something I fervently applauded, however, it didn’t...

At first, I blamed my Sasquatch feet on prednisone. But two months after being totally off steroids, I still had bloated ankles and feet. I saw my PCP, and she...

The daytime sleepiness and fatigue that MS is famous for are perhaps the most common symptom experienced by people with MS. Pathological fatigue occurs when, upon awakening, you still feel...

In politics they say “the pendulum swings both ways,” just like on an old clock. If you are not sure what a pendulum is, it’s that weighted ball at the...

Some days, I find myself feeling guilty. I feel guilty because although I have MS, and have had it for many years, my MS has remained stable and overall mild...

I suffer from leg spasticity. The quads (front of my thighs) can get rock hard and hurt like the dickens, and the hamstrings (back of my thighs) are usually drawn...

Each year, MS patients can apply for copay assistance from a number of resources. Although these programs are needs-based, the income cutoff is very generous. Patients whose income is as...

Shortly after my journey with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) began, I realized that my cognitive function was not always working the way it should. It was nowhere near as bad as...

“What about this? What about that? Have you heard about that other thing?” Our well-meaning friends, and sometimes even ourselves, are constantly looking for the answer to our chronic illness...

In this series, we discuss causes of anxiety for those facing physical illness and its side effects. Phrases in bold are the words of our community members across various conditions...

As the first wisps of the morning sunlight begin to feather through the shades on my bedroom window, I am already very much awake. I am awake, forced from my...

If having a chronic autoimmune disorder like MS isn’t bad enough, the fall and winter bring additional risks with the introduction of the annual flu season. Ironically, while MS is...

Those of us with chronic illness often lament the divide that separates us all. If only people would understand that suffering is going on right under their noses. It can...