By: Stacie Prada

If you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, stretch, or flex. Just keep moving.

Living an active lifestyle can be a challenge in the best of circumstances. Add living with multiple sclerosis symptoms such as fatigue, foot drop, and heat sensitivity, and it’s generally frustrating and takes more effort to stay motivated. Factor in adverse weather conditions, and it’s a huge undertaking to override the urge to be sedentary.

With MS, it’s common for symptoms to act up when the body temperature increases. That’s why hot weather is one of the many obstacles to staying active. When I was still learning how MS affected my body, it was scary when a jog led to body numbness from the neck down and an inability to control my feet reliably. Over time, I learned to differentiate between heat and exertion-induced pseudo-exacerbations that would subside within an hour or so after I cooled down and disease-progressing exacerbations that last much longer.