Women and MS – Ask the Expert

Posted on August 23, 2019 by MSAA

Did you know that on average, women are three times more likely than men to develop relapsing forms of MS? While we don’t yet know the cause of MS, many researchers and physicians are working to clarify aspects of the disease and provide more information to women who may be affected by the condition.

In an excerpt from the cover story of our Fall 2008 edition of The Motivator, Connie Easterling, a nurse practitioner who serves as clinical coordinator of the MS Care Center, Neurological Services of Orlando, explains how Continue reading →

Dissolution Confusion…

Posted on August 22, 2018 by MSAA

By Scott Cremeans

Some of my doctors have been confusing, to say the least. My recent doctor appointment was one of those perfectly perplexing pop-ins. When I recently saw this new neurologist things started off as most initial doctor visits do. It was just like every appointment for a new doctor that most of us have experienced. They cut off the blood circulation in your arm while testing your blood pressure. Then a thermometer is slipped under your tongue, and a pulse oximeter is simultaneously popped onto your finger.

They check where you are on the depression scale by asking Continue reading →

Planning for a Doctor’s Visit When You Have MS

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Samantha Schech

Being prepared and asking questions may assist in the overall care you receive at your doctor’s appointment. Taking control of your medical care by finding your voice and advocating for your health will help you to feel more involved in your health care decisions.

Well before your appointment, get in the practice of writing down questions you wish to address with your doctor. A journal or binder can be used to keep track of these appointments. Sometimes it is helpful to have one binder for all medical professionals so that you can review notes from all appointments. Dividers or clips can help organize one doctor or specialist from the next. If questions come up for your primary care while you are visiting with the neurologist, you can add them to the section for the primary care.

Before the appointment, prioritize the questions that are more important at that time. Often appointment time is limited, so by prioritizing the questions, you will assure that what is most important to you at that time is what gets addressed.

It can be a challenge to manage the patient-doctor relationship, especially if your doctor is not used to you asking questions. You certainly do not want to come across as aggressive by demanding the doctor answer questions. Before the appointment, make the doctor aware that you would like to discuss some concerns. By being upfront with the doctor, he or she can make sure there is enough time. Some doctors may prefer to follow-up and discuss questions through a phone call or e-mail.

Asking questions is important but so is making sure you hear and understand the answers you get. Taking notes during an appointment can help to clarify things after you have left the office. Having a care partner or family member at the appointment may also help in remembering some of the details of what you heard. If writing is a challenge, perhaps try using a voice recorder (with the doctor’s permission) to help re-play what was said during the appointment.

If you are having trouble understanding or are confused, ask your doctor to explain again. Ending your appointments with a summary can help to ensure that the doctor hears that you have understood the directions or information provided to you.

If there is something you are not sure about, ask for more information. Many doctors’ offices provide brochures, or educational materials that can describe a treatment or symptom. If the office does not provide these things, ask where you may find them. Perhaps you can reach out to one of the MS organizations to learn more about a particular treatment or symptom, or ask for information to be mailed to you.

By taking a more active role in your health care planning and decisions, you may feel more positive about the control you have over the disease.

How do you plan for your trip to the doctor or specialist?

You Know You Have MS When…

Posted on July 25, 2014 by MultipleSclerosis.net

People with MS tend to be very familiar with the typical symptoms associated with having this condition, like pain, fatigue, difficulties with mobility, numbness, tingling, bowel and bladder problems, among others. However, there’s so much more to having MS than what anyone could find in a textbook or a pamphlet at the doctor’s office. We wanted to know more about the everyday life of those with MS, so we asked our Facebook community to respond to the statement, “You know you have MS when____.” More than 150 people replied! Below is a summary of the feedback we received.

You just feel exhausted

After sleeping a full 8 hours, you still feel like someone used your body to run a marathon
The simple task of washing your hair is exhausting
Your kids think that all you do is sleep and that you’re sick all the time
You are so tired that you cry, and no amount of sleep helps
Everyone says, “You look tired – what did you do last night?” and you respond, “Nothing”
You’re too tired to get up, but you just end up lying around in bed thinking about what you should be doing
You wake up with a little bit of energy, bounce upstairs and fix breakfast, only to end up exhausted and needing a rest
You are tired or fatigued all the time, and you can’t find the energy to take a shower
Your battery depletes after 45 minutes of walking, and you become a complete physical mess on your feet
Feeling well-rested is a thing of the past
You must have a plan B, C, D, etc.
You need a nap before you go to the store to get coffee, and then need a nap again before you put it away
It takes HOURS to pay bills and organize your family calendar when, in the past, you were a successful nurse manager and an expert at multitasking

The weatherman is not your friend

Summer used to be your favorite time of year, but now sunlight, heat, and humidity keep you inside like a vampire
You’re the only one in the room saying, ‘Is it hot in here?’
When 70 degrees feels like you’re standing inside of an oven
When you can’t do any outdoor activities due to the heat
When summer heat hits the triple digits, and you can barely breathe
Your body is better at predicting the weather than the actual weather man

Getting around and maintaining control of your body is challenging

You can’t play with your kids or take a walk with your husband
You fall over when standing still
Your upper body starts to walk, and your legs don’t get the memo in time
You don’t even realize it when your legs go out from under you
You wonder if you’ll be able to climb the four stairs it takes to get into your office at work
You just tip over when standing still on level ground
When you wake up one morning, and you’re paralyzed on one side of your whole body
You keep tripping up over nothing
You are always dropping things
You are in the market shopping for groceries, and a fireman stops you because your face is drooping and you are confused, and they think you have had a stroke
Your hands are asleep and they don’t wake up
You are eating dinner and your arm suddenly jerks and your food goes flying across the table
You walk like you’ve had a few cocktails, but you haven’t had a sip
You find that no one around you realizes how hard you have to work to keep up, and you just end up getting left behind
You have to stop mid sentence because you’ve lost your train of thought
You take the dog for a walk around the block,and your legs feel like they are encased in cement
You walk like you are dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”
When your knees are locked as though there’s a magnet holding them together
When you go from 0 to pee in two seconds flat
You have to hold on to walls because you lack balance
You trip over something earlier in the day because of ‘drop foot’ and later that day you look at your scraped toes and wonder what happened
You decide being an unwitting participant in a wet t-shirt contest is better than running for cover during a surprise rain storm at an amusement park
You can’t stand without assistance
Your head goes one way and your legs another
You have to look at your hand and tell it to move
When you can’t pass a field sobriety test while sober
Despite only being 41, you walk like your 76 year-old mother
You have to lean your elbows against the shower wall to wash your hair

Your mind isn’t as sharp as it used to be

You lose your train of thought while mid-sentence
You walk into a room and forgot why you went in there in the first place
You have the hardest time trying to say what you want to say, and your words come out making no sense
You describe your symptoms, and your neurologist looks at you as if you were speaking Greek
You get confused when there is too much going on around you; you can’t even place an order at a fast food restaurant
What was the question?

Pain and numbness become a part of everyday life

Your feet feel like they are on fire or you have frostbite
You are numb and tingly and have burning sensations all over
You get unexpected zaps of excruciating pain in your face, arm, leg, and you try not to scream
You are screaming from pain as what feels like loose electric wires whip out of control at the base of your spine
You feel like you are being stabbed, and you have a tingling feeling all over your body
You can’t feel your fingers, but you feel like you’re walking on rocks, barefoot
You feel continual electric shocks down one whole side of your body that are strong enough to make you gasp out loud
You “feel” noises that go straight to the bone with subsequent weird pain!
Your body feels like you got into a fight with Mike Tyson, then got run over by a semi, and then kicked to the side of the road
You feel like you are sitting in a wet bathing suit because your butt is numb

People assume that you are fine

When everyone assumes you are normal and they say, ‘Let’s go – get with it’
Your friends and family think you are fine because you look the same, so they think you are just being anti-social
You get angry hearing, “Gee, you can’t be feeling bad … you look too good”

Does any of this resonate with you? How would you complete the statement, “You know you have MS when ____”?

Why I Choose to Medicate for my Multiple Sclerosis

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Ashley

I know that there are a lot of people with Relapsing forms of MS who wonder why we are encouraged to medicate. Especially, when these medications do not ‘stop’ progression, but have only shown to slow progression. It’s a big decision to make when choosing to medicate, if you do plan to do so.

I can honestly say that looking at the ‘world of MS’ from 20 years ago to now, it seems that disability rates have improved, along with patients Quality of Life.

I know that a lot of the MS medications available have side effects that are associated with the treatment, but the way I look at it is, at least we have options. We aren’t without medications to help slow our progression anymore. We also don’t have to all take ONE certain medication either.

I haven’t been one of those patients with MS, who gets on and stays on the first medication that I chose. Not one medication works for everyone living with MS. I have changed medications multiple times since my diagnosis, not because I ‘wanted’ to, but because I needed to.

So, the question people ask me a lot is, “Why do you choose to medicate, if you have failed multiple treatment options?” This isn’t an easy question to answer by any means. For one, I’m scared. I’m scared of the unknown… I’m scared to know what would happen if I didn’t medicate. Even though these medications don’t promise to STOP progression, they have shown to slow it… and I really don’t want to know what my life would be like if these medications weren’t slowing at least some of my progression.

Another response I have is, why not? What do I have to lose? Before I actually got diagnosed I was miserable and could barely function, and ended up being in a wheelchair. (I am no longer in a wheelchair, by the way.) I’ve already been at my lowest and it’s not somewhere I want to go again.

Whenever you read anything about multiple sclerosis, it states that it is a progressive illness. I don’t want to take my chances to see just how ‘progressive’ my disease can be.

So, as long as there are options available for me try, I will. I know that having flu-like symptoms with an interferon, or GI issues with Tecfidera aren’t pleasant, but the truth is, it could be a lot worse if we don’t deal with those side effects and get on a treatment.

Now I’m not just saying I play ‘eenie-meenie-minie-mo’ to choose a medication – this takes a lot of research and discussing these options with my neurologist and family. Something I use when wanting to compare the medications is MSAA’s S.E.A.R.C.H. Program. There are many resources available to those with MS when trying to decide which medication to take, so make use of them.

The medications available to MS patients have been increasing since I was diagnosed in 2010. Try to stay informed and educate yourself about what’s going on with MS Clinical Research. This way you know if a new medication for MS is on the horizon.

MSAA even has a Research Update publication that you can check out to learn more. As most of you know, I’m a volunteer for MSWorld.org, and we attend Multiple Sclerosis Conferences, helping to keep everyone at home up-to-date on all things MS. You can view all of MSWorld’s Conference Coverage at the Conference Center or YouTube Channel.

Best Wishes!

Ashley Ringstaff – Volunteer for MSWorld.org

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