Onward and Upward

A while back when I was feeling down and a bit useless, well, my feet, legs and bladder were actually being useless...  My Uncle Mike wrote to me that life is like riding a bike and that "if you slow down too much, you'll fall".

I have been feeling SO much better lately and in the past week, a couple of people have learned that I have MS and are totally surprised - telling me that they would never know unless someone mentioned it.  So, I've taken Uncle Mike's advice, removed the kid gloves with which I've been treating myself, and have jumped right back into the hectic life of a 34 year-old.

With that said, now we can discuss stress and how to handle the craziness when you have to deal with a disease that makes you super-tired at the hint of mental or physical strain.

It has not been proven definitively that stress can cause an MS relapse or worsen existing symptoms but, I believe that stress caused my last relapse 100%.  I believe this because as soon as I heard that my beloved Grandmother was dying, both of my feet went instantly numb.  I just spiraled down into a wretched, intense relapse (that led to my diagnosis) from that second on.

I also know that when I get stressed at work or I'm pushing myself too hard, my walking and bladder function gets much worse immediately.  Do any of you have this experience as well?

The MS Society of Canada tells us that any chronic illness can cause ongoing stress due to the uncertainty of the disease, the visibility of symptoms, having to adjust and readjust to changing symptoms constantly, financial stress and loss of control.

In times of stress (for me, when my job gets nuts), more energy is required to think, multi-task and problem-solve.  Dealing with increased demands like this drains the "stress-handling-reservoir" (ha ha) and leaves us precious little left to deal with our very demanding illness.  I think this is why stress makes many of us experience a worsening of symptoms at the least ideal times.

So, question is:  what to do about it?  Well, the MS Society says that there are several ways to handle everyday stress effectively.  For example:

* Simplify your life. Relax a few standards. Let the grass grow. Ask yourself if you want to do a particular task, if it needs to be done perfectly, or not at all.

* Plan ahead in situations that could cause stress. Take a book with you if waiting may be necessary. Make plans for where to meet or call if plans go awry.

* Get extra sleep before family gatherings or important events.

* Learn to say no. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t have the time, energy, or desire.

* Make your requests for help as specific as possible: “Would you please help me by ...”

* If old interests and activities become more difficult or too time consuming, replace them with new ones that fit your current needs.

The MS Society has actually published a guide to handling stress and have a ton of helpful suggestions.  It's kind of long so, I'll give you the link if you want to take a look.  There is some really good advice in here:

http://mssociety.ca/en/pdf/TamingStress.pdf

Anyway, I'm going to have to try something because I'm beginning to work through breaks again at work, not eat regularly and am starting to feel totally overwhelmed and bogged down.  I know that I can't go back to the pre-MS days where I would work myself ragged consequence-free.  I have a responsibility to my health now but, as you all know, it's hard to slow down once you get up some speed!

The exact opposite problem that my Uncle Mike noted, ironically enough...

So blog-friends, I know that you have some stellar ideas of your own on how to deal with stress.  Please comment or email me if you have some good stress-busting tips.  And, as always, thanks for reading and supporting.

Love Ali xoxo