For people with multiple sclerosis, it's particularly important. Staying hydrated helps control bladder and bowel symptoms, and may help decrease injection site reactions and medication side effects. Dehydration can contribute to fatigue and cognitive impairment. Clearly, good hydration matters.
However, drinking less water means that the urine in your bladder will be more concentrated and that can lead to more urinary tract infections (UTIs). The general advice is to drink around one and a half to two litres, or six to eight glasses, of liquid per day.
Activities such as exercise, meditation, yoga, massage, eating a healthier diet, acupuncture and relaxation techniques may help boost overall mental and physical well-being in patients with MS .
A cup of soothing green tea may help. A small study found that some of its compounds, including one called EGCG, may help ease these symptoms. People saw results after they drank green tea every day for at least 3 months.
Communicating with friends and family can help you relate your condition to them, but there is nothing better than connecting with other people that are living with MS. There are MS Focus support groups in many communities that offer meetings. There are also support groups online if you can't make an in-person meeting.
A person with benign MS will have few symptoms or loss of ability after having MS for about 15 years, while most people with MS would be expected to have some degree of disability after that amount of time, particularly if their MS went untreated.
If you do decide to enjoy an occasional glass of wine or beer, know that it could ramp up certain symptoms of MS. Even one drink can make issues like unsteadiness worse. “If you have a lot of trouble with balance, thinking, or memory symptoms from MS, it may be better to avoid alcohol altogether,” says Graves.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) triggers that worsen symptoms or cause a relapse can include stress, heart disease and smoking. While some are easier to avoid than others, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and overall health and wellness can have outsized benefits for MS patients.
You'll Build Muscle Strength and Function
Resistance training (with bodyweight, free weights, or machines) and swimming are effective ways to build and maintain strength in exercisers with MS, says Ashley Davis, C.P.T., a trainer with Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, IL.
Vitamins that seem of particular interest to people with MS include vitamin D, the antioxidant vitamins, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Vitamin D Vitamin D is a hormone, or chemical messenger, in the body.
As expected fatigue was a significant symptom for the people with MS in the studies included, it was commonly experienced and often affected those people severely. Daytime sleepiness was observed less often than fatigue and was usually less severe, but it had a significant impact on the people it did affect.
Patients with MS most frequently report difficulty holding or storing urine, a.k.a. overactive bladder. These patients can experience a strong urge to urinate (urinary urgency), frequent urination (urinary frequency), and urinary leakage with the urge to void (urge urinary incontinence).
Sleep difficulties are actually more common in MS than in the general population. Sleep disturbance is a general term for a wide range of sleep-related symptoms and disorders, and can include: Difficulty with initiating or maintaining sleep, also known as insomnia.
The most common treatment regimen is a three or five-day course of intravenous (Solu-Medrol® - methylprednisolone) or oral (Deltasone® - prednisone) corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are not believed to have any long-term benefit on the disease.
MS relapses are caused when your immune system attacks the protective covering (called myelin) around nerves in your brain and spinal cord. These attacks damage the myelin. Inflammation around the nerves is the sign of an attack.
Some people with MS say following a special diet gives them a feeling of control over their MS. Or makes them feel better and helps with their symptoms, but that's not the case for everyone. At the moment there isn't enough evidence to recommend any special diet for people with MS.
Research tells us exercise can help you manage multiple sclerosis symptoms, including fatigue, and problems with balance and walking. Exercising can also: improve your mood. improve your overall health when your MS is mild.
It's a lifelong condition that can sometimes cause serious disability, although it can occasionally be mild. In many cases, it's possible to treat symptoms. Average life expectancy is slightly reduced for people with MS.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, an anti-inflammatory diet should include foods like tomatoes, leafy greens such as spinach and kale, and fruits like strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and oranges. There's some evidence that consuming these foods could be beneficial for MS.
feeding difficulties – which may require a feeding tube or result in severe weight loss. difficulties breathing due to weakening of the respiratory muscles. difficulty with speech or losing the ability to speak. pressure sores due to immobility – which are at risk of becoming infected.
Many people with MS choose to use wheelchairs or scooters from time to time or to do certain things, perhaps because of symptoms like fatigue or weakness, or to conserve energy.