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.
Contents. You may have to adapt your daily life if you're diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), but with the right care and support many people can lead long, active and healthy lives.
As you come to terms with having MS you may start to feel differently about yourself and withdraw from intimacy. It is natural to not want sex. Try to keep on communicating to your partners so that they can understand the changes and give you space. Many people enjoy finding new ways of being intimate together.
It could make dating harder when you're not sure how you will feel.” MS can also impact sexual feelings and function — a big part of most romantic relationships. “Not everyone can handle being in an intimate relationship with someone who has a chronic illness,” says Fiol.
Four disease courses have been identified in multiple sclerosis: clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), primary progressive MS (PPMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS).
Factors that may trigger MS include: Exposure to certain viruses or bacteria: Some research suggests that being exposed to certain infections (such as Epstein-Barr virus) can trigger MS later in life. Where you live: Your environment may play a role in your risk for developing MS.
Disease Course of MS Is Unpredictable
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.
Constant fatigue is common for people with MS. This tiredness can impact all aspects of life, including effective brain use and the ability to go out and partake in activities. The symptoms of MS can cause constant discomfort and disability that limit a person's ability to go about daily activities.
In MS, personality seems especially important, for in addition to frequent personality changes and disorders, patients have more dysfunctional personality profiles, characterized by low levels of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, and a high level of Neuroticism (Maggio et al., 2020).
MS and emotions
You might hear it called pseudobulbar affect. If you're experiencing emotionalism, you may find that you have very sudden, intense periods of emotion that seem out of proportion or unrelated to whatever triggered them. You may easily burst into tears, or suddenly get very angry.
Stress has been linked to a long list of chronic health conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Though evidence is mixed, some research suggests stress could increase the risk of MS and trigger relapses (also called flare-ups ad exacerbations).
Evidence shows that low vitamin D levels, smoking and obesity all play important roles in the development of MS. Many viruses and bacteria have been or are being investigated in connection with MS as well.
MS is not directly inherited from parent to child. There's no single gene that causes it. Over 200 genes might affect your chances of getting MS.
Losing your ability to communicate. Immobility, which may lead to pressure sores and blood clots. Increased levels of pain. Mental decline or confusion.
These symptoms can fluctuate depending on the time of day. For example, symptoms affected by heat tend to be worse during the day, while muscle tightness and pain worsen at night. There are things people with MS can do to cope with symptoms during day and night time fluctuations.
Marriage and MS
Researchers found that not only did 31 percent of marriages involving at least one sick partner result in a divorce, but the risk of separation for older couples was higher when the wife was sick, rather than the husband.
Numbness, vaginal dryness, erectile dysfunction and loss of libido: these are some of the ways that multiple sclerosis can impact your sex life. In addition to physical changes, you may also be coping with fatigue, pain and depression — not to mention the stresses that a chronic disease can place on a relationship.
MS can cause significant anxiety, distress, anger, and frustration from the moment of its very first symptoms. The uncertainty and unpredictability associated with MS is one of its most distressing aspects. In fact, anxiety is at least as common in MS as depression.
Studies have found that continuous emotional stress, rather than short-term stress, can trigger an MS relapse in people with RRMS. Long-term, continuous stress keeps the immune system on hyper-alert, is very pro-inflammatory and creates a lot of wear and tear in the body, otherwise known as allostatic load.