Does MS usually progress so fast? - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

Lisa_P · 10-30-2006, 07:41 AM

I was 36 when I was diagnosed (I'm a month away from my 40th birthday now). I went from working full time in an office then to now barely keeping up with housework and cooking! Walking down to the mailbox and back is a MAJOR accomplishment that I just can't seem to convey to anyone. I feel guilty everytime my bf comes home and asks what I did that day and I have absolutely nothing else to recount! HE'S been doing hard physical labor all day and has REAL aches and pains from it, so I can see how he discounts me....

At least I am still mobile, but still....

duttin · 10-30-2006, 11:13 AM

Lisa,

With MS being such an individualized disease,it seems to effect each of us in similiar ways but some to a much higher degree.
Your correct in stating that you still have your mobility,thats a blessing.
have you disgussed your concerns with your neuro.Maybe a change in your meds may offer some releif.
I had a period of time earlier this year that cleaning the house was more than I could bare.That time has since passed.It took about 9 months.My hubby still doesn't quite realize how much this disease can suck out of a person.
I turned 40 this past January and since then I have had deteriorating vision and have lost 35 % of my hearing in both ears.Neither will return to normal.But I count my blessings for what has remained the same.I also have troubles with my legs and they give me a great deal of problems,I make them move.
Don't feel quilty about what you can't do,tomorrow may be different.

penybobeny · 10-30-2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa_P

I was 36 when I was diagnosed (I'm a month away from my 40th birthday now). I went from working full time in an office then to now barely keeping up with housework and cooking! Walking down to the mailbox and back is a MAJOR accomplishment that I just can't seem to convey to anyone. I feel guilty everytime my bf comes home and asks what I did that day and I have absolutely nothing else to recount! HE'S been doing hard physical labor all day and has REAL aches and pains from it, so I can see how he discounts me....

At least I am still mobile, but still....

Ok, first off I want to say.... stop being so hard on yourself... what you are going through IS real.

MS is a cruel disease in many ways and one often encountered is that it does not manifest by turning you a strange color or with a rash or any other obvious outward sign that people can see in a glance and say "Oh, you have MS don't you?"

Instead we are exhausted or just dont have the energy and are "lazy"... we trip over nothing and drop things and are "clumbsy"... we can't see things easily at times and are "not paying attention"... we forget things easily and are "scatter brained"... and we have aches and pains and are "just looking for attention".

Yes, your bf does hard labor all day long and has real aches and pains... but you are dealing with a disease that makes every day living feel like climbing Mt Everest at times and you should not discount what effects it has on you. Be proud of the accomplishments you do have... today you got to the mailbox when it was a marathon achievement, let yourself feel pride in that. You vaccumed the carpets even though it took all day but dangit, you did it!

My mind is skirting around the types of MS (so forgive me if I get this wrong) but you may have primary progressive (?) MS, my advice would be to talk to your neuro and see if there is anything he can do to help make thing easier, and get some MS facts printed up or sent to you for evening reading for the bf, or take him with you to the doc.

Good luck and remember... you have MS, it does not have YOU

Lisa_P · 10-30-2006, 12:41 PM

I would LOVE to see a neurologist, but a) there isn't one within 60 miles, and b) I REALLY can't afford it. So I'm praying my SSDI will come through this spring once I have a hearing before a judge so I can get on some State medical assistance or Fed. medicare (but, of course, that depends on when they decide I became disabled). My GP is pretty good about taking care of me, though. And I'm on their clinic's assistance program so I can see him pretty often. It's the meds and specialized care that are so out of reach right now.

I really really hope this mess is not the progressive variety.