Can your life ever be normal again?

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Daisycat
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Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

Every day I’m living in constant fear of a relapse. I’m not leaving my house except for Work and I’ve stopped talking to everyone. My life is Work, gym at my apartment for 30 minutes and then sleep. How do you live without the fear of a relapse? I’d like my “life” back but I don’t see how it will ever be normal again with this curse.
Zyklon
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Zyklon »

Can your life ever be normal again? Yes and no, depends on you. It can be even a better life.

I fear a relapse. I enjoy life and physically and mentally take care of myself to prevent, delay, soften another one. I completely ignore MS most of time because I feel good. I deny to ruin my life because of fear.

Did you go to a psychiatrist as lots of friends here recommended? Recovery starts with acceptance and taking steps.
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain! Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain!
Daisycat
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

How do you ignore ms? It’s on my mind 24/7. It’s even in my dreams. The person who I’d been referred to Gave me anti depressants and it made me feel 10 times worse. All I did was sleep for 2 days. I had no interest in food or moving. It made me feel worse than i already did. How can your life be better with this? It’s almost impossible for me to get through a day at work without having to go to the bathroom to cry since I know one day I’ll lose my job that I worked so hard for.
Snoopy
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Snoopy »

Life is unpredictable, ever changing, which makes a "normal" life different at any given time.

You are living a normal life with all of it's ups and downs. No one has the perfect life and you will rarely find a person who hasn't endured hardship....EVERYONE is dealing with something.

Fear and anxiety happens when your life feels out of control. Quite frankly, the only thing you can control in this life is your actions and reactions. You have allowed your fear to control you rather than forming a plan of action (something you have control over). Living in a 'dome and glum' frame of mind is counter productive and will get you stuck right where you are.

I will once again encourage you to seek the help of those in the Mental Health Field to help get a handle on your feelings about have Multiple Sclerosis. The way you are currently living your life is mentally unhealthy and will do it's own kind of damage.

Your life is what you make with or without this disease.
Daisycat
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

I’m working out every day, eating healthy, sleeping , taking all the recommendations vitamins, and I’m starting medication this week. My experience with the mental health was a disgrace. Druggimg me so I’m feeling so comatose it was a struggle to even take my dogs out to pee isn’t my idea of help. Their response was it can take up to 4 weeks to Work. I’m sorry but I’ll be fired if I call In for four weeks. I’m glad I waited till my days off to try the Medicine. Without this disease my life had a plan and I knew what I was going to do long term. Now making long term plans scare me. I’ve gotten more help from one of my coworkers (the only one I’ve told and the only one I trust 100% to not tell anyone has helped me more than the “therapist “ whose idea was just to drug me to the point of not caring about anything.
Snoopy
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Snoopy »

I would be curious what medication you were on. A Psychotherapist doesn't prescribe medication. A Psychiatrist does prescribe medication but doesn't offer "therapy." Finding the right medication or combination of medications can take time and patience.
Daisycat
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

I’m at the gym and I can’t remember the name. It was an anti depressant. I just can’t feel worse than I’m already feeling for 4 weeks. (If that’s how long it really takes to work). I’ll look when I’m at home. My regular pcp changed my dose of my anxiety medication and that’s helping a very small amount. Im actually at a real gym and not the one at my apartment. This is the first time I’ve left my apartment for anything but Work since that horrible day when I was diagnosed.
Zyklon
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Zyklon »

Ignoring MS is something like clicking an "Ignore User" button for me.

I try not to give MS a chance to say "Heeeey loser I am here!!!"
When MS reminds me itself with feet numbness I say "Short the fluck up" and go to GYM, eat chocolate, drink coffee, do whatever I like.

I am really sorry to say that my life is better now. Maybe I am a lucky one, maybe my MS is benign, maybe I cure myself, maybe I will get crippled tomorrow, maybe, maybe, maybe...

I really don't care about maybes. I enjoy life, myself, family, job, I even enjoy MS sometimes.

You need proper professional help, a psychiatrist. A chocolate, a fatty meal, gym, salt will NOT make a relapse for now but your mental health rings the alarm bells. Do you fear a relapse? If so please go to a psychiatrist. I don't want to read a thread with "Heya guys you were right :(("

And clock is ticking, don't be late. Sooner you sort yourself out, longer you will have a healthy life. Tick tock tick tock, psychiatrist, tick tock, sort it out, tick tock, plenty help here after psychiatrist, tick tock, life is good

I smashed my own clock so no more tick tock for me...
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain! Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain!
Daisycat
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Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

I’m wishing I had a ignore button for me. It’s on my mind every second of every day. Even when I’m doing something else it’s there in the back of my mind trying to remind me that it’s sitting there just waiting to flare up again. My life is pretty much the same as before this thing but now I’ve had to give up on certain things that I wanted to do, and I have to try to eat healthy and work out. The only good thing about this disease is I’ve lost 30 pounds. I’d been to lazy before but now since working out and staying active is recommended I make myself work out. I’m doing everything that I’m able to to prevent a relapse because I’m in fear every second of every day. Maybe once I start my ms meds it’ll be better. Im not sure at this point. There’s so much information out there that it’s hard to know what is true and what isn’t.
ElliotB
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by ElliotB »

“Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere”

It may not seem easy, especially at 1st but you need to move forward and leave your worries behind!
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Scott1
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Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Scott1 »

Hi,

Antidepressants will not change MS. If you were given one by a neurologist for MS then he was trying to alter the way certain neurotransmitters operate in your body. It is a fruitless exercise as the only neurotransmitter that affects your skeletal muscles is aceytlcholine and antidepressants don't influence it. If you were given it by someone else then they are trying to influence your mind not your MS. It may have thrown you the opposite way that was intended.

I'm glad you found someone to talk to. It is a challenge at the start deciding who to tell and why to tell them.

You're right about the variety of information that is floating around. Some of it is self serving, some of it lacks a solid foundation and some of it has more to do with the politics of medicine than treatments themselves.

Well done on losing weight and getting fitter. Being fit, eating well and talking to someone sets you up to manage MS.
Now you need to take it one step further and leave the home more. To do that successfully you need a reason to do it. I use three Pilates classes a week as one of my reasons. It's social, good for more advanced MS and gives me a sense of freedom from the rest of life. I talk about it in some facebook posts here - https://www.facebook.com/pilatesonbourke/

You're on the right track. As you discover that MS isn't what you imagined then you will be looking for things to do that make you feel better about yourself.
That will include letting go of the demons that drove you to be overweight, created stress in your life and fueled your anxiety. They are all things that don't help MS anyway. They are things that can drive the people you'd like to have around you away from you.

A lot of us take minimal or no drugs at all. They may help but don't think it's the only option. Two well known MS people are Terri Wahls and George Jelinik. They do it all with diet and its almost amusing to see where they contradict each other. Nonetheless they both focus on real food rather than packaged empty junk food.

The people on these pages will give the pros and cons of most ideas. They can give you an insight because they've tried them. They aren't sitting behind a desk waiting for the next patient.

When an issue flares up just ask what others do about it. You're bound to get a response. You don't buy a house because you're sure you will win the lottery or sit day after day in a wedding dress looking out the window waiting for Mr right. Don't wait for MS symptoms to develop either. Do what your doing now.

Regards,
Zyklon
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Location: Turkey

Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Zyklon »

It is all in your head. I see you don't give up, that's good.

Plenty of horror stories, so-called cures, wrong information on the web. On the other hand lots of success stories, experiences and useful information.

I agree with Scott1, go out more. When you have nothing to do, you will think about MS.
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain! Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain!
Daisycat
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Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

The antidepressants were to try to help me not feel like my life is over. It made it worse. I’m starting my ms meds this week. Thankfully I’ve got enough vacation time build up that I’m taking 2 weeks off to make sure I’m handling the meds. I’m not going to risk making a mistake at work since that would be bad.
Zyklon
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Location: Turkey

Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Zyklon »

You may need to change your antidepressant. My psychiatrist said my drug could work for me or not.

I take 10mg Citalopram daily. I started with 5mg. In the first days my anxiety was increased. I called my doctor and he said it was a perfectly normal response and drug was good. After some days I realized he was right.

Same thing happened with my MS drug, Rebif. My liver was messed up, some fatigue, mild fever. My neurologist said most likely everything would settle in a few months. He was right too.

A drug may not work instantly. Your mentality is the same. You will think about MS alot after diagnosis which is normal. With experience and knowledge you will think less. Go out, be active and social, find some hobbies. Good mental health gives you good physical health. So inner peace first.
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain! Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain!
Daisycat
Family Member
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: Can your life ever be normal again?

Post by Daisycat »

I don’t have the luxury to feel like I have the flu or any other bad side effect. That’s why I’m taking 2 weeks off so I’ll have an idea if I can take the drug and function at work. Lots of people have ms and don’t take medication. I can’t afford to lose my job so I need to have mild side effects. Looking at the side effects most seem tobearable unless i have an allergic reaction but that’s not something that I can know until i try the drug. Besides being severely depressed i actually feel better health wise than I have in years. So I’m hoping my side effects aren’t bad. If it makes me feel horrible every day it’s not something i can do.
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