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Earlier this year, MS Ireland hosted a webinar on fatigue management with Dr Michelle Murphy. Below is a summary of the information provided in the webinar.

The symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis can vary greatly from one person living with the condition to another. Fatigue is a very common symptom of MS, impacting between 75-90% of people living with MS, on some level. Fatigue can create feelings of exhaustion, tiredness, weariness or lack of energy. It is different to the fatigue experienced by those who do not live with MS. MS related fatigue can be very difficult to diagnose, understand and communicate. But what exactly causes fatigue? What effective techniques or strategies can be used to manage fatigue?

 

There are the parts of Christmas I love, like time with family, winter walks, twinkling lights and evenings by a cosy fire. But the parts I like don’t always gel well with my MS. As a result, Christmas can turn into something of a marathon for me and excitement tends to quickly give way to dread when I realise there is no way my body will cope with all the festivities.

There are the parts of Christmas I love, like time with family, winter walks, twinkling lights and evenings by a cosy fire. But the parts I like don’t always gel well with my MS. As a result, Christmas can turn into something of a marathon for me and excitement tends to quickly give way to dread when I realise there is no way my body will cope with all the festivities.

Lockdown and Covid have changed me forever.

For the past 10 years or so I have been keeping a similar routine. I'd get up in the morning, have a cup of tea, breakfast and get on with my day. My schedule would be all about spending time with people. It would be getting children ready for school or creche, chats with the coffee guy at my station, watching the bleary-eyed strangers on the train or the lovely woman who always graced the pavement past me on the street when I walked to work.  There’d then be the banter with work colleagues as we got on with the tasks at hand.

Temperature sensitivity is something that many people living with MS experience. Some people find that higher temperatures can cause a temporary worsening of their symptoms while others find that cold temperatures temporarily exasperate their symptoms. Other people are impacted by both heat and cold.

Temperature sensitivity is something that many people living with MS experience. Some people find that higher temperatures can cause a temporary worsening of their symptoms while others find that cold temperatures temporarily exasperate their symptoms. Other people are impacted by both heat and cold.

We have known each other for a while now. I was diagnosed 14 years ago, but you were lurking in the shadows long before. You take up so much space in my head! What on earth did I think about before you came along? Why won’t you leave me alone? Why won’t you leave the other 2.8 million people you affect alone?

MS Ireland is conducting a repeat of a 2016 comprehensive survey of the needs of people with MS. The results of the survey will help us to plan our services and will inform our ongoing advocacy work. It will also help to inform us of where there are gaps currently in service provision and the information gathered will offer us an evidence based platform to campaign on your behalf. It is therefore very important that we get as many responses as possible – this is a vital opportunity for people with MS to have their voices heard and make their needs known. The survey takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete. All responses will be anonymous and the questionnaire does not ask for any personal information. We would like to assure you that the information gathered will only be used for the purposes stated above.

To complete the survey click here.

When you receive your multiple sclerosis diagnosis, it always comes at a cost. 

Not only does your idea of your future self get thumped backwards, by the time you hear those three dreaded words “You have MS”, you probably already found out that life with a neurodegenerative illness is not a single, cheap financial event. 

You might spend plenty of time on sick leave, or you might need to change the way you commute to and from your job just to show up at all. Perhaps GP visits, medicines, and accessibility measures at home to improve being able to move around at home eat away at your savings. Other things like holidays, Christmas and birthday presents or something as simple as clothes, a meal in a restaurant or a cinema visit to see the latest blockbuster, eventually begin to  elicit a dreaded, "How am I going to pay for this?"

Take on 3,000 Push Up Challenge in March to Support MS Ireland 

• MS Ireland is asking people across Ireland to challenge themselves by doing our Push Up Challenge of completing 3,000 pushups in March.    

• Raise much needed funds to enhance the vital services of MS Ireland 

• Sign up now and get your Push Up Challenge Pack here

• Visit our Facebook Group here 

• If you do not wish to set up a Facebook fundraiser, you can set one up here instead