Ask how your friend is doing, then be ready to listen. Listening without judgment or interruption is one of the most helpful things you can do for any friend, including one with MS. Ask how you can help — but be honest about what you can provide, and say no if you really can’t give what your friend needs.
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What should you not say to someone with MS?
What NOT to say to someone with MS
- You don’t look sick.
- You shouldn’t drink diet coke.
- OMG this diet cures MS.
- OMG this vitamin will leave you symptom-free.
- Aren’t you gluten-free? …
- Aren’t you too healthy-looking to have MS.
- Try this herb; it helped my cousin’s uncles’ sister’s friend who has MS.
How do you cheer up someone with MS?
You can still help by holding a space for them to come back to when they’re ready.
- Let them know how much your relationship means and that you’re still up for having fun together.
- Instead of going out, arrange to have a meal at home or to watch TV or a film.
- Keep the contact going through Skype, Face Time and social media.
How can I help my partner with MS?
10 ways to help your partner if they have MS
- Patience is a virtue.
- It’s good to talk (but only when you’re ready)
- Stay informed.
- Less is more.
- Be willing to adapt.
- Let’s talk about sex (baby)
- Be their partner first.
- Look after yourself.
What is it like to live with someone who has MS?
MS affects everyone differently. However, for many, the diagnosis and living with the condition are emotionally challenging. People with MS may have feelings of grief about their diagnosis. They can also experience anxiety and worry about their symptoms or the progression of the condition or develop depression.
Can MS cause mental illness?
Although psychiatric conditions are highly prevalent among individuals living with MS, many persons with MS do not exhibit clinically significant levels of depression, anxiety, or other serious mental illness.
How do MS patients communicate?
Tips for you:
- When you need to communicate, don’t try and compete with other noises, such as the television or radio.
- Make sure you have someone’s full attention before starting to tell them important information, and be prepared to repeat things if necessary.
Is life worth living with MS?
Most people with MS can expect to live as long as people without MS, but the condition can affect their daily life. For some people, the changes will be minor. For others, they can mean a loss of mobility and other functions.
What MS hug symptoms?
The ‘MS hug’ is symptom of MS that feels like an uncomfortable, sometimes painful feeling of tightness or pressure, usually around your stomach or chest. The pain or tightness can stretch all around the chest or stomach, or it can be just on one side. The MS hug can feel different from one person to another.
Can MS patients marry?
“People with MS do meet others and do form successful relationships and do get married.” One of the biggest questions you might have when dating is when to reveal that you have a chronic illness, especially if you don’t have any visible symptoms.
Can MS cause anger issues?
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.
How can MS affect relationships?
Spouses or Partners
MS can put a strain on your marriage or long-term relationships. You might need to rely on your partner for care at times, like helping you bathe or driving you to doctor’s appointments. This can be stressful for both of you. Make sure you both give and receive love and attention.
How long do patients with MS live?
Average life span of 25 to 35 years after the diagnosis of MS is made are often stated. Some of the most common causes of death in MS patients are secondary complications resulting from immobility, chronic urinary tract infections, compromised swallowing and breathing.
Can MS make you crazy?
MS can raise your risk of emotional instability, which may lead to uncontrollable laughing, crying, or even euphoria. However, therapy, medication, and frank communication may help you manage your mood swings.
Is bipolar a symptom of MS?
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with a higher prevalence of mood and psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder (BD). While mania is most often associated with BD, MS can also induce manic symptoms.
Can MS change your personality?
While many with MS will experience depression or anxiety at some point, more rarely, some people experience changes to their emotions or behaviour that don’t seem to make sense, or that they aren’t able to control.
Do people with MS lose the ability to speak?
Speech difficulties of some kind are quite common for people with MS. Speech difficulties can come and go throughout the day, perhaps lasting only a few minutes at a time, and may be a symptom that appears during a relapse. For most people, changes in speech are mild, and don’t stop them from being understood.
Does MS cause stuttering?
Speech problems, including slurring (dysarthria) and loss of volume (dysphonia) occur in approximately 25-40% of people with MS, particularly later in the disease course and during periods of extreme fatigue. Stuttering is occasionally reported as well.
What does a speech therapist do for MS?
Speech therapy is a type of rehabilitation that focuses on improving movement of the mouth area. Speech therapy may be part of a multiple sclerosis treatment plan if weak facial muscles or lesions (damaged areas in the brain) have affected your ability to talk or swallow.
Is MS a horrible disease?
Outlook. MS can be a challenging condition to live with, but new treatments over the past 20 years have considerably improved the quality of life of people with the condition. MS itself is rarely fatal, but complications may arise from severe MS, such as chest or bladder infections, or swallowing difficulties.
Can you be happy with MS?
This damage to the myelin or nerve fibers is what causes MS symptoms to occur. But MS is very rarely fatal, notes the NMSS, and it is possible to live a fulfilling life with the disease.