Say It the Way It Is

I get an MS magazine called Momentum from the National MS Society. It is a wealth of knowledge for those with MS. I look forward to a new one every time. With that said, this edition had a section in it about MS pain. I wanted to share a few inserts from this article that "say it the way it is."


-According to recent research, nearly half of all people with MS are thought to live with some level of chronic or recurring pain. Perhaps one in every four people with MS-related pain say that it's severe enough to hurt their quality of life.


-Although pain can't be measured with objective tools, this symptom of MS is just as real as any other.  Just ask the people who have it. Some say their legs feel heavy and numb, or as if they are being cut off or impaled on hot pokers. Some say they constantly ache, as if with perpetual flu, or they feel bruised, or they feel a suffocating pressure around the chest. Yet they don't have the flu, there are no knives or pokers, and they haven't been beaten or crushed.


-"Just because we can't see pain,we should not ignore it. It is real and can affect the quality of life."- Researcher Stephn Waxman, MS, PhD.


MS pain has hit me in full swing lately. It has been something I have not experienced as bad before. It has become a more constant, chronic pain each day. It is so ironic this article came out that gave me hope that there is so much research and help to assist in this area of MS. This is just another stepping stone in my MS to figure out what best fits me. It is taking a while to figure out what it is to do that helps, what it is to avoid or do less of, but in time I will figure it out. Let's hope. Constant pain wears a person out!  So these explanations are just a few of what a life with MS pain is like. Keep the fight alive!!!