Emotional Hangover from MS - and what to do.

The MS got a hold of me, worse than it’s been in months.   But there were reasons.  Pushed beyond comfort by demands of life, it caught up with me.  And caught up bad.   

Often we talk about the physical pain of MS, the tremors, the spasticity.  The pain the comes from every nerve ending or the fatigue that covers us in a lead blanket.

And then the pain wanes and we feel better for a bit.  But the emotional sludge that remains behind is detrimental to our health and happiness.  

And boy did I feel it this morning when the day got started.  Frustrated, irritated and angry at life, my legs crumbled their way out of bed to get some coffee.  Crumbled for sure as there was no jumping for joy today.  

Why my?  Why this damn MS that suffocates me and keeps me jailed up in my body?  

Sure, I aim for happiness.  Positive thinking and all is great an my focus.  But today, I’m not going to fight it.  My emotions are way over the top upset and there’s no denying that I really I despise my MS right now.  

Unfortunately the angrier I get the more worked up my MS becomes.  This isn’t productive or healthy for anyone.  

Time to force a change! 

Yes, I’m using the word force.  Enter something beautiful in life:  A sit in the garden.  A chat with a friend.  A stroll through the neighborhood.  Find the beauty, grace and appreciation that is the bases of life.  It’s there but when I’m this worked up it’s hard to see beyond the tears. 

But forcing this is easier than it may seem.   Just sitting out in the garden for a few minutes is helping.  

BREATHE DEEP EXERCISE

1.  Breathe in deep to the chest.  

2.  Take the breath deeper, into the belly and gut and let it distend out as far as possible

3.  Keep taking in more air, aware of the beauty around you. 

4.  When full of air, sit a second then exhale deep.

5.  Exhale through the mouth, letting out everything dirty, angry and evil. 

Repeat! 

Ahhhhh...  Feeling so much better already.  

Now, to remember this trick during the busyness of the day.  

Now that I can see straight and am calming down, time to record my issues.

Even after almost 20 years of this illness, I am still learning about it.  Today was a lesson learned.  After three days of physical hell, the emotional hangover was even worse.   Next time my body faces exacerbations from mismanagement I must remember this tailing wind of emotions that have entwined me. 

Ask Caroline! Join me at Belong.MS - Certified Life Coach and Living with MS since 2001

 

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MS is like an iPhone Battery...and I need a recharge!

Keeping ones battery charged with MS can be as tricky as keeping an iPhone going all day. Remembering to turn off location services and programs running in the background is vital to keep an iPhone chugging along. But how do we do this with MS?

How do we turn off those programs running in the background. That constant chatter of energy being wasted. Do we meditate? Medicate? Or both. 

And when it comes to our location services, how do we unplug ourselves from those wanting our energy? Do we withdraw? Or de we become strong and set boundaries?

So much in life has changed with my MS. Every decision, every thought is focused on how it will effect my mind, body and soul. While this is a good thing in the long run sometimes one really just wants to kick down a loaded cappuccino, go for a hike, enjoy a pipe on a cold and rainy day while reading Harrison, drink a glass of wine or two with good friends, tie some flies, hop in the car and drive...just drive. A certain since of freedom is stripped when a disabling disease like MS hits. Freedom in so many ways. Once a road warrior. I am now a shuttling sissy.

It started with a panic attack on the LA freeway amongst heavy traffic. No escape. Panic stricken, batteries faded fast. Eyesight diminished rapidly. Then the convulsions and dry heaving that would randomly hit never made it safe. Let cramps, not good for driving either. While these issues don't happen all the time, they've occurred enough for me not to trust my body, understanding now that my batteries could crash at anytime. Knowing this makes me feel vulnerable and vulnerability creates fear. Too much fear can strip us of our lives.

To a point we can quick charge our batteries: caffeine, tobacco, provigil, sativa, sugar, etc. But how long can we quick charge before the battery won't take a charge? And when we are left stranded there is no back up battery. No way to plug into the wall and recharge. We have only one battery. We must take care of it.

So how do we turn off those extra programs running? Visually I imagine the blinders on horses. Those eye guards that keep the horse looking ahead and not distracted. "Put your blinders on Caroline" and get to work. Focus on one project. Or one meditation. One walk in the rose garden. The point is to have just this one program running. And turn off all others. Blinders. This works for me, most of the time.

But there are those times when it doesn't work. When I need a distraction. And another distraction. And again and again until I have six programs running and my battery bar is slipping fast. "Put those blinders on." But sometimes it just doesn't work.

Then, finally, I stop everything and go lie down in a nice cool place that's not to bright. Closing my eyes and just being quiet. Recharging. Ahhhh. It takes strength to keep our batteries charged. To know what we need to do to take care of ourselves. To unplug from others when we are on low battery and turn off our location services.

For me this meant learning a lot about boundary setting. Rules. My rules for my health. This can be hard on friends and family. Setting boundaries can take a lot of explanation, patience and communications. But it's essential for defining our needs to keeping us alive and void of fear. To live life on a full battery. That's my goal. To manage my software and take care of this battery before it won't hold a charge.

Let's do this. Let's keep our batteries charged. Let's rid ourselves of fears and vulnerability. It's time. It's time to take charge and recharge.

#takethatMS

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Escaping the Red Zone of MS

Sometimes this is not very easy to do, keeping your clothes on, with MS. Summer months are brutal and just hiding out by the AC doesn't cut it for most folks. Planning ahead with cooling devices is best but sometimes we simply wake up in the "red zone", inflamed and sensitive, a red flag for a relapse.

When I'm in the Red Zone the first thing done is to rate the shade of red. Am I getting a little pink or have I fried myself?

And then ask myself why?

• What did I do yesterday?
• What did I eat?
• What was the temperature?
• How did I sleep?
• What's on my agenda today?

What can I do now to move into the "Blue Zone"?

Hanging by water is a great option. Pools, rivers, lakes, oceans provide instant relief from warmer temperatures. But not all of us have this opportunity nor can we often remove our clothes to cool off so improvise we must.
Quick tips:

• Cool shower. Even Luke warm is fine. Just hop in the shower for instant cool down.
• Wet bandanna around cooling points: neck, wrists, ankles
• Ice water, drink it, pour it on your head, pour it down your shirt!

• Wet shirt, cool off body. Huge help in the Sahara when my guides put my shirt in the crocodile infested waters so I could cool off. They don't have ice on safari in Tanzania, FYI.
• Juice it! With Cooling, anti inflammatory and detoxing foods such as cucumber, apple, pineapple, etc.

• Visualize the Blue Zone:

Ahhhhh....feeling cooler already. Now, not to mess it up.

 

That means to watch diet and activities all day:

• Cooling foods
• Activities by AC
• Water, hydration
• Reduce stress and get those items checked off to-do list
• Have fun brainstorming on some new projects
• Find balance
• Be at peace
• Mellow in the "Green Zone"

So, How do you deal when you're in the Red Zone?

Originally posted in 2015. Still pertinent today in 2024!

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Creating your own health: Using Diet & Nutrition to Treat MS

Wow. 23 years later.  Probably one of my biggest factors in managing my MS symptoms is the use of diet and nutrition.  During my three years in the double-blind, T-cell study, back in 2001, my hopes were on nutrition and all things alternative.  I willingly went off all DMD in search of a cure for MS.  But then reality set in, and it was all engines forward in the battle of natural ways to fight the progression of this disease.

Sporting my flower peace wreath

There is a lot of incoming research on Diet and MS.  There are also some active clinical trials.

Click this out:  Here is my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Diet - or better yet, a nutritional protocol, is essential in my daily battle against MS.  If my daily intake has too much salt, too much caffeine, too much gluten, too many processed foods, then I will pay the price.  And while that price may not be paid that same day, trust you me that it will not forget and will rear its ugly head.  And, more often than not, all of the prices will want to be paid on the same day at the same time, wreaking complete havoc on your life.

Go for color when cooking and creating healthy menus 

Fresh lemon is key!  Use in water, tea, baths, etc.

 #refresh

Click here for my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Become friends with your body and find a new level of wellness.  

Welcome to living with multiple sclerosis.   As you know it often does not bode well for us MS patients.  Out diseases are random and progress willy nilly.  But there are modifiable risk factors that we can take into consideration to help us strive for the best life possible despite's our illness.  These risk factors include cigarette smoke, alcohol, nutrition, supplement intake, exercise, and other situations that we have control over.

~if need be - pee on it and walk away~

Cig smoking is bad.  Bottomline, cut it out.  Alcohol is considered OK in moderation.  Consult with your neurologist or medical expert.  Often people find that Vitamin D, B12 and Biotin can all be beneficial supplements.  In addition, the nrf2 activator, Protandim, is found to be great at fighting oxidative stress.

So, that brings us to Diet, or nutritional protocol.   Everyone is different so finding a protocol that works best for you is key.

Gluten free bread is an option.
Here it is paired with home-made soup and fresh salmon salad.

One person who is making a difference with diet and MS is Dr. Terry Wahls and her Wahl's Protocol. I had the great fortune of speaking with Dr. Wahls a few weeks ago for an article I was writing for Healthline.com - "Diet as a possible treatment for MS".   And wow!   So much great information going on with diet and MS.

The Wahl's Protocol is a modified paleolithic diet.  More about it click here. For those who do not know, Dr. Wahls has made diet a form of treatment for progressive MS.  Thank you Dr. Wahls!   I have been following and almost identical diet based on my own experience for over 15 years.  It is the number 1 "go to" when things are going bad with my MS.

And if you don't have fresh flowers, the fake ones are fun too!

First, I ask myself:  How is my diet?  Where am I going wrong?   And most of the time, this usually fixes it for m!   Like I say, everyone is different.  This is one reason I love the Wahl's Protocol - as it suggests elimination type diets to see what you personally are sensitive to and this is BIG!

Here is my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Here are some food common sensitivities:

Processed foods
Salt
Gluten
Red meat
Simple carbs
Sugar
Sodas
Diet anything / excitotoxins or NaStY for MS
Dairy....

FYI - I eat dairy.  Cheese.  I tried to take it out of my diet once and my boss told me to add it back as the rest of the staff was complaining about my horrid mood.  That was near 30 years ago and I haven't tried to remove it since~  I don't eat a lot of it but like it now and then.   I will willingly cut everything else out, before the cheese~

Lately I haven't been able to eat much meat.  My body, probably due to the warm summer months, is craving cooling salads and fresh fruit.  Unfortunately I like beer, especially in the summer months.  It's not the alcohol that bothers me but rather the carbs and gluten.  Talk about a weight gainer!  And then if I add bread....Oh dear save me.

Last winter I made the mistake of letting way too much beer, bread and gluten get into my diet.  Showing no restraint at all for about six months eventually led to a 15 pound weight gain, horrid dry skin and then the dreaded MS relapse!   Ugh.

My vertigo and vision got so bad that driving was out of the question...even just to a friends house.  Lethargic and inflamed my life consisted of laying in bed and "trying" to motivate.  Oh how I hate this feeling!   My skin was dry and eczema appeared all over.  Hair loss was abundant and my breath was so bad it even grossed me out.   What have I done?  So healthy last summer and then wowza, what a defeat brought on by my own weaknesses.

Time to make a change!

Feeling the summer spirit, light and fresh!

Nothing huge at first, just cut the carbs back down to no more than 10% of diet or so.  Eliminated processed foods again and removed gluten for the most part.  A little now and then does not bother me.  But a six pack of beer and loaf of bread is not considered moderation.   That's OK, the change feels good.

Back to juicing and healthy eating.  Beautiful summer produce combined with beans and grains cooked fresh are making the table.  Herbs from the garden and cheeses and meats from local farmers inspire this cook to create.


Some of recipes for your enjoyment:

Anti-inflammatory Rice Pudding

Obsessive Gaspacho 

Juice Recipes

Chia Pudding


Words of Advice:

Try different diets.  Work with nutritionists who understand MS and the different trending diets.  This is your health - it is your body.  Do not try whack-doodle eating schemes.  Try stuff that has worked for others, the key word being "try".  Give yourself a chance with different foods and see what you might be sensitive to.  Everyone is different!  

Add color and energy throughout your house with fresh flowers.

Here is my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. 

#takeTHATms!