I'm so not surprised that MSers get accused (at least behind our backs) of being malingerers. I always thought a malingerer was somebody who made things up, but it's technically someone who fabricates OR EXAGGERATES symptoms for secondary gain--often attention, sympathy, etc.

Now I know a couple of people (non-MSers) that I would define that way. One is even a good friend. She never has a bruise, she has a very serious deep contusion. She has excrutiating headaches, violent nausea, horrible and non-ceasing vertigo that may necessitate a trip to the ER...

Have I ever done that? Maybe. I might have said "degenerative joint disease" on purpose instead of "arthritis" so I'd be taken more seriously.

Anyway, my point is, when I look at my laundry list of symptoms it occurs to me that someone could easily think me a malingerer. Between MS, arthritis, IBS, and so on...I can just imagine my friends rolling their eyes and thinking, "and what is it THIS time?"

Today, for example, my left ankle is swollen (arthritis) and I have sharp pain (muscle? nerve?) on the top of my foot. I'm having trouble wearing shoes, much less heading off shopping or somewhere.

AND I'm having IBS problems, so there's another GOOD reason to stick close to home.

Every day it's SOMETHING when you add the MS junk--often weird and indescribable) to the physical complications of being 62 and human...hmmm. Not that my life revolves around what other people think, but I do understand why sometimes people think we're malingering. What do you think?