I don't see how this would hurt someone's feelings, but my apologies Julie, if it did.

Virtually every day can be H#(( with this disease, especially after having it many years. It is part and parcel of what we live with.

We do have to tune it out . . . or at least I do. If we focus on every twinge or obstacle, it makes life miserable for ourselves and everyone involved.

Julie struggles a lot . . . we all do. I am not denying her pain or frustration, I am just trying to suggest ways to cope. "Coping mechanisms" are what we all have to learn, and one of those is to try our best to ignore some of these problems, when possible. The more we talk about it, the more we perpetuate the gloom and obsession with it. This is my personal experience, and a lesson I had to learn too.

Obviously not everyone is going to agree with this approach, but it is my opinion on the matter, and it does work for me most of the time. Not always though, obviously, or I wouldn't have listed out all my current grief.

I get mad too. Mad at this disease, mad that everyone suffers so much (especially me ), and mad that I can't do anything about it. I get frustrated when I can't walk or talk or live . . . Dwelling on each problem is depressing though, and not at all healthy for me.

However, I am sorry if my anger about MY DAY, MY LIFE, trying hard to KEEP MY AGONY TO MYSELF (so as not to bring down everyone else) has spilled over into this response.

Cherie

Nice post Cherie.

Thank you for explaining.

So Sorry, Julie, that you are having one of THOSE days. I hope it improves for you as the day goes on.

Cherie is right, on one note, denial is our friend, and ignorance is bliss...In other words, we must ignore some of these constant SX, or go bonkers.

I'm sorry that you are having a bad day too, Cherie.. Your way of dealing, is good for you, but, not always the way others choose to deal. That's why Doc gave us this forum.....To help each other do that.

There are many days I ignore things and some days I need your help..

Julie,

When I was first dx I dwelled upon every last symptom I had - even if it wasn't bothering me too much - I think I "felt" them more then than I do now because it was new and scary and I didn't know what was coming next.

Fast forward to today - I still am bothered by my symptoms and some days they are worse than others but I have learned to pick and choose what I want to let bother me and what I don't. It's the only "control" I have over this disease. I know you're not dx with MS so all these symptoms you're having must seem magnified simply because there is no name to put with them.

I'm not discounting your distress - just offering a suggestion to maybe relax a bit and do something to take your mind off the constant barage of symptoms you have. You said you have help come in to take the children and cleaning chores off of you sometimes - use that help to take some time for yourself and go get a cup of coffee or go to the library or to the bookstore and browse. Like cimmonz suggested - even a break from the computer to give your CNS a rest can help, too.

I hope you feel better soon.

I am sorry that you are having a bad morning. And yes, please try to rest for a bit. It can do wonders. My daily naps are what gets me through the day. For the kids that are home, have them take naps too regardless of their age. My kids took naps up until they were about 8 when we were home on weekends and/or vacations. It gave everyone a good break and some quiet time.

I do agree with what Cherie was trying to say. I would be an absolute mental case if I focused on all the odd things going on with my body. Learning to cope and accept it for what it is is so important.

On the other hand, don't ignore everything. I make this mistake all the time and the neuro slapped my hand for it because I wait too long and ignore too much. I joke around that I need therapy to learn how to be a hypochondriac. LOL. That is how bad I am.

At my last neuro appt in January, I had been experiencing symptoms since having a cold at the end of December. It got bad enough that I lost part of my vision and finally decided to go in. It was at this appointment that we ended up having the "you wait too long and ignore too much" talk. Anyhow, after I had my MRI it was determined that the increase in symptoms was due to a viral type syndrome. Knowing that many of your family members have been sick and just experiencing this myself, is it possible you are dealing with some sort of viral syndrome which is causing all these crazy things to go on? Just something to think about.

I hope you start feeling better soon.

Not everyone can tune out the bizzaro (but harmless) symptoms. Especially if they're new at having those symptoms.

I've been dealing with numbness in my legs and feet for nearly 2yrs (first noticed it in April 2006) and am only just getting to the point where I can ignore most of it.

For some people it may take awhile to learn to ignore some symptoms.

I do know that if you get centered on the weird symptoms, that can make them worse. Trying to ignore certain things, like numbness can help it be not so freaking annoying.

Not sure how to ignore weakness...I guess that's one that you have to actually deal with, like resting.

When I first started to have the numbness in spring of 2006, it was really bad. I couldnt sit still because of the wacky sensations. It wasnt till about this time last year that I started to be able to ignore it fairly successfully...and I still occasionally have problems with that and will sometimes have a few days where I just want to crawl out of my skin.

Let MX7 complain some. Eventually the ability to ignore things will show up. Maybe complaining about her symptoms will help her some too. Venting helps sometimes. The ability to ignore the harmless annoying symptoms will come eventually.

Julie - sorry you are experiencing such ickiness.

Wish I had some words of wisdom - but sadly I don't. I haven't yet been able to tune out the symptoms - especially the ones that affect my daily life (like losing vision in one eye for minutes at a time) - it's hard to ignore some things.

On the flip side - the right side of my head has been numb since December 22 - and despite two IVSM treatments in the last 8 weeks - I am still numb... I just say that I'm used to it by now - Doc has no idea if this will get better or not....I'm just getting used to it and living with it - as it doesn't hamper much....though, I don't taste a lot of things...as my mouth and lips are numb on right side, too. (basically from chin up to top of head on right side) It is disturbing, but tolerable I guess.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope you're feeling better as the day progresses. Sheesh - that sounded dumb - since I know I feel much worse as the day goes by. LOL.

Wish I could do more than send a hug to you....


~Keri