Newly Diagnosed MS

How often did you hear this? “Take care of yourself!” Everybody should take this saying serious. But people with Multiple Sclerosis should not only listen, but also act accordingly. If you are like every other person you know that you can get sick if you take your child into the sick child waiting room at your pediatrician. But people with MS have other things to look out for that might cause major trouble along the way. This doesn’t mean that attacks might come for no reason. But some attacks or flare-ups might come your way because you invited them to join you for a while.

Here are some examples of things that you should avoid (if you can):

• common cold and the real influenza
• emotional stress
• physical stress
• hot temperature

I used to love going into the sauna. But this was before I was diagnosed with MS. But even then, when I was, supposedly, healthy, I had problems with my body each time I got too hot in the sauna. In retrospect, I relate this to possible Multiple Sclerosis symptoms that I had without even knowing that I already had Multiple Sclerosis. Now I know that my body’s reaction to the extreme heat in the sauna was caused by multiple sclerosis all along (I lost all of my muscle tone in my legs and lost the ability to use my tongue in a way to be able to articulate in a way that people could understand what I was saying). I stopped going into the sauna. But each time I am getting a high fever, or get overheating after playing tennis (which I no longer do, by the way), I am experiencing the same kind of symptoms.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to me that the attacks that I have been going through, have come to me during times of college finals and term papers. Being a straight A student had caused me to study myself partly blind.

So if somebody tells you “take care of yourself” listen to that person. They might not know how important this really is to you. Look out for the clues that your body gives you. If your body tells you to stop. STOP. You only have one body and you shouldn’t play with what you have. A four or five hour sauna visit with naps around an open fire place, as well as naps in between two sweating rounds, could be one of the best things to get a stressed out body back to normal. A sauna visit for a person that suffers Multiple Sclerosis might do more harm than good. You will find out over time what your body can handle. And although I miss my Sunday afternoons in the sauna, followed by self made pasta of one of my best friends in Germany, I have found out that there are other things that bring pleasure to my life and that make me calm down and regenerate my battery.

Take care