MS can impact every aspect of our "being".
I feel that physical symptoms whether visible or not are something we can learn to gauge over time as we learn about them all. I was in denial about many of them prior to DX, but now through this forum, online information, my regular assessment with my doctor, I have a list and know what to look for.
I also put fatigue under "physical", and it's something that can be measured, how much do you sleep, need to sleep. How much effort can you do before you need to rest.
The emotional impact of MS is hard to measure but I think it can be discussed with doctors. They have now have good frameworks for depression that can be used.
The cognitive impact of MS is something that I struggle with quite a bit. And this is the one that scared me the most when I was first diagnosed last year. First thing I did is ask my husband and close friends to tell me whether they saw a big change in me. But it was hard to assess where I was at. I think it's easier to see up or down changes such as:
- Brain fog: I only realized how much brain fog was impacted me until it started to dissipate thanks to treatment. I can focus, I can actually write more than one sentence at a time, I can stay on the same task more than 20 min at a time.
- Short-term memory: It has started to improve - I can now remember the short 6 digit codes that are sent to your phone when resetting a password, no need to write them down. This is one measure of it. A year back, I would have to write down everything, every single point of information I had to deal with.
- People's name is still a big issue.
- I play games a lot. Did not really see a change there. I wonder about the effectiveness of brain games and tools.
I'd love to hear from others on this forum. How do they evaluate their cognitive abilities? where do they see MS impacting them?
Thank you.
i too ask if my husbands see anything different that i need to talk to the doctor about for he would see it for we are together all the time unless one of us has a appointment with a doctor or just going to town for something ....at times my arguments get bad for we don't always come to an agreement on things ...it is so funny at times because we are trying to say the same thing to each other just saying it differently so that is what the argument is about when we finally get to the point but in the mean time it is very stressful...wow is it ...yes i have to stop and think about things ahead of time or i can get it messed up ....we have to go slow and that is so hard for me ...i use to do everything for he was gone a lot being a owner operator truck driver ...he could be gone one week to as much as a month...so it was me and the kids ...so now we both have the problem of remembering that we have to deal with everything together for we use to live our own basic lives so it is now both at home at all times ....anyway that is my hardest part of this disease is to let others at times to do something for me ...have a wonderful day sorry for the long talk...love to read about others and how they cope ....
I see this was written 6 months ago. But I totally understand. There are times there are pieces of information that I do know but I totally forget. Sometimes I am having a conversation and will forget mid-conversation. I pause and sometimes it may come back to me 3-5 minutes later. If I am interrupted during the conversation as someone wants to agree or disagree with their thoughts I wont remember my original thoughts. So frustrating as I always had a good memory. I totally understand your experiences. Have a great day.
thank you for sharing. It makes me feel like I'm not alone.