How to Build a Self-management Toolbox to Live Better with MS

[BeHealthyNow]

Anyone living with MS would benefit from having a self-management toolbox of strategies, coping skills & support options in place to help troubleshoot potential problems. I wrote an article sharing key elements of things you can do to reduce the risk of symptoms that in my opinion, should be a part of a symptom management plan given out to us when we are diagnosed so we know what we can do to help ourselves. There are also bullet points of important things to discuss and clarify with your doctor. If interested, my blog link is in my bio. Meanwhile, I'd love to know what's in your self-management toolbox? I love to learn new strategies🧡💜

[Sandydemop]

hi BeHealthyNow thanks for writing this. I agree with you, having learned this the hard way but also things in my life have changed so much since i was diagnosed in 2010. Told i had a "benign" MS which was invisible at that time. In the intervening years i have had to leave my full time job and build a business where i could set my own hours and re-start my career in a totally different direction, change what i eat, how i exercise, etc. If i could tell a newbie anything i would say exercise every day like your life depends on it because...it does.

[BeHealthyNow in reply to Sandydemop]

Sounds like you really took control of your life and managed to successfully make these changes work for you🙌 There really is a learning curve and what this community is lacking is advice right from the get-go on these very real and life-altering topics.🧡

[Sandydemop in reply to BeHealthyNow]

thanks. if nothing else i am persistent. I don't see a link to your blog. Could you post it here or send a private chat?

[BeHealthyNow in reply to Sandydemop]

Here you go mswellnessproject.com/

[Kenu in reply to Sandydemop]

So true 👍🏼🙏😉🐾🐾

[kdali]

I think there’s a decent amount of general info for newly diagnosed, and my toolbox then was sleeping as long as I needed to, meditation, long speedy walks in the sun, and eating the rainbow.

[BeHealthyNow in reply to kdali]

There is definitely more general info now than when I was diagnosed almost 20 years ago. I do still find that if you want any info on things you can do yourself, that you need to research it yourself. At least that's been my experience. If it hasn't been others, that's fantastic! That means progress😀

[kdali in reply to BeHealthyNow]

I spent a shameful amount of time on Pubmed, and those studies were not 20 years old, so I imagine I would feel dropped on my face if I had been diagnosed then. I agree, and I don’t think I’ve found many survival skills during office visits, but I probably didn’t ask the right questions 🙃

[BeHealthyNow in reply to kdali]

That's an excellent point. If we want info, we need to ask for it.

[kdali in reply to BeHealthyNow]

I meant I didn’t know what to ask for, ask about, what was happening, etc.

[BeHealthyNow in reply to kdali]

Me either.

[tompumo]

The most important thing by far, is to accept that you're a new person. This is hard and could take a couple of years. But once you do, you'll be able to change your new life. Dealing with people and daily tasks gradually becomes the new normal. Your new perspective will help you with daily tasks as you adjust to the new you.

[BeHealthyNow in reply to tompumo]

I agree! Mindset is an important part of being able to move forward

[Frances_B]

One of my key strategies is to ignore people who persistently post things with their only intention clearly being to promote their personal websites despite it being against the HealthUnlocked website rules. The only posts you put up are about articles you have written and people are always directed to go to your personal website in order to read said article/s - where, surprise, surprise, people are encourage to subscribe to your website. It's far too reminiscent of the types of people who go on reality TV shows solely for the purpose of getting more Instagram followers.

[BeHealthyNow in reply to Frances_B]

I'm sorry you feel that way. I write my blog to have something to do since I can no longer work and I'm trying to do something useful with my time so I can still feel that I have a purpose. My website is not a business and there are no affiliate links. It's me, trying to help people with what I hope is useful information and insights about MS. The website offers only free resources for people with MS and subscribing to the newsletter puts people on the list for new posts if they are interested but don't want to look for them. That's all. No ulterior motive. I certainly don't benefit from anything other than feeling like maybe I helped someone that day.