@Tara336 my spasticity is much, much worse in cold weather, but in hot (especially humid) weather my fatigue and heaviness are worse - I'm a bit like Goldilocks when it comes to temperature!
@PastMyBestBeforeDate 😂 if I er, straddle dh he has to guide my 'bad leg' over to avoid testicular assaults
I've had ms long enough not to take much notice of news of new treatments or cures. Does anyone remember the ccsvi debacle? I was convinced that was to be the answer to all my problems. Anyway, most new treatments seem to target relapses and don't work on progressive ms. I remain cautiously hopeful but pragmatic.
@Toddlerteaplease I understand what you're saying. However there is some weight in the theory that ms may also have a psychological element to it. I personally believe there are several factors that can come together and result in ms including; childhood traumas (people with ACE scores- adverse childhood experiences- more likely to develop certain diseases including ms), a genetic component (more prevalent in northern hemisphere, eg Scotland has higher rate), environmental factors including smoking, our standard western diets, and how we deal with chronic stress and adversity. If you're interested in the last one I'd recommend reading Gabor Mate or listening to his latest interview with Rangan Chatterjee where he mentions ms several times. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feel-better-live-more-with-dr-rangan-chatterjee/id1333552422?i=1000579192359
I had traumas in my childhood, witnessing domestic abuse, rancorous divorce of my parents, an emotionally abusive father, mother leaving me for new man. I was encouraged to repress my emotions around these issues and indeed still don't talk about them with dm (df now dead). I smoked, drank, sniffed glue, slept around as young teenager. I repressed anger over relationships with my family and later my in-laws, never addressing hurtful behaviour of others but instead going over and over things in my mind, provoking stress hormones to flood my brain. Always worrying I wasn't doing enough or the right thing, ruminating constantly. Before my first ms relapse I experienced a period of enormous stress which I didn't share with anyone.
Since realising what my mindset was doing to myself physically I've made efforts to change. I practice mindfulness and if I catch myself ruminating I stop. I forgive myself for how I behaved in the past. I've cut out toxic people and I focus on the positive. I believe the damage to my body is done but that I can mitigate future damage.
If anyone's interested in these ideas Jeff Rediger's book 'Cured' expands on them as do Gabor Mate's books and Terry Wahl's 'Wahl's Protocol'.