My Top Tips for Living With MS

Fact checked by Nick Blackmer

Fatigue and changes in the way I walk were my first signs of multiple sclerosis (MS). My wife was the one who encouraged me to see a doctor. On one of our daily walks, she said, “You don’t hold me the same when we’re walking. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been around you a long time, and something’s wrong.”

I’ve learned a lot about living with MS since I was first diagnosed in 2017. Now, I not only want to understand how to live my best life with MS, but I want to connect and help others living with MS, too. We can all help one another.

Read on to learn my tips for living with MS.

What Coping With MS Looks Like

Coping with MS can look different for everyone. Here are some coping tips to consider.

Meditating Daily

One of the biggest mechanisms I have for coping with MS includes three half-hour meditation sessions every single day. This is what works for me and what helps me manage MS symptoms or side effects from medication, but some people meditate for less time. It’s not about the length of time; it’s about making space in your day to take your foot off the gas. It helps the healing mechanisms in your body.

My practice includes waking up extra early to create time to sit down, close my eyes, and get in touch with my breath—regardless of what else is going on. It means planning my lunch hour so that I have enough time to eat and meditate.

I also make sure to sit down again before 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. It helps me calm my sympathetic nervous system, and I notice I feel better and walk better afterward. It’s also free and doesn’t require any special equipment.

Connecting With the MS Community

The power of connecting with the MS community also helps me cope. I often say MS is like a club nobody wants to be in, but I’ve found that some of the people that you meet in the club are the most genuine, kind, and present people you will meet. That continues to be true. When I see someone with MS glow, and I know they didn’t wake up like that, it helps me figure out how to glow.

Suffice it to say, the MS community helps me cope because watching someone deal with this disease—even if it’s not exactly the way I deal with mine—helps me go through it. It’s about witnessing resilience in others and how that helps me see myself, even if our stories are different.

Resilience is contagious; you catch it when you know someone is going through stuff and you see them show up. It is so helpful and it guides me through my muck. It informs me on how I can find my own normal, or the neighborhood of normal, in this moment right now.

Giving Grace

Giving myself grace is another way I cope with living with MS. This includes giving myself grace to say no. I’ve learned the hard way because I have previously pushed myself too far and too often. I have crashed and burned.

Now, I have no problem saying no. I even had to walk away from a theater production I was cast in because the costumes were too heavy. My compromised gait (manner of walking) made it so I couldn’t physically do the job without stumbling all over the place.

Related: Does Health Insurance Cover Multiple Sclerosis Treatment?

Following an MS-Friendly Diet

When it comes to managing symptoms of MS, food is a big one for me. Personally, I adhere closely to the Wahls Protocol by Dr. Terry Wahls.

The Wahls Protocol includes eating lots of meat (especially organ meats), fish, vegetables (especially dark green leafy types), seaweed, nutritional yeast, and fermented foods. It also involves avoiding processed foods, dairy, gluten, sweeteners, and grains.

But whatever works best for you, figuring out a different way to eat can give a big lift to symptom management. For example, my knee spasticity (muscle stiffness or rigidness), overall gait, vision, and well-being are closely tied to what I eat (or try not to eat!). I’m a sucker for a good burger and fries, occasionally, though.

Related: Coping With Multiple Sclerosis

Remembering the Seemingly Small Things

Coping with MS is also about being mindful that the seemingly teeny tiny things—like drinking enough water every single day and getting enough electrolytes—really do add up. If I’m not keeping up with drinking enough water, my head gets fuzzy, and I experience more frustration and mental scatteredness.

So, figuring out how to get ahead of myself pays dividends. It’s not that difficult, but when I’m in back-to-back meetings, for example, it requires that much more active effort to ensure I’m drinking enough water. I sometimes add Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt to get my electrolytes in, too.

The important part is being mindful of doing these seemingly small things even if I don’t necessarily want to, or even if I’m spiraling or crying. In these moments, I give myself grace by telling myself, fine, let’s continue to cry afterward, but in this moment I have to do what’s necessary. This is part of showing up for myself, honoring my feelings, and not pushing them away. Instead, I push through any resistance for self-care.

On Treatment

Treatment can look different and can change over time as you stay determined to find what works for you. Since 2017, I have been taking Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)—a treatment I take twice a year. It works for me because now I don’t have to take a daily pill or daily shot (been there, done that, no thank you). Ocrevus works to freeze or slow the progression of MS and reduce symptom relapse. This way, I can deal with what I have right now—and hopefully heal certain aspects. Dealing with what I have right now includes working with a neurologist to find an effective way of managing what’s called nocturia, the need for nighttime waking to urinate.

Finding Your Hope

Finally, MS is incurable, but there is hope. Acceptance is not surrender. This is still my life, and I’m still the captain of my soul. At the beginning of this journey, my hope was crushed. But I have found it in myself and in persisting to find treatments and routines that work for me.

It all looks different for different people. The important part is to discover what helps you be your best self and what prevents you from being your best self. Only you can answer that.

As told To Michelle Pugle

Read the original article on Verywell Health.