The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Living with MS

“Bracing” Yourself for MS

(This post first appeared as one of my columns on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) One of the MS blogs that I follow is written by Jen, who lives in England.  It’s called Tripping Through Treacle.  (Treacle is a thick, molassas-like, syrup). Doesn’t that neatly sum up the lives of many of us in just three, alliterative, words?  From MS newbies to old timers like me, we worry (or have worried) about tripping.  Many…Continue Reading

Pilates for M.S.?

(This post first appeared as one of my columns on www.multiplesclerosistoday.com) Have you tried Pilates to improve your mobility?  When my wife and I tried it, a few years ago, I thought that it was sort of like doing yoga stretches using exercise equipment.  It felt good and, for the short time that I did kept it up, Pilates seemed to improve my flexibility, somewhat. Pilates is a stretching and…Continue Reading

Getting Older With MS – Some Tips from MS “Seniors”

(This was first published in my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) I hate to admit it, but I’m getting kind of old. That’s not to say that 68 is really old, but I’m probably older than a lot of the people who are reading this.  I’m also 36 years old in “MS years.”  I was diagnosed the month that Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination to run for U.S. President and I’ve…Continue Reading

Laugh with Ads That “Get” Disabilities

[This post first appeared as one of my columns on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] You don’t see people with disabilities very often in TV ads.  And when you do, the person with the handicap is usually playing a secondary role, or the ad uses the disabled person for an emotional appeal.  It’s not real-life.  It’s not us. So, a tip of my hat to the candy company Mars Chocolate UK for producing some…Continue Reading

MS Marathoner: 1 Continent Down, 6 to Go

Cheryl Hile running a marathon as a workout.

Cheryl Hile runs a marathon in South Africa. Pic courtesy C. Hile

(This is an update of my column posted last week on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) Tripping, falling and bloody knees. Been there. Done that. (Who with MS hasn’t)?  But this wasn’t me.  This was Cheryl Hile and it was happening to her as she was running a half marathon in Carlsbad, California. Cheryl had been running marathons for half a dozen years when, in 2006, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  She says…Continue Reading

Can you measure how tired I am?

[This post first appeared last month in my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] Feeling tired? No surprise there. Fatigue is as much a part of living with Multiple Sclerosis as sand is a part of the beach where I live. It’s interesting, then, that neurologists seem to have no good system for measuring levels of MS fatigue or any treatments that are really effective over the long term. Physiologists at Colorado State University…Continue Reading

Don’t let multiple sclerosis ground you

(This post appeared as my regular column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) Flight is freedom in its purest form, To dance with the clouds which follow a storm; To roll and glide, to wheel and spin, To feel the joy that swells within; To leave the earth with its troubles and fly, And know the warmth of a clear spring sky — Gary Claud Stokor I’ve been there.  I’ve done that.  I’ve climbed…Continue Reading

“Shame on you for parking there!”

[This is an updated version of a post that first appeared in my weekly column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com]   Do you remember when you first applied for a handicapped license plate? I put it off for quite a while after I was diagnosed.  After all, I could easily walk several city blocks.  I could still play tennis.  Why did I need to park in a handicapped place?  But, there were days…Continue Reading

Exercise for MS – I’m starting a 14 week plan

I’m about to start a new adventure:  Exercise. Well, it’s not really new. I swim some laps most days in the summer, weather permitting.  In the cooler months I do some upper body strength exercises a couple of days a week, my spirit permitting.  But, in all the years that I’ve had Multiple Sclerosis I’ve never really had a structured exercise program.  Today I’m investigating a way to start down…Continue Reading

Whole body cryotherapy for multiple sclerosis?

Whole body cryotherapy is one of the latest “treatments” claiming to help multiple sclerosis patients. Those who sell WBC machines and who operate WBC “spas” claim that it can also help a range of other ailments, from asthma to rheumatoid arthritis.  They say it can improve blood circulation, increase metabolism, improve recovery and soreness after workouts and relieve joint and body pain. That’s a lot of problems, and the Food…Continue Reading