Hiya, I’m just after some advice please. I have RRMS, I found out 2 years agom I start Kesimtpa drug shortly as I’m coming off Ocrevus.
I’ve been asked to go on a hen doo ( Bacheroleet) weekend l next May to Benidorm. As much as I’m excited I’m petrified as I’ve got this MS.
Please advise. Thank you Xxx
MS doesn’t make you immune to hangovers unfortunately but don’t let it stop you doing stuff if you can help it.
Hi Nik. Can I ask what you are terrified of?
I’m a 70 year old guy who has had MS for 18 years or more and have previously looked up MS and alcohol. The view seems to be that in general a glass or two of red wine in particular might actually be beneficial- possibly something to do with relaxation and anti oxidants.
There seems to be little or no hard conclusions on the impact of Hen Do levels of consumption but I can’t but help think that getting totally blotto could be bad for MS- it is going to put the body under stress and perhaps fire up the immune system ( not good for MS). Having said that I meet up for lunch with a friend every few weeks and we usually get through a bottle of red each ( ok I know - that makes me a lightweight 
).
More generally are you just worried about getting tired and not having the energy to keep up and enjoy the Hen Do activities?
I don’t know anything about Kesimpta but think it might be good to have a quick word with your MS Nurse about copious amounts of alcohol. You should know by next May how you are getting on with it.
Hope I’m not causing insult by assuming that the Hen Do is going to involve lots of alcohol ( for all I know you might all be going for a gentle relaxing Spa weekend 
)
Don’t worry about being terrified, I think it’s a perfectly rational response when you think about how you will be in a situation when you have no idea what your baseline 'you ’ is like.
You have got a good few months to try and understand what coping strategies are going to need to be in place.
I’m just going to brain dump now some of my thoughts, so I apologise if it sounds patronising, it sounds a bit weird, and if some of my sentences read really strangely or have missing words I apologise for that as well, but that’s because I’m using speech thingy on my iPad and sometimes it mishears me… here goes
Make sure the rest of the party know that you’ve got MS. You don’t need to speak to them individually, just a couple of the ones that you’re closest to and let them spread the word. They’re going to want to know what it’s going to mean, and they well find it very strange (as Will you) when you’re not able to explain. Over the years I have found the easiest explanation is to say ms can make you feel really really tired, and that hot weather exacerbates it which can make you feel really shitty. And then whatever happens you could use that as the cover story.
Hot weather really can make you feel shattered with MS. It doesn’t affect everybody like that, but if you expect it you can plan for it by doing things like taking advantage of air-conditioning, sitting in the shade, drinking plenty of ice cold drinks ;} having siesta, and avoiding stress.
Check with your MS team if you’ll need a letter for any of your meds that you might need to take with you.
If you do need to take the time out because of fatigue then do it. Trying to push through always comes back to bite you on the bum, you’ll miss out on a lot more if you don’t Pace yourself.
People are always fascinated by MS, mostly because it’s such a weird thing to not know how the condition is going to affect you, so once you start talking about it really can be a good conversation, but you’ll get bored of hearing yourself if you have to go over and over and over again with everybody individually!
Should you happen to have a relapse just before you go and they give you steroids you’re really gonna enjoy Benidorm! I had a Christmas helping out to my brothers pub just after relapse, and when the consultant told me I would probably only need four or five hours sleep that I’d be Full of Energy and that I wouldn’t have a hangover at all because of the steroids I didn’t believe him. But he was absolutely right.
Make sure you have got travel insurance, and speak to the company and tell them about ms. Should you have to make a claim about anything and they find out that you’ve got MS but didn’t tell them, they will attribute the cause of whatever it is as MS.
If you find yourself hiring one of the Electric scooters for a laugh, don’t be surprised if you find it’s actually rather good. You might never need one in future but having a go on one now can make it less terrifying for the future.
Don’t be embarrassed, and it’s entirely possible even you won’t know that you’ve got MS while you’re there.
Hope some of that is useful, enjoy the holiday!
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