bless you jim i hope the meds work well and soon. it really is like a group of friends who you have never met. never met but get to know way better than many real life acquaintances. we are a load of brother and sisters here! keep well bro!
All the best Jim. As stated before, depression can slap us in the face at any time. Venting here and speaking to medics about the best medication seems like a good start. Keep the lines of communication with your family going, and if you share the bad stuff around a bit at least it will not just be on one pair of shoulders.
Good luck
Mick
hiya
welcome. i dont post so much these days but i read posts. theres an abundance (have always liked that word!) of experiences on here so pick and choose the ones you resonate with.
ellie
ps i particularly enjoy the posts i read that i dont agree with cos they make me think of anothers viewpoint! life is constant learning!
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I too love the posts that vary massively from my own point of view or experience. i have learned so much and have enjoyed hearing a huge range of perspectives.
mick
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Thanks again for the positive messages guys. I sometimes feel like a cheat as i have RRMS and can function reasonably without displaying ang symptoms. My brains a bit foggy most days and i get tired more easily than i used to but other than that i’m ok. I read posts from others and can’t beleive how bad some have it! This is an illness with such a broad and unpredictable spectrum of emotions and physical manifestations that the one that seems to have picked me this time is the depression and wow what a wopper that is! No one can see it or touch it and the only one that knows its severity is the person that is reaching out for help and has to try explain the effects. Its cruel! At least on the forum and sady so, others have had similar issues and have thankfully come out of thr tunnel. J
If you’re feeling a bit foggy, you can always come and join us in the Brain Fog thread. I wouldn’t start reading at the beginning as it is a bit long now (2 years and 10,000+ posts). But just pick a point and see if you can make any sense of it. If you can’t, then you’ll be the same as the rest of us, oblivious to meaning, just bearing with it until it all seems quite ‘normal’. We are like a family in the Fog.
Sue
Hi Jim,
I’m really pleased that you’ve engaged with us. There’s no reason to feel like a cheat. There are always going to be people who are worse off and those who are affected hardly at all. The only yardstick is yourself and how it concerns you.
You put it very well when you say, “No one can see it or touch it and the only one that knows its severity is the person that is reaching out for help and has to try explain the effects.” It’s know as an “invisible disease” for this reason. But it’s self-expression like yours that helps to beat their way out of the negative mood that can overtake us.
Regards,
Anthony
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Never feel guilty about feeling OK. my only valid guilt trips relate to not enjoying stuff to the max, while I could. Even that is pointless, so my comment is , try to make the best use of every minute.
Good luck
Mick
hiya again
this post made me smile as it reminded me so much of myself in the early days! (i mean post 25)
i visited MSS initially like many to seek factual stuff and to try and understand what the heck was happening to me as i looked fine.
it quickly became apparent that us humans were struggling with issues and coping with them in all different ways. i soon learned that ‘i only have an annoying painful finger’ means that right now i cant think outwith with finger because pain takes over everything and you cant think about anything else. (now i have learned of better ways to cope but that takes time along with lots of listening/reading)
on that note, theres no such thing as the wrong way but learning yet another way that isnt effective…
i got involved with local ms society socially. i started meeting socially for lunch but soon gradually expanded-i met so many folk from all over-scotland/england/ireland/holland/belguim) i am eternally grateful to them for sharing their experiences. several are no longer with us but their memory lives on in ma heid and their advice has been so helpful (all different of course!) in helping me decide how i wanted to manage my own form of life changing ms.
nowadays with social media life is very different but i am lucky that i was still able to do things the old fashioned way. i do appreciate times change and i hope folk find their answers/comfort/friendship in whatever way suits them.
so please, have no doubts whatsoever about being on here as u never know where it will lead you to.
ellie
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Thanks Ellie, i’m glad i brought a smile to someone! Seeing your commen ma heid and order of countries i’m guessing you a fellow Scot! I live in South Wales but born and bred Scottish, it seems like theres a lot of us afflicted with this curse!
Thanks Tracey, it means a lot! 1st steps always the hardest i know!! Brillant gang is an understatement!! Jim xx
Hi Anthony, i cant thank you (and others) enough for providing a ‘forum crutch’ to keep we moving forwards! I check my phone so often especially when i feel the rush of emotion which starts in my legs and i know the next bad tsunami is about to hit me! Its so rapid and uncontrollable i reach for my phone! Sounds sad but thats where i am at the moment. Its weird how i feel it first but know its about to hit than bang its on top of me! I sound like a broken record but it helps reading it back before i post!
Hi Jim
All the posts above are so heartfelt. I reckon the problem is that sometimes people feel the utter helplessness and hopelessness when first diagnosed, some when they become more disabled, and some just whenever the depression beast decides to grab hold of you.
It’s maybe like MS itself, does what the hell it likes to whomever and whenever it damn well pleases.
It makes absolutely no difference how disabled or not you are. It makes no difference whether you are at the pre-diagnosis stage or 30 years post diagnosis. It matters not at all whether you’ve got RR, SP, PP, CIS or even something else that is like MS but isn’t it. We are an inclusive bunch. The fact is that MS stinks, disability sucks, unpredictability is an absolute sod and that’s what we live with.
So it’s actually a really positive thread you’ve started up here. It does us all good to remember that we are still a great big family. And like the best families, we try to support each other when one of us is hurting, physically or mentally.
I hope you are feeling the care and, yes alright (I haven’t had any gin yet so soppiness isn’t easy), the love we feel for one another. Even the people who don’t think the same way as us. As Ellie said, thinking of other viewpoints is great for opening one’s mind.
Sue
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Sue! You mentioned the Gin word, i’m staying off the bevvy for the time being as i think its probably not good for me to get loaded right now (but theres a bottle of parma violet gin on top of my wardrobe staring at me) is that cruel or wot!!! Jim
I knew you’d fit in well with the Foggies (ie those who frequent the Brain Fog). Most of us are rather keen on gin. Not that it’s a prerequisite, but it helps with life (mine anyway).
You’re probably right to steer clear of the stuff right now. But thinking about a time when you’ll enjoy gin isn’t a bad thing.
Sue
Like this forum i’m new to Gin, wow how many flavours are tgere to try! Rhubarb and Ginger as well!!! I just cant right now but will attack the bottle when i get the chance! My depression level is a 5/10 today but rising gradually so messaging helps! (Even if i have resorted to gin as a subject) lol! That horrid feeling in my legs came back so i knew i had to reach out again, saves my mind overthinking again! Jim
Sorry for being a broken record guys, low wave hitting again and first thought is to turn to this page! Woke up feeling bit lower than yesterday then bang tidal bloody wave smacked me again! 
Jim
You can be a broken record if you like. We’ll still care.
What are the thoughts that spin round your head? Is it fear for the future, or the unknown ahead?
Or simply a howl of aaarrrrrgggghhhh!! (Or maybe a whimper? Argh…!)
There’s a line in an old John Irving book, something like ‘keep passing the open windows’. Ie, don’t jump out. In your case it might be more appropriate to say stay clear of bridges and clifftops!
Sue
And what a very good first though it is too. We wouldn’t like to think of you, out there, struggling on your own, just because you thought there was no one to talk to.
I come here every day. I don’t read all the posts and I don’t write a reply all the time, but it’s a place that’s open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (including Christmas, New Year and Bank Holidays!). And there’s a comfort from that.
And it doesn’t matter if you repeat what you’ve already said. If that’s what you are feeling, then you need to say, again and again, until you don’t want to say it anymore. So please don’t think that we’ll get tired of you. We won’t.
Regards,
Anthony
Hi Jim, just wanted to say hello and echo what others have said. Someone here is always listening. I like you was diagnosed a while ago and have remained pretty well and I understand what you mean by feeling guilty. I had a relapse recently which lasted 4 weeks and I had to get in touch with the ms nurse and neurologist who I hadn’t seen for years and years and it felt like being diagnosed all over again, which let to me feeling very down. I came to this forum for advice following the relapse and if I should take medication being offered and honesty the support was amazing! Not everyone will or can respond but knowing someone gets what your going through helps. I too am a fellow Scot and gin drinker. Hope you get the help you need to get you through this challenging time. Sending hugs your way Sam