Hi everyone, I’m Mizuki from Japan. I am one of MS patients and I’m also a doctor working as a psychiatrist. After the onset of depression, I was diagnosed with MS four years ago during senior residency.
Even though I’m almost well thanks to current DMT, I often get frustrated and slightly get nervous because of some of my symptoms, mainly irregular sensations running through my feet and my head.
I’d like to hear some voices to tackle against the difficulties caused by MS with others here in MS society!
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Hi @mizu24a12 . I think a diagnosis of MS is enough to make anyone anxious. It certainly made me very fearful and anxious when I was diagnosed 19 years ago. One thing which has helped me a lot is mindfulness/ meditation and I’m guessing that something like Tai Chi might be good as well. I one went on a Tai Chi and Meditation week at a Buddhist centre on one of the islands off the west coast of Scotland which was vey good and enjoyable. Unfortunately my balance isn’t great these days so Tai Chi is difficult but I do various bits of mindfulness.
The main MS symptom I have is with walking. It’s mostly my ring leg that is affected and I can still walk but not too far.
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It is a sad fact that MS tends first to strike in young adulthood when we are establishing our relationships, family lives and careers. When MS arrives, we never really regain that youthful (and healthy!) confidence in ever-continuing good health, do we? It was always an illusion of course - bad luck and bad health can strike the youngest and strongest - but people with MS tend to find this out a bit earlier than our contemporaries do.
And of course we are always wondering whether the latest episode of strange fatigue or strange sensations are a sign that the disease process is active, and that is a cloud under which we must forever live our lives.
In your chosen profession you know more than most about the range of afflictions and burdens under which suffering humanity tries to make a good life for itself. It seems to me possible that your personal experience might make you are more empathetic clinician than some of your contemporaries who still think in their hearts that ill health is something that happens to patients, not to them.
We are resilient creatures, and I hope that your treatment continues to keep your MS at bay. As for the frustration and the concerns about the future, well, those are just part of life now I’m afraid, and I don’t find them easy to live with either, even after 25 years!
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