HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope this post finds you all safe and well. I have been a little MIA on here as I took the last few days to “binge watch” Las Vegas on the E! channel. After two days of constant watching, we (hubby and I) decided it was best just to record it and watch later…it continues today and I must get off the couch in an attempt to rejoin the world. Or as much as I can. Today is a beautiful day….the sun is SHINING. So, for me that means I am not in as much pain today. When it is overcast, cloudy, humid or raining I am in P…A…I…N. This is the kind of pain that tends to be unrelenting and continuous. I never have been able to explain exactly where the pain is…but it is there and determined to cross my eyes before I even open them for the day. For those of you out there with this kind of pain……you know what I am talking about. For that I applaud you, I bow down to you (if I have help getting up) and cover the mud puddle of in front with my own coat for you to walk over. Some of the pain is known as nerve burning. For those of you that wonder what this is…let me explain. A nerve has a covering (myelin sheath) that is no longer there. So your nerve is exposed and BURNS…BURNS…BURNS. So it is like an electrical cord that has the plastic coating missing (for a visual). The nerves sit in your body and are exposed and burn. Sometimes it feels like a blowtorch as been inserted into your derriere and lit to a slow and constant burn that never goes out. This burning never goes away…it just lessens on days that are sunnier that others. I have been given the prescriptions for Gabapentin and Lyrica. Neither of which really worked and I really don’t like taking medications if they are not helping. My doctor has been great with supporting me in my quest to stay as unmedicated as I possibly can. So I have tried many holistic and natural approaches to this particular ailment and I have managed to come up with a drink that does help. At least for me it does…..remember I am no doctor and do not claim to be. I simply have tried different approaches to different MS ailments in hopes to find something that helps me. The little concoction that I drink is as follows: 1 cup of hot water, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon raw honey and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (try to get the kind with the “mothers” in it). I normally put all the ingredients into a coffee cup except for the water and use my Keurig for the hot water component. I then stir and sip two times a day. I am certain that you can drink this more than twice a day, but for me I tend to stick with the twice. I would think that you could drink this cold as well, but the hot water seems to work better with dissolving the spices. I encourage you to try this and even tweek it for yourself. You may find adding more of something, less or something or adding/deleting something altogether is better. Remember…..what works for one of us may not work for the other. Another thing that I have tried that seems to have helped me is omitting as much sugar and caffeine from my diet as possible. Those two things have seemed to help me as well. I know that those two things are very high on many people’s lists of “must haves”. I still have them from time to time……but I can tell it when I do. The sugar has been almost impossible to avoid during the holidays and I am feeling it. So, I will do my best to cut back down on this scrumptious intake. Another pain is in my feet and hands, but mostly in my feet. It is a numb pain???? I know that sounds weird….if you have pain then how can it be numb? I can’t explain it…..just as I can’t explain 99% of other things that happen with this disease. I just know the neuropathy in my feet is active most days. When the weather is bad or I am tired…then the numb hurt in my feet and hands is worse. Some mornings I have to sit on the edge of my bed in preparation for when my feet hit the floor first thing. Oh yea….it hurts in the morning too. When I first touch the floor with my poor feet I feel like I am stepping on hundreds of tiny little needles that will be followed by the numbness and then followed by the needles and then….well you get the idea. I also have the “MS hug”. That sounds sweet enough. I mean….who doesn’t like a hug? Well…this is a different kind of hug. This is a hug around your waist, or chest or even both that is so tight and painful sometimes that you can’t breath. It has something to do with the messages from your nerves that are blocked or disrupted by the damage caused by MS. It can feel very overwhelming at times. Sometimes it can feel like all of the air is leaving your body. It is very hard not to panic. But, I have found that if I close my eyes and focus on inhaling and exhaling slowly that the tightness will pass. The pain doesn’t really dissipate, but at least the tightness gets better. It kind of feels like what a heart attack may feel like (or what I imagine). Thank you dear Jesus for not allowing that to happen. Then I have dysesthesia. This means abnormal sensations. As if I need any other reason to feel different and not normal. This is typically painful burning, prickling or aching feeling all over the body. I am pretty sure this goes hand-in-hand with the nerve burning. As I read back over all that I have typed today it appears that I might be ranting or complaining. But, in all actuality I don’t feel like it is meant to be such. I am trying to simply share my symptoms and let others out there know they don’t have to suffer alone. There are many of us out here in the world going through many things that you may be going through. Keep your faith in God, yourself or loved ones. Lean on them and reach out for help and understanding in this journey through life and living with Multiple Sclerosis. More often than not…..you hopefully will find a hand that is reaching right back.
NOTHING is impossible. The word itself says….”I’M POSSIBLE”….Audrey Hepburn