Caregiving

Where I'm from, Cubs fans fly their W flags after a win. Today MS Activists are flying the W after a bipartisan group of congressmen passed the Multiple Sclerosis Research Program (MSRP). MSRP especially benefits vets with MS, and fell victim to last year's budget cutting. But MS Activists refused to be silent and explained to their reps how important the program is. Federal MS research is restored!

Learning and speaking up feels so empowering. If you want to learn more about what’s happening on Capitol Hill and how you can share your story, join us on Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. ET for “Your Stories, Your Power: New Opportunities and Tools to Help You Make a Difference!” Register at nmss.quorum.us/event/30882

#MultipleSclerosis #MightyTogether #ChronicIllness #Caregiving #newlydiagnosed #autoimmune #Disability #Activism

12-12:30 p.m. ET -- Vision symptoms are the first sign of multiple sclerosis. Learn strategies to navigate these challenges and get guidance for managing and optimizing visual well-being from Dr. Shiv Saidha, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Program originally aired 3-7-24.

www.nationalmssociety.org/how-you-can-help/get-involved/cale...

#MultipleSclerosis #MightyTogether #ChronicIllness #Caregiving #newlydiagnosed #autoimmune #Disability

Pregnant women with relapsing-remitting MS commonly experience reduced relapse rates, especially during months seven to nine. Understanding how this hormone-driven benefit occurs naturally in pregnancy may help us develop a new MS therapy for all. (This MS Society UK article explains more: mssociety.org.uk/research/explore-our-research/search-our-re...

And this is just what Dr. Manuel A. Friese, winner of this year's prestigious Barancik Prize, is working on right now: www.nationalmssociety.org/news-and-magazine/news/friese-2025...

#MultipleSclerosis #Pregnancy #MightyTogether #ChronicIllness #Caregiving #newlydiagnosed #autoimmune #Disability

In the mornings, and other times too, I sometimes feel a tickle-twitch-minispasm-tightness on my side, right under my ribs. It doesn't feel bad exactly — but slightly uncomfortable + good + weird all at the same time. It makes me think of a Beatles* song, and I raise my elbow and call down (in John Lennon's voice), "Hey Junior, behave yourself!"

It might be the "MS hug," a combo of muscle spasticity and dysesthesia or misfiring/confusion of signals and sensations due to nerve damage. Dysesthesia causes the feeling of tightness across the torso that is the typical MS hug, but may also cause the tremors in my legs, or the icy feeling in my friend's face (who otherwise had no other symptoms).

Often I can chase Junior away with blankets & heat, exercise, or muscle-relaxant baclofen. But if it's winter, I know that rascal will probably find his way back again.

* US singer Larry Williams wrote and sang the original.

#MShug #dysesthesia #MultipleSclerosis #MightyTogether #ChronicIllness #Caregiving #newlydiagnosed #autoimmune #Disability

With your doctors help, it's usually a good idea to supplement with vitamin D. A ton of evidence shows a link between MS and deficiency of vitamin D. This 2025 study shows that vitamin D may delay early disease activity. Studies show nearly two-thirds of Americans have vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to osteoporosis.

Learn more about this and other 2025 MS research findings at Top 10 MS news stories of 2025

#MultipleSclerosis #MightyTogether #ChronicIllness #Caregiving #newlydiagnosed #autoimmune #Disability

#MultipleSclerosis #MightyTogether #ChronicIllness #Caregiving #newlydiagnosed #autoimmune #Disability