My MS Bully and Me

I get asked this a lot by people who don't have MS and, of course, I'm not expecting them to magically gain an exact insight, but I hope that in my explanations I can at least get them to better understand. Fatigue is a big one but because of this I feel it deserves its own post so I'll leave this one to another time. Cognitive Fog 'Cog fog', as it's known within the community, often acts in conjunction with fatigue. It's a disconnection from the world, a lack of alertness that brings on other symptoms such as issues with word-finding and concentration, and sometimes slurring of words. I sometimes feel like my brain is following but my mouth or hands are catching up. It's one of my most frustrating of symptoms as I know how articulate I can be and I often worry about how others, who may not know I have MS or if they do, may not understand it, perceive me. It's like being drunk without all of the benefits. It's yet another devious remin...

I'm going to leave disclosure to its own, future blog post but in the meantime, I thought I would share what has worked for me and helped me be effective at work. Working Pattern & Hours I work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so there is always a day in between to allow me to live at my own pace. An unusual pattern, it also means the business doesn't have to wait for me for more than a day. I work more effectively in the mornings, so whilst I don't work reduced hours, I do move them up to start earlier than everyone else. This also means I miss rush hour - no pain, no stress. Memory If, like me, you have the world's worst memory, you'll be the sort of person that makes notes. So it will come as no surprise to you that I use multiple media to support my memory: Personal organiser - I'm fastidious about putting entries in one place, in one calendar and I feel it's important to separate work from home so this is just for home (might be different if...