What are the symptoms of ms?

What does MS do to your body? as in symptoms?

• my mum was diagnosed with MS when she was 15 and she's now a single parent to me and my younger sister (divorced when i was 3 - it was a good thing - he abused her bla, bla, bla) which obviously is hard for her and doesn't make things easy. the only thing i know about it is that it makes her tired and angry a lot because she often takes it out on me. but other than that she won't tell me anything. i'd really like to understand what it is and if there's any way i can help it because now i'm doing all my GCSE's (i'm 15) she kind of channals her anger into making me work and it's making me start self harm. i cant get mad because it's her MS but i also can't carry on like this - i'm having migrains all the time from the stress sorry about the paragraph and it wasn't trying to be a sob-story and i'm not asking for sympathy i just can't carry on like this

• Answer:

  Hi Bethany, I am so sorry that you are having such a difficult time. I have had MS for 20+ years. I sure wish that someone in your family would step in and help you with your mom. You should not be faced with so much responsibility. Perhaps you could speak with a counselor at school. Any help is better than nothing. The truth is that MS can effect just about everything from the emotions, perception, cognition as well as physical movement. Plenty of us who have MS suffer from depression, mood swings and all sorts of mood disorders. Some people go from laughing to crying for no apparent reason at the drop of a hat. Other problems include loss of short term memory, inability to make decisions, brain fog, and even a drop in IQ. We can experience loss of hearing or vision disorders which can include blindness. Headaches, pain and muscle cramps and spasticity are not that uncommon. Bladder and bowel problems are other symptoms of the disease. The nerves in the body, the central nervous system specifically, are under attack when someone has MS. Since the central nervous system "pilots" everything that the body does, the symptoms are just about endless. Unfortunately, most people have the perception that MS only attacks the ability to move fluidly, but that is entirely untrue. The only thing that MS does not do is attack the major organs. the last time I looked, there were no less than 60symptoms related to MS. I usually go to the website of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society since they list all the symptoms. You might want to become familiar with that site since they have videos and lots of information. Dealing with someone who has MS can be extremely stressful and something that no one can do without some relief for periods of time. It is just plain hard, difficult work. You need some help with your Mom. You are correct- you cannot possibly take all the grief and heartache. It is way too much. I can only advise that you tell your Mom to let up. Yes, she has MS but that does not mean that she has the right to take it out on you. That is the truth dear.