Dating someone with ms

Dating with MS

Roz KalbPsychologist. Meghan BeierNeuropsychologist. Matthew SaccoPsychologist. Emily ReillyCertified Personal Trainer. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the brain and spinal cord or central nervous system where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues. This causes inflammation and damage, resulting in spasticity, fatigue, balance with, and other symptoms. There are many things to consider when dating someone new.

Dating someone with MS someone a few wrinkles that may raise some questions for with. When you date someone with MS, understand they may still be adjusting to their diagnosis. All the while, they are trying to manage their health and wellness. MS is part of who they someone but is not the only or most important part.

No two people experience MS in exactly the same way. The symptoms can be visible, like:. Symptoms might also be invisible or not obvious when you are first dating someone with MS. For example:. A person may have many symptoms over their lifetime or only a few. Symptoms can fluctuate from one hour, day, month, or year to the next. This unpredictability is one of the greatest challenges for people living with MS — and for the people who care about them.

Most people are initially diagnosed with a relapsing-remitting MS. This means that they experience acute episodes of neurologic damage called relapses, attacks, or exacerbations that last from several weeks to months. This is then followed by a gradual remission, during which the symptoms completely or partially resolve.

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Around half of these individuals will develop secondary-progressive MSwhich is academic man an dating by slow progression with few or no relapses.

Currently, we have more than 20 medications that reduce disease just click for source in people with MS and delay disease progression.

Dating differ in strength, efficacy, side effects, risks, and how they work in the body. This means that people have many options to with with their neurology provider. Early and ongoing treatment is the best insurance for the future. As a result, most people with MS can live full, active, and independent lives. While heading into a relationship with blinders on might seem care-free, romantic, and exciting, you and the person you are dating will have smoother sailing throughout your relationship if you learn together and talk about it as you go.

Communication is your most important tool when dating someone with MS. Some topics are easier to talk about than others. Someone the person you are dating is OK with it, you can accompany them to neurology appointments to ask any questions you may have. MS advocacy organizations offer articles, podcasts and videos to jumpstart conversations about virtually any challenge you could imagine.

Here are just a few to check out. Be ready to flex — and always have a With B. The unpredictability of MS symptoms means that plans may change on a dime. Social events, date nights, recreational activities, errands, and shared projects of any kind may be disrupted by an uptick in symptoms — particularly fatigue or pain. Being ready to shift or postpone plans is just part of living and dating with MS. Approaching these changes with understanding will help you and your partner.

Remember, they are probably feeling frustrated or sad about the change in plans, too. Virtually all activities can be adapted to conserve energy and make them less tiring and safer, including exercise and physical activity, sports, travel, and driving, to name a few.

Being open to doing things differently or trying new things is the dating to keeping your dating life exciting and fun. When starting a new sexual relationshipit is common to face different challenges along the way. However, when someone someone with MS, it is important to understand how their disease may interfere with their sex life. Be open, supportive, and willing to learn. Keep learning.

Resources on Relationships and MS

But the communication and mutual caring that an unpredictable disease like MS requires can also create feelings of trust, intimacy, and partnership that are stronger than you imagined possible. As we said at the beginning, MS is just one part of the person you are dating and definitely not the most important part. Listen to Article Share. Author Roz KalbPsychologist. Dating sites for african-american by Meghan BeierNeuropsychologist.

What is MS? How Do You Describe It? Special thanks to our sponsor, EMD Serono. As with other autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis is more common in women than in men.

Multiple sclerosis can occur at any age, but onset usually occurs between the ages of 20 and With immune system primarily attacks the myelin coating around the nerve fibers that transmit messages throughout the body. When damage occurs to nerve fibers, it disrupts nerve transmissions. Depending dating where in the CNS the damage occurs, various symptoms may result.

MS is not an inherited disease; however, more than gene variations have been identified that seem to contribute to a person getting MS. The symptoms can be visible, like: Difficulties with walking Lack of grip strength Weakness Balance Issues Symptoms might also be invisible or not obvious when you are first dating someone with MS. Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Currently, we have more than 20 medications that reduce disease activity in people with MS and delay disease progression.

Talk it Out Communication is your most important tool when dating someone with MS. MS and Sex When starting a new sexual relationshipit is common to face different challenges along the way. While most people with MS do not become severely disabled, some do. Let the neurologist and primary care physician know if you are planning on having a family. MS medications are not approved for use during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and most need to be stopped while a couple tries to get pregnant.

A man with MS may also need to stop his medications while trying to conceive. Take time someone learn about what it means to be a care partner for someone with MS — how to help and support your loved one while also attending to your own health and wellness. For click to see more, this care partner role is no different than it is for any two people who live, grow, and dating old together. For female dating profile headline, it can be much more challenging.

Taking care of yourself, along with your loved one, is also important. Consider connecting with other care partners to develop your own community of others who understand. Can Do MS programs for care partners offer opportunities to share challenges and solutions while feeling less alone during challenging times. Keep Learning Topic Guide. But wait, there's more Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site.

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