Kicking MS to the Curb

Kicking MS to the Curb steps out of the box of multiple sclerosis with determination and humor. The MS journey brings challenges and concerns, stumbles and successes, triumphs and trouncings. We celebrate races run and battles won. And we stumble, reel and rise to try again.

Throughout, the orange thread traces our dogged determination to continue placing one foot in front of the other for as long as possible - until we win, until healing comes, or until the medical miracle is found.

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday

Chocolate can be the kiss of death with multiple sclerosis

Raise your hand, if you love chocolate. OK, maybe not so fast.

Chocolate is a major trigger for headaches, especially migraines. And migraines are common among those battling multiple sclerosis.

Sure, that’s not good news, especially during holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, or … well … you get it.

But identifying triggers that can be eliminated (even disappointingly) can sure be good news.

Maybe tyramine is to blame. That’s a component of chocolate. Caffeine maybe factor, although that’s also found in some headache remedies (such as Anacin or Excedrin). Whopping amounts of sugar can also lead to headaches.

For any or all of these reasons, chocolate is not the headache sufferer’s friend. (To make matters worse, chocolate is a common craving during PMS for women – a time when we may be particularly susceptible to headaches anyway.)

I used to love chocolate. But once I discovered that consuming chocolate would lead to headache hangover, I was only too happy to give it up.

Here’s a hint. Dark chocolate seems to be the worst culprit, when it comes to chocolate-triggered headaches. White chocolate is the lesser foe, and milk chocolate falling somewhere in the middle.

So chocolate is the kiss of death for those who are prone to headaches. It won’t exactly kill us, but it can lead to death-defying pain in the brain.

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Image/s: Public domain photo/s, Pixabay

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16 simple tips for hosting guests while battling MS

Living with multiple sclerosis can be stressful enough by itself, and the idea of hosting company may feel like the proverbial last straw. Maybe that’s why MSers might be reluctant even to offer. And that’s not unreasonable, considering how suddenly a flare-up can sideline us. It’s hard to commit to taking on extra tasks or responsibilities when we cannot predict when or how quickly our bodies will betray us without warning.

At the same time, anyone with a long-term and potentially debilitating medical condition can quickly feel lonely, isolated, and out of touch with others. We may even sense that it’s our turn to have the family, circle or friends, or office mates over for a luncheon, cocktail party, barbecue, or other gathering.

What can the MSer do to de-stress the prospect of hosting guests? Here are several suggestions. Maybe you can add more (in the comments).

Choose a date that fits easily into your own schedule. Try to keep your calendar clearer than usual right before and after the event.
Plan to host during your best part of the day, when your own energy is likely to be at its strongest.
Invite another person to co-host, if that works with your guest list.
Keep the menu simple. There’s a reason potlucks are so popular.
Look into catering and take-out options, if those could fit the bill.
Complete as much of the food preparation in the days leading up to the event, so you can pace yourself. Consider what items you might make and freeze in advance.
Try to get plenty of rest ahead of the event, including an early bedtime the night before.
Check the thermostat in your home. Turning it down a notch or two may help to prevent you from overheating, especially with extra people around generating extra heat and excitement. We all know what heating up does to MSers.
Be sure to take your regular medications. You might even take your rescue medication, just in case, if you are concerned about sudden symptoms (like a headache, GI issue, or anxiety attack) cropping up.
Pick out a no-fuss comfortable outfit to wear for the occasion.
Go barefoot (in your own home) or in your stocking feet. Or at least, wear comfy no-slip shoes.
Step away for mini-breaks, as needed, after guests have arrived. Even an extra restroom break or a moment in the garage or fresh air can help you to relax a moment and clear your head.
Allow guests to pitch in and help, especially if they offer. Don’t try to do it all alone.
Remember to drink plenty of water and to eat something, instead of simply serving others. Hunger and dehydration are no-no’s for anyone, but particular for MSers.
Avoid the alcohol and any food triggers you might have while you are hosting. (For example, chocolate can be a migraine trigger. High-fiber foods can set off any GI issues, common to MSers.)
Sit down whenever you can. Let the dirty dishes pile up in the kitchen sink, while you take a breather and enjoy your guests.

If the idea of hosting company (even family) in your own home still sounds overwhelming, remember this mantra:

Go out to eat instead.

You can always put out the proverbial welcome mat without actually having people come into your home.

Dining out usually costs a bit more than having a meal at home. But it may be worth it. And you can always ask for separate checks, if that seems appropriate with the present company. After all, the main point is gathering with colleagues, friends, or loved ones. It’s probably more about the people than the venue.

Hosting guests is a treat. But it shouldn’t have to be a trigger to an MS exacerbation.

· Learning to plan down-days

· Managing chronic illness can mean redefining goals

· MS comorbidities: Welcome to the party!

· MS is like the cancellation disease.

· That’s not the kind of hug anybody really wants

Image/s: Public domain image.

Feel free to follow on X. Please visit my Amazon author page as well. You are invited to join the Kicking MS to the Curb page on Facebook.

Cooking with MS: It's all about timing

Out of gas. That’s often me (and many multiple sclerosis battlers) by the end of a day. Especially a busy day. Or a day when symptoms or circumstances (or both) are fighting at full volume. Maybe that’s when I need to fuel up, but it’s frequently when actually cooking up a full meal is a tall order.

Maybe you’ve been there.

It’d be simple to grab takeout, open a can of something quick, toss a pizza in the oven, or pick an instant ready-to-nuke meal out of the freezer. But I’d probably be sorry within an hour or two (or by the next morning), once the high salt content (and likely the MSG) kicked in.

It’s OK to eat like that once in a while, and sometimes it can hardly be helped. But I’ve found it sure doesn’t help the MS life, if it becomes a routine.

Still, it can be extremely tough to pull out pots and pans and whip up a fresh nutritious meal during the hardest part of the entire of a rough MS day.

Let’s face it. Cooking with MS is not nearly as fun as cooking was before MS showed up. Heat is not the MSer’s friend. When we turn up the heat (on the stove or grill or in the oven) and stand there stirring or flipping our food, our worst MS symptoms can start to swirl into action. (This MS reality is called Uhthoff’s Phenomenon. When the MSer’s body heat rises, symptoms flare. It usually happens with exercise, fever, or really warm weather. It’s why we steer clear of saunas, hot-tubs, and steamy showers. And it sometimes comes up with cooking too.)

The spoon theory thing doesn’t help, either.

This popularly proclaimed theory basically says that people with certain chronic health problems (such as MS, lupus, arthritis, and more) have limited, and generally unpredictable, energy reserves (and pain tolerance) on any given day. That concept might be pictured as a handful of spoons. And those spoons get used up, as the day wears on. By nightfall, there’s no telling whether a person will have any spoons left at all.

You get the point.

Spoons or no spoons, the dinner hour arrives, along with energy depletion and the need for nutrition.

A little planning and some advance preparation can save the day, if I actually do those things.

After too many years of struggling with on-the-spot supper preparation on my worst MS days, I finally began carving out extra time (usually on weekend mornings) to do some advance meal preparation. This is when I clean and chop greens and veggies for salads and stir fry, bake a big pan of chicken, make a meatloaf, boil a bunch of eggs, crockpot some soup, and fry up a couple pounds of ground beef. Those are just examples, as the list varies from week to week.

Then I divide the cooked items into separate containers (each containing enough for one evening), mark and date them, and stick them in the fridge and freezer.

As the week wears on, it really helps to have the hardest part of each night’s meal prep already done. When MS burnout hits, I don’t have to sweat out supper. And it’s a whole lot easier to make healthy food choices when I’m not desperately poking around in the kitchen after having reached the MS nightmare point-of-no-return for the night.

Because MS seems to pick up steam right about when we’re running out of it.

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Image/s: Adapted from public domain image/s.

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Tuesday

Can't I just blame it all on MS?

Right now, I’m wincing from a piercing headache. I can’t stop sneezing. One foot seems to have fallen asleep again. My neck hurts. My legs are tired. And my jaw joint feels like it’s taken a beating.

Waah – waah – waah. (OK, that might have helped, just a little.)

Can I blame all of these woes on MS?

Multiple sclerosis can cause all sorts of crazy and obnoxious symptoms. Of course! Anyone who battle MS gets that.

Do these count?

Headaches? Check.

Sneezing? Maybe.

Tingly foot? Sure.

Neck pain? You bet.

Tired legs? Possible.

Jaw cramps? Umm …

Perhaps those are MS symptoms. They could be heralding yet another exacerbation. Or they might be simple facts of life in this climate and season. They may even hearken back to my recent workload or activity level.

Headache? That could be traced to the new salsa I scooped onto some rice last night. It tasted great, but it may have included some monosodium glutamate (untagged on the ingredient listing, which I actually read). That would bring me a whopper headache for sure.

Sneezing? We’ve had a week of windy weather, with fall leaves, dried seed pods, and dust flying all over. That was followed by a sudden snowstorm, which shut us up in the house with three pets for a day or two.

Tingly foot? OK, I have been sitting at my desk for over an hour straight.

Neck pain? Did I mention I shoveled snow for close to 90 minutes yesterday?

Tired legs? Well, I did run a long trail race over the weekend, followed by a team training jog the next day, and two rigorous back-to-back cardio classes the day after that. I’m a little weary today.

Jaw cramps? My dentist had me strapped in under the drill for two filling replacements a few days ago. (Truth be told, I was not actually strapped, but I was definitely stuck there.)

Often, MS really is the culprit, when miserable symptoms attack. But not always. Sometimes circumstances are to blame … or even my own choices.

Image/s:

Public domain image