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Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me

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  • Home
  • About [updated]
  • History of MS
  • A to Z of MS
  • MS Explained
    • Why Multiple Sclerosis Is So Difficult to Diagnose
    • What is MS?
    • The Effects of Multiple Sclerosis on Your Body
    • How MS Affects Brain Cells
    • What causes MS?
    • Types of MS
    • Updated McDonald Criteria (2017)
    • Immune System
      • What is an immune-mediated disease?
      • BiteSized Immunology
    • Central Nervous System
    • CNS (videos)
  • MS Symptoms
    • Early signs of MS
    • 16 Early Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
    • MS & Sleep
    • Cognition
    • Multiple Sclerosis and Memory Loss
    • Sensory Symptoms
    • Pain, the basic facts
    • What is pain & how do you rate it?
    • Trigeminal Neuralgia
      • Detailed Trigeminal Neuralgia info
      • Trigeminal Neuralgia Infochart
      • Trigeminal Neuralgia – MedlinePlus
      • Understanding Trigeminal Neuralgia
    • Emotional changes in people with MS
      • MS and Mental Health: Depression, Anxiety and Pseudobulbar Affect (Johns Hopkins)
    • What if it’s not MS
      • Do I Have Multiple Sclerosis or Another Disease?
      • The difference between fibromyalgia and MS
      • The difference between ALS and MS
    • Reading Healthcare: A Medical Terminology Study Guide for Patients, Students and Professionals
  • Managing MS
    • Symptom Management
    • What is an MS relapse?
      • Managing Relapses (US National MS Society)
      • Managing Relapses (MS Trust)
    • Managing MS fatigue
      • The Spoon Theory
    • Pain management
    • Preparing for your neurologist appointment
    • Here’s What to Ask Your Doctor About Multiple Sclerosis
    • A Look at Your Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Plan
    • 40 Self-care strategies
  • MS Treatments
    • Medications List
    • Alternative Treatments
      • Healthy eating
      • Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs in MS
      • Vitamin D info
      • Vitamins, supplements & MS: research
      • Complementary Health Approaches for MS
      • Complementary & Alternative Medicines
      • Medical Marijuana
      • Evidence-based guideline: Complementary and alternative medicine in MS
  • Research & Clinical Trials
    • Current clinical trials – Ireland
    • Current clinical trials – UK
    • Current clinical trials – globally
    • Understanding clinical trials
    • How Do New Medicines Get Approved?
    • Latest Research
    • RESEARCH NEWS – MS IRELAND
    • Research eZine, by MS Ireland
  • Health Organisations – Ireland
  • To update 2025 – Mental Health Ireland
  • Useful Resources
    • MS Societies around the World
    • Disability websites
    • General websites
    • Medical Websites
    • MS Organisations
    • Neurology (Research)
  • My Journey
    • General
      • Media, stop calling it a cure when it’s not even clinically trialled yet!
      • Oh, media, when will you ever learn? Stop calling it a cure!
    • Newly diagnosed
      • Blurred notes to self
      • The first day
      • It’s OK not to be OK
      • I am not my brain
      • Making sense of MS
      • The road to diagnosis
    • Disease-Modifying Treatments
      • 3443 Needles
      • Starting over
      • Injecting object
      • What a difference a needle makes
    • Living with Trigeminal Neuralgia
      • No-wrinkle multiple sclerosis
      • Where is my left cheek?!
      • The five-second MS rant
      • Not my face!
      • No end to trigeminal neuralgia
      • I’m an ex and I’m lovin’ it!
      • Why I love advocacy!
      • 10 years: a lot to be thankful for
      • How (not to) be sick!
      • A future without chronic illness
      • Medical terminology?
      • MRI scans, hope or defeat
      • The MS blame game
      • MS: a social disconnect
      • Then & now
      • What we refuse to discuss
      • What you might not be aware of
    • Fatigue
      • The truth about Cinderella
      • Sleep: a time-consuming commodity
      • Time to recharge
      • Tiredness ≠ fatigue
    • Emotional Health
      • MS and PTSD: not all in your head
      • Body image and MS: how many selfies do you have?
      • Happiness and MS
      • Things that make you love and hate MS resolutions
      • Bliss, the MS-way
      • Depression?
      • I don’t miss myself
      • I’m only human
      • Mortality
      • Peak moments!
      • Resilience
      • Magnetic voices
    • Hyperacusis | Sound sensitivity | Noise sensitivity
      • Noise sensitivity in MS: Turn off your voice!
      • When life with MS is like The Clash’s ‘Should I stay or should I go’
    • That ignorance!
      • MS Anxiety
      • Defined by myself
      • Dissecting words
      • Ignorance
      • Pull up your big girl panties!
    • Optimism
      • The duality of MS
      • I am not my brain
      • You will survive!
      • What singing taught me about life with MS
      • Branded!
      • Do I have stupid written on my forehead?
      • Fake it ’til you make it!
      • Giving up is not an option
      • How far do baby germs fly?
      • Life begins at the end of your comfort zone
      • Life’s meant to be…
      • The day I stopped being weak
      • Man up!
      • Now what?!
      • Paper dreams
      • Waiting
      • What about it?
      • Why I should be a brainiac, but I’m not
      • You will survive!
    • Relationships/Friendships
      • Body image and MS, fake or not
      • Hell is other people
      • MS and single on Valentine’s Day?
      • MS + single on Valentine’s Day?
      • Kids? Not right now, please…
      • Philosophy of Friendship
      • Single life!
    • MS Relapses / Flare-ups
      • Game, set, relapse!
      • Relapse!
      • Relentless relapse
    • Heat sensitivity / Uhthoff’s Symptoms
      • About Vikings, Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis!
      • Heat sensitivity and MS?
      • Too hot for you? Heat sensitivity explained!
      • The duplicity of MS
      • Every leaf speaks bliss to me
      • Hot town!
      • That thing people call ‘summer’
    • Other symptoms
      • Sensory MS symptoms: The hair that isn’t there
      • You retired at age what?
      • Mental or physical, your choice
      • Silver Linings
      • The social swing of life
      • Jammed filter!
      • Wheelchair?
    • Optic Neuritis
      • Eyes of sorrow
      • Fourteen MS years and counting
    • Ireland
      • Paper dreams
      • The Celtic Tree of Life… sort of!
      • Why Ireland?
      • Ireland, a love story
      • Dublin: a state of mind
      • Back to Ireland
      • Photography
        • Famine
        • Caged
        • An Irish General… and me
        • Irish Selfie
  • Top Posts
  • 🎀 3443 Needles (Winner Ireland Blog Awards 2018) 🎀
  • Blog Awards
  • MS Trust DMT Decisions Aid
  • [NEW] 45 Best Multiple Sclerosis Blogs and Websites in 2025
  • [NEW] Your Everyday Guide To Living Well With Multiple Sclerosis
  • [NEW] 7 Common Complications of MS
  • [NEW] What’s New in MS Research in 2025
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About [updated]
  • History of MS
  • A to Z of MS
  • MS Explained
    • Why Multiple Sclerosis Is So Difficult to Diagnose
    • What is MS?
    • The Effects of Multiple Sclerosis on Your Body
    • How MS Affects Brain Cells
    • What causes MS?
    • Types of MS
    • Updated McDonald Criteria (2017)
    • Immune System
      • What is an immune-mediated disease?
      • BiteSized Immunology
    • Central Nervous System
    • CNS (videos)
  • MS Symptoms
    • Early signs of MS
    • 16 Early Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
    • MS & Sleep
    • Cognition
    • Multiple Sclerosis and Memory Loss
    • Sensory Symptoms
    • Pain, the basic facts
    • What is pain & how do you rate it?
    • Trigeminal Neuralgia
      • Detailed Trigeminal Neuralgia info
      • Trigeminal Neuralgia Infochart
      • Trigeminal Neuralgia – MedlinePlus
      • Understanding Trigeminal Neuralgia
    • Emotional changes in people with MS
      • MS and Mental Health: Depression, Anxiety and Pseudobulbar Affect (Johns Hopkins)
    • What if it’s not MS
      • Do I Have Multiple Sclerosis or Another Disease?
      • The difference between fibromyalgia and MS
      • The difference between ALS and MS
    • Reading Healthcare: A Medical Terminology Study Guide for Patients, Students and Professionals
  • Managing MS
    • Symptom Management
    • What is an MS relapse?
      • Managing Relapses (US National MS Society)
      • Managing Relapses (MS Trust)
    • Managing MS fatigue
      • The Spoon Theory
    • Pain management
    • Preparing for your neurologist appointment
    • Here’s What to Ask Your Doctor About Multiple Sclerosis
    • A Look at Your Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Plan
    • 40 Self-care strategies
  • MS Treatments
    • Medications List
    • Alternative Treatments
      • Healthy eating
      • Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs in MS
      • Vitamin D info
      • Vitamins, supplements & MS: research
      • Complementary Health Approaches for MS
      • Complementary & Alternative Medicines
      • Medical Marijuana
      • Evidence-based guideline: Complementary and alternative medicine in MS
  • Research & Clinical Trials
    • Current clinical trials – Ireland
    • Current clinical trials – UK
    • Current clinical trials – globally
    • Understanding clinical trials
    • How Do New Medicines Get Approved?
    • Latest Research
    • RESEARCH NEWS – MS IRELAND
    • Research eZine, by MS Ireland
  • Health Organisations – Ireland
  • To update 2025 – Mental Health Ireland
  • Useful Resources
    • MS Societies around the World
    • Disability websites
    • General websites
    • Medical Websites
    • MS Organisations
    • Neurology (Research)
  • My Journey
    • General
      • Media, stop calling it a cure when it’s not even clinically trialled yet!
      • Oh, media, when will you ever learn? Stop calling it a cure!
    • Newly diagnosed
      • Blurred notes to self
      • The first day
      • It’s OK not to be OK
      • I am not my brain
      • Making sense of MS
      • The road to diagnosis
    • Disease-Modifying Treatments
      • 3443 Needles
      • Starting over
      • Injecting object
      • What a difference a needle makes
    • Living with Trigeminal Neuralgia
      • No-wrinkle multiple sclerosis
      • Where is my left cheek?!
      • The five-second MS rant
      • Not my face!
      • No end to trigeminal neuralgia
      • I’m an ex and I’m lovin’ it!
      • Why I love advocacy!
      • 10 years: a lot to be thankful for
      • How (not to) be sick!
      • A future without chronic illness
      • Medical terminology?
      • MRI scans, hope or defeat
      • The MS blame game
      • MS: a social disconnect
      • Then & now
      • What we refuse to discuss
      • What you might not be aware of
    • Fatigue
      • The truth about Cinderella
      • Sleep: a time-consuming commodity
      • Time to recharge
      • Tiredness ≠ fatigue
    • Emotional Health
      • MS and PTSD: not all in your head
      • Body image and MS: how many selfies do you have?
      • Happiness and MS
      • Things that make you love and hate MS resolutions
      • Bliss, the MS-way
      • Depression?
      • I don’t miss myself
      • I’m only human
      • Mortality
      • Peak moments!
      • Resilience
      • Magnetic voices
    • Hyperacusis | Sound sensitivity | Noise sensitivity
      • Noise sensitivity in MS: Turn off your voice!
      • When life with MS is like The Clash’s ‘Should I stay or should I go’
    • That ignorance!
      • MS Anxiety
      • Defined by myself
      • Dissecting words
      • Ignorance
      • Pull up your big girl panties!
    • Optimism
      • The duality of MS
      • I am not my brain
      • You will survive!
      • What singing taught me about life with MS
      • Branded!
      • Do I have stupid written on my forehead?
      • Fake it ’til you make it!
      • Giving up is not an option
      • How far do baby germs fly?
      • Life begins at the end of your comfort zone
      • Life’s meant to be…
      • The day I stopped being weak
      • Man up!
      • Now what?!
      • Paper dreams
      • Waiting
      • What about it?
      • Why I should be a brainiac, but I’m not
      • You will survive!
    • Relationships/Friendships
      • Body image and MS, fake or not
      • Hell is other people
      • MS and single on Valentine’s Day?
      • MS + single on Valentine’s Day?
      • Kids? Not right now, please…
      • Philosophy of Friendship
      • Single life!
    • MS Relapses / Flare-ups
      • Game, set, relapse!
      • Relapse!
      • Relentless relapse
    • Heat sensitivity / Uhthoff’s Symptoms
      • About Vikings, Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis!
      • Heat sensitivity and MS?
      • Too hot for you? Heat sensitivity explained!
      • The duplicity of MS
      • Every leaf speaks bliss to me
      • Hot town!
      • That thing people call ‘summer’
    • Other symptoms
      • Sensory MS symptoms: The hair that isn’t there
      • You retired at age what?
      • Mental or physical, your choice
      • Silver Linings
      • The social swing of life
      • Jammed filter!
      • Wheelchair?
    • Optic Neuritis
      • Eyes of sorrow
      • Fourteen MS years and counting
    • Ireland
      • Paper dreams
      • The Celtic Tree of Life… sort of!
      • Why Ireland?
      • Ireland, a love story
      • Dublin: a state of mind
      • Back to Ireland
      • Photography
        • Famine
        • Caged
        • An Irish General… and me
        • Irish Selfie
  • Top Posts
  • 🎀 3443 Needles (Winner Ireland Blog Awards 2018) 🎀
  • Blog Awards
  • MS Trust DMT Decisions Aid
  • [NEW] 45 Best Multiple Sclerosis Blogs and Websites in 2025
  • [NEW] Your Everyday Guide To Living Well With Multiple Sclerosis
  • [NEW] 7 Common Complications of MS
  • [NEW] What’s New in MS Research in 2025
  • Privacy Policy
  • Barts MS Blog,  Monthly MS News,  MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    MS News: February 2015

    23 February 2015 / No Comments

    Time flies, as we’re once again nearing the end of February. It’s been an attention-grabbing month, with several positive news stories about treatment and also, about a rather interesting collaboration between Google and Biogen Idec. First of all though, I wanted to add a link displaying how many clinical trials are ongoing as we speak. So dig in, and feel a little bit happier knowing that each day, a lot of people are seeking and working towards better treatment. Additionally, I added two new categories to the list, news about MS Organisations and Diet also. Highlight! Data Visualization Displays 142 Ongoing MS Clinical Trials MURDOCK study confirms Google partnership Google, Biogen Seek Reasons for Advance of Multiple Sclerosis Google Inc (GOOG) And Biogen Idec Inc Join Hands For Multiple Sclerosis…

    Continue reading
  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis,  Recommended

    What MS looks like in your brain

    19 February 2015 / No Comments

    Continue reading
  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis,  Recommended

    What is MS?

    19 February 2015 / No Comments

    Continue reading
  • Happy Thoughts,  Humour,  MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    How far do baby germs fly?

    18 February 2015 / No Comments

    "‘How far do baby germs fly?’ I agree with my lateral sort of thinking in this case. Wondering how far people’s sneezes fly is usually not something I occupy myself with, unless of course when I’m sitting in warm surroundings where endemic bugs tend to live."

    Continue reading
  • Beauty and fashion,  MS,  Multiple Sclerosis,  Your career and MS

    The miseducation of…

    7 February 2015 / No Comments

    "Ergo, the benefits of having MS is that I met my other, weaker self, and I learned how to be strong and wise before my own eyes, and at the speed of light. Even E.T. couldn’t follow me on his BMX bike. He tried, the little fella, but lost my phone number. Go figure."

    Continue reading
  • Barts MS Blog,  Monthly MS News,  MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    MS News: January 2015

    30 January 2015 / No Comments

    The first month of 2015 has come and (almost) gone again. With that, it’s full steam ahead in the field of MS research, clinical trials, business news and interesting, general newsworthy bits and pieces. This month, the highlight was the news about MS and stem cell treatment, providing a decent outlook for those looking for alternative treatment. I’ll keep following this news throughout the year, and in the meantime, check out the Highlight! section where the news was published, with usual news stories further down this web page.

    Continue reading
  • Lifestyle,  MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    10 Lessons I’ve Learned in 2014

    26 January 2015 / No Comments

    "Don’t change because others tell you to, just be that limited edition that you know you truly are. Don’t be afraid to break the mould."

    Continue reading
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What? Why?

IMSM is an award-winning blog filled with personal experiences and general information about MS to fill the gap left by websites crowded with medical jargon.

Now 22 years in Ireland and 20 years post-diagnosis, my goal is to connect people who like me, found themselves in front of MS’s door, and were dragged in for an extended stay in one of its uncomfortable, dark-lit backrooms. Hopefully, we will connect somehow to share its burden and be an inspiration to each other. After all, IMSM was created to do just that: trying to make sense of MS nonsense.

© Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis and Me, 2025

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