• MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    It’s OK not to be OK

    Chronic pain. Those who have it, can’t wait to get rid of it. Those who don’t, often do not understand what is going on in people’s bodies filled with chronic pain 24/7. Not to reminiscence too much about the good old days – those where the pain was not a constant, unwanted house guest – but I cannot remember what living without pain was like. Waking up feeling jolly, not a single bout of pain stabbing my face, being able to keep my balance on my way to my bathroom, high energy levels… All this was abandoned long ago, and even after 8 hours of sleep, I just can’t remember what life felt like. Healthy people often take their fitness for granted; they don’t question their bodies underperforming for a…

  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis,  Trigeminal Neuralgia

    MS: a social disconnect

    Therein lies the disconnect: the way others want me to be, and me not being able to keep up. How many of us have pretended to be well enough to walk another 500 meters? How many say they are OK when they feel pain in their limbs, their eyes and in their soul? How many say they will be able to go to work when they were awake half the night because of pain? Unwillingly we are put in a non-self-imposed isolation; we are put there by our illness, and quite often by the outside world. Our mental functioning is now processed differently because of our illness.

  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    Side effects?

    © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2013. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner are strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    ‘Nuff said!

    © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2013. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis,  Research

    Do mobile phones cause multiple sclerosis symptoms or other brain damage?

    Twenty years ago, SMS messaging was used for the first time on 3 December 1992, when Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old test engineer for Sema Group in the UK used a personal computer to send the text message, a “Merry Christmas” wish, via the Vodafone network to the phone of Richard Jarvis. Colloquially called a text message in Ireland, written communication finally turned into an adult. And because this is a hot news story today, I am once again on a mission to seek answers regarding an excruciating multiple sclerosis symptom when using a mobile phone.

  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    In the blink of an eye…

    © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

  • MS,  Multiple Sclerosis

    Attacking disabilities…

    © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.