How Has MS Affected Your Social Life?

Health and wellness touch everyone’s life differently. These are some people’s stories.

Chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS) can change your life in a multitude of ways — and sometimes, those changes are difficult for others to understand. Regardless of how close you are and how much you matter to each other, only you know what’s going on inside your own body.

We reached out to our Living with Multiple Sclerosis community on Facebook to get an understanding of the impact that living with MS can have on a person’s ability to connect with other people — and to learn how our community has dealt with these new dynamics. We asked: How has MS impacted your social life?

These were their responses:

“It has totally destroyed mine! I no longer have the confidence to have a social life. It’s too exhausting always worrying about how far I have to walk, how close the bathroom is, how noticeable is my gait, etc., etc. Much easier to stay home.”

— Nancy D.

“I still do plenty, but have learned to recognize when I have about five or so minutes of energy left. I live in a pretty small community, so I am able to drive myself home from just about anywhere when I feel that ‘wall’ closing in on me. My friends are excellent! They do not pass judgement, they just smile and say ‘bye.’ They will text later to see that I got home all right. Then will call the next day to verify that I am OK.”

— Amy R.