Newly diagnosed and anxiety
Hi Everyone, I'm newly diagnosed with RRMS (end of June). I'm really struggling with anxiety every day at the moment. I've had a lot of stress in my life for quite a while so I'm trying to de-stress as I know this won't be helping my MS at all. But I guess it's just getting my head around it all and because it's quite an unknown thing as to how it will progress.
I'm struggling more because I'm on my own I think. I am a single Mum, my son Alex is 12. My Mum had SPMS and she passed away nearly 17 years ago now, and i lost my Dad 6 years ago, I've got no siblings either. I've got a few core friends who are great. But no one who really knows how I feel or who seems to want to understand. I think it's the lack of support that's getting to me. I know I can ask friends for help but I'm finding it hard to explain and talk about how I'm feeling. Getting the diagnosis has knocked me for six.
I'm just pretty overwhelmed at the moment, and can't seem to relax or keep myself calm at times. I'd rather try natural routes to deal with this as I'm sensitive to meds. Just wondering if anyone has any tips or ideas that I can use to help me with my anxiety over all of this?? I'm currently having counselling (I was having this before I was diagnosed anyway) and I've started to do meditation everyday. I just find it really hard to focus to bring myself back down from that high anxiety level. Have any of you suffered like this when you were newly diagnosed?? Any suggestions of things I could try?? I desperately want to reduce my anxiety and stress!! Thanks!
Hi Jules and welcome. You have had a big shock and you need to take stock. Don't rush into anything, sit down, have a cuppa, take a deep breath and relax. You can't change what has happened and I know it's not much of a comfort but you have been diagnosed at a good time, there are so many dmt's now so depending on type of ms, age, lifestyle etc., 25 years ago there were no DMT's and being dxd was a life sentence. The first DMT came along a year after I was diagnosed, went on the original trial and had Avonex for 23 years so I consider myself lucky. Things have changed, have you got an ms nurse, what drug if any are you on/going on, have you spoken to your neurologist about the future possibilities. We're always here for a moan, a rant, a celebration, a cry, there's nothing we haven't already done ourselves, nobody judges, and don't forget there is no such thing as a silly question with ms, there's usually somebody here who knows the answer, and if we don't know 'we know a man who does' usually Stumbler who you will meet shortly. Remember you are not alone, keep your chin up and keep posting.😍
@julesds1977 , you need to be patient with yourself. Your diagnosis is still too new to you, so you haven't yet processed this information and what it means to you. I understand that this will be difficult for you because of the shadow of what your parents went through. However, they lived a generation ago and it's a different world now. MS is still the same condition. However, it can now be managed and, in some cases, halted. But, it is still not understood by the public at large. The only people that truly understand MS are those people that have MS and that is why this Forum can be so important, in providing the empathy and understanding that you need. So, just take your time as you come to terms with your new life. Your anxiety will diminish over the course of the next few weeks. But here's an article on Anxiety, which may provide some guidance for you :- https://www.mstrust.org.uk/a-z/anxiety I fear I may have waffled a bit, but I hope some of it helps..............