Plus plenty of people with MS are more likely to experience worsening symptoms (a.k.a.
flares) when they get superstressed.
That can make this should-be-cheerful time of year exhausting and kinda tricky to navigate.
Hiu Yan Lam / EyeEm
I take a stab at keep celebrations small.
Excessive stress can contribute [to a flare], she says.
As a result, Landis will mainly do a lot of things with just family.
If I do hang out with friends, its usually just one-on-one.
Landis also experiences badmigraine attacksand lots of fatigue during a flare.
Sometimes my legs will get really tired too, she says.
My body definitely cant handle that.
I balance my diet based on how Im feeling.
Unsurprisingly, booze makes this worse.
Its all a day by day check-in.
I dont make a run at do everything myself.
Holidays often mean hostingor at least bringing a dish to shareto a get-together.
But Martin has learned that cooking can be an overwhelming, stressful task when youre not feeling well.
If youre hosting dinner maybe you dont give a shot to make everything, she suggests.
I find the seats.
I can easily get very caught up in the holiday spirit, Perryman says.
I like to think I can do all the things, but I know I have limits.
I space things out.
Verena Frydberg, 43, breaks things up to make them feel a bit less taxing.
I schedule rest periods between my activities, she tells SELF.
For example, if Im going to cook, I get my groceries delivered.
This helps me minimize my time in the kitchen.
Frydberg also gets ready differently than she would have in the past.
I learned this about myself years ago, Frydberg says.
Then Id feel uncomfortable about how I looked the whole time we had guests.
This was not good in my book, so I figured out how to switch it up.
Im incredibly honest.
Landis says shes very open with loved ones about how shes feeling.
But shes still careful not to use MS as a reason to just cancel on people.
I dont want to use my MS as an excuse or a crutch, she says.
But I always ended up paying for it later and probably missed out on more because of it.
I stay home when I really need to.
Elizabeth Giardina, 45, tells SELF that she also really struggles with fatigue when she has MS flares.
I also have a hard time with cognitive abilities.
Stress typically leads to flares for her, so shes learned to take a step back during the holidays.
She used to feel like she had to do everything during this season.
It got to the point where I realized I was just taking on too much.
Now she gives herself some wiggle room.
It is too hard on my body to be doing the cooking and the traveling.
I put myself first.
If they dont understand, then they werent really a good person in your life anyway, she says.
Michelle Tolson, 49, also believes in the power of being firm with your boundaries.
I am always honest with my friends about how I am feeling.
Having a solid support system is so important when living with a silent and progressive disease like MS.
Related:
