Dragonfly together with Coloplast
1. MS is not a muscle disease
Contrary to popular belief, MS is not a muscle disease, but a chronic disease of the central nervous system. People with MS can have problems walking, but it’s not because of the muscles; the cause is in the head. The messages from the central nervous system to the muscles then no longer arrive properly.
2. MS Affects Your Bladder and Bowel
Most people think that MS in particular can lead to a decline in motor skills, not everyone knows that the disease also affects your bladder and intestines. Even people who have MS sometimes don’t know that bladder and bowel symptoms are caused by the disease. Feeling that you have to urinate all the time, losing stools and having to go out often at night are common complaints. The fact that you no longer dare to go out because you are afraid of an accident naturally affects your social life. Talking about it with a doctor is difficult for many people, but it does help in finding a solution. Because there are solutions, such as medicines or self-catheterizationas well as using a bowel irrigation system or a anal tampon can help you get mobile again and do the things you love to do.
3. You don’t have to end up in a wheelchair
Remove the thresholds and go to bed, because soon there will be a wheelchair. When you are diagnosed with MS, it will cross your mind. But you don’t have to. The disease occurs in many variants, from mild complaints to frequent failure. Ten years after diagnosis, eighty percent of people with MS can still walk. So that wheelchair is not always available.
4. You don’t always have to stop working
MS is a disease that progresses differently for everyone. The symptoms are often variable. Sometimes complaints get worse for a while, after which there is a period in which things get better again. Sometimes the symptoms even disappear completely. For many people, if you continue to take good care of yourself, it is fine to keep working. It may even be nice to work so that you are not too focused on the disease.
Complaints that have the most impact on the daily life of people with MS:
1. Fatigue
2. Cognitive abilities (focus, thinking, remembering)
3. Urinating
4. Mobility
5. Loss of muscle strength
6. Stool
5. Beautiful solutions
Sometimes someone can contract pneumonia because they can no longer cough up mucus. Or the bladder cannot be emptied properly, which can lead to a urinary tract infection. Fortunately, there are nice solutions for emptying the bladder, which can ensure that this is possible again. so can self-catheterize help out. It takes some getting used to, but once used to it most people wish they had done it sooner. Sometimes people with MS no longer feel when they need to urinate, even then catheterization can help.
Free magazine
Do you want to read more about this? Ask here free part 1 and 2 of the magazine about bladder and bowel problems in MS. This magazine is provided by Coloplast, which develops products and services that make life easier for people with bladder and bowel problems. Think of stoma equipment, catheters and bowel irrigation systems.