MS Awareness Month

The Journey..

Hey everyone! How are you all? I hope you’ve had a good week? Do you have any plans for Mother’s Day?

This month is MS Awareness month and I wanted to write a post about my journey so far.

I was diagnosed with MS in 2014. I had gone numb down my left side and was admitted to hospital for a week. I think apart from waiting to find out what I had, it was the most unsettling and stressful time of my life.

Once being diagnosed with MS my first feeling was relief when I chat to people about it many of them say that they felt relief. Relief that it was nothing worse and also relief at the fact that they had actually been diagnosed with something… It starts to send you a bit mad not know what’s wrong but knowing that something is wrong, you know?

I went through a lot of highs and lows through my beginning stages of MS, I was very fortunate and lucky to have family members with the condition too. There was still something missing though, people either my age or going through the start of their MS journey to talk to.

Some of my family members I don’t think truly understood at first, I also felt that they tried to bury the fact that my fatigue levels meant that I couldn’t do certain things and that I was feeling low because of it.. also trying myself to come to terms with everything and trying to rebuild my life with MS.

June 2017 I joined Twitter and started following people who were either my age with MS or on a similar wave length and wow I’ve met some truly amazing people and some of even call internet friends!

Out of this diagnosis and a few years or just dealing with things on my own (mentally not physically, I’ve had great support) I finally felt I had built a little community and it wasn’t just people who had MS.. it’s was everyone battling chronic illness.. from ME to Fibromyalgia etc and it was wonderful to meet all these people and still be in contact too!

June 2017 was a rather dark time for me, not having certain people truly understand or bury their heads etc and battling with my own mental health demons.. I decided to set up a Facebook group for young/newly diagnosed people with MS. It was THE best thing I ever did!

I set it up with the lovely Natalie – Surviving Life’s Hurdles and so far I think we have about 130-150 members! That’s fantastic!

October 2017 I decided to change my diet (I was going through my fourth relapse of the year) and focus on a wholefoods plant based diet (No Animal Products at all) I also tried to include a lot of anti-inflammatory ingredients too for example, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger etc. And I can honestly say that I’ve actually felt healthier than I ever have and I also believe my symptoms have been slightly reduced!

NYE 2017 was when I decided to change my mindset. I decided to embark on a new motto and that motto is called “Not My Problem” I’ve spoken about it in more depth in my previous posts, however since training my mind to think this way and becoming a more positive person, i find that it’s really helped!

I don’t “ignore” my MS… Far from it! I acknowledge it every single day! I’m constantly listening to my body and pushing myself just a little, because at the end of the day our body’s will take over and MS can take control sometimes. So I try to just listen to my body! Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy myself and I’ve learnt now how to socialise with friends and manage MS! Also how to have a work life balance!

But most importantly… To appreciate every single thing and everyone! I am honestly so grateful for MS! Showing me how to slow down and appreciate this beautiful world, how to actually take control of my life and start doing what I want to do! Becoming a stronger person inside and out.. and finally I’m grateful for MS and all the amazing wonderful people I have met along the way.. whether you have MS or not! I am grateful we crossed paths!

So yes it’s MS Awareness day and I think we need to shout it from the roof tops because looking so normal majority of the time with a chronic illness definitely makes us super heros! Now… Where’s my cape! 😂

Sending you all lots of love

Hannah xx

Relaxing Night Routine

Hey Everyone! How are you all doing? Leave me a comment below and I’ll be sure to reply 😊

In today’s blog post I’m going to be talking (writing) you through my relaxing evening routine to help with sleep. Now this is working very well for me and I hope it can help at least one of you to hopefully get a better nights sleep.

For my MS fatigue I was given Amantadine and I found a couple of side effects quite disruptive. The first one was crazy weird dreams at night, not nightmares just very strange that would cause me to wake up a few times in the night. Another side effect was insomnia, where I couldn’t actually sleep. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to sleep for a couple of hours, consequently making the fatigue worse during the day.

My MS nurse told me that it will pass over a few days and my doctor gave me Amitriptyline to take at night to hopefully help me to sleep and calm my anxiety… However, since doing this routine I’ve not needed to take the amitriptyline AND I’ve been sleeping through the whole night 😊

1) When I can I put my phone away on silent and on charge at 7:30pm, I don’t look through Twitter, Instagram or messages after 7:30pm. I also put my iPad on charge at 7:30pm and try not to look at that either, I don’t watch YouTube videos after this time or anything stimulating. I’ve found this to really help me to wind down before going to bed because being off work at the moment I’m on my phone and iPad a reasonable about during the day and having a technology detox at night after 7:30pm really helps me to relax.

2) Sometimes I like to have a nice relaxing bath to help me wind down and relax. Now I don’t do this every night, mainly on the nights where I’ve felt particularly uptight, stressed or anxious or if I’m having a pamper night. Normally I do other things to help wind down but also to keep me entertained too. I do find that having a nice relaxing bath really does help me, I always have a nice cold glass of water to sip and this is when I do watch YouTube on my iPad (yes I know if said I put it in charge but I don’t do this every night) when I do watch YouTube at night then it’s relaxing, restful videos like night routines etc.

3) Herbal tea. I only try and have one cup of coffee a day and then I try and stay away from caffeine as much as possible and after 5:30pm I don’t have any caffeine at all and stick to water, decaf tea or herbal tea. My favourite herbal teas are: Lemon & Ginger, Peppermint and Camomile – I always make a cup of this every night and have it in bed.

4) Before I get changed into my pyjamas, brush my teeth,go to the toilet etc I like to do my exercises. These are the exercises that my physio gave me to do and some nice gentle yoga stretches. I find this a really nice way to relax the body and just loosen up before bed. I don’t bring my yoga mat upstairs purely because i don’t need it on the landing 😊

5) Once I’ve done my stretches I get changed into some nice cosy pyjamas, wash my face with my amazing Liz Earle cleanse and Polish with warm water, brush my teeth and then climb into bed 😊 this is when I’ll either write in my Bullet Journal, colour in an adult colouring book or on this occasion, paint my nails 😊 and whilst waiting for my nails to dry I just sip of my herbal tea of choice 😊

6) Once my nails have completely dried I then read my book of choice. At the moment I’m reading a book called “A cat called Alfie” it’s a lovely light hearted book and reminds me so much of my cat Arthur! (Any cat lovers out there, I’d recommend this!) I find that reading really helps me to relax in the evenings and during the day too if I want to read. I always make sure it’s a nice light hearted book and not a thriller or mind stimulating and I really do find that reading makes me sleepier, I always read one chapter a night (this book has fairly short chapters which I like!

7) Once the chapter is finshed and I’ve had my tea (I never manage to drink a full cup lol) I put my iPad on low light setting, low volume and out a film on that helps me to fall asleep. I’m one of those people who can’t go to sleep in silence, I don’t know about any of you guys, but I find that if I try to sleep in silence then my mind wanders and I end up not being able to sleep. So having a nice relaxing film on helps me to drift off, it’s been the best way for me 😊

And that is my relaxing night routine to help with sleep. I try and do this every night unless I’m away or out for the evening, but I find it has really made a difference with my sleep pattern and I feel a bit more refreshed when I wake up in the morning.

I normally fall asleep around 9pm and wake up at around 5:30am, sometimes I wish I could sleep for longer but I think this is my body clock at the moment which is fine cause I’m still getting 8.5 hours of un-disturbed sleep.

I really hope you’ve found this post useful and I really hope I helps just one of you 😊 the main thing I think that has helped me is not using my phone or iPad after a certain time in the evening.

Thank you for reading

Lots of Love

Hannah xx

Time to TOTALLY relax! (At home Spa)

Hello everyone, how have you all been? As always leave me a comment down below and I’ll be sure to reply 🙂 I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend. 

So… I’d say over the last couple of days I’ve fallen down those mean and evil negative holes. Beating myself up, putting myself down, making myself feel guilty and that I need to try harder.. you know these nasties… 

“Surely you’re better now? It’s been 4 weeks” 

“Come in you’re only tired, others have it much worse and they have to go to work still” 

“When are you going back to work then? How long are you off for?”

“Maybe you need to push yourself through this and just try harder”

“People at work are getting annoyed with you now, it’s not fair on them”

“Just try harder and get better quickly, you need to both financially and physically, just do it”

Yep… Those thoughts.. let’s call them “little devils”. Even when writing them out for you all to read its like hearing them again… BUT NOT ANYMORE! 

I’m now trying to stop being so hard on myself and forcing myself to get better so quickly when all its been doing is I believe knocking me backwards slightly. Learning to relax more and just *chill* lol. 

Looking back at how far I’ve come and all the things I have achieved.. I may do a new Bullet Journal page about that so I can see in front of me all that I’ve achieved so far. 

I need to remember that I will get better with time and that time is a healer too.. not doing 20 step ups and 15 squats a day until I’m totally knackered (yes I was desperate to get better quickly and thought doing all these exercises every single day would help me get there)… 

So now I’m going to do more things for the Mind as well as the Body.. just looking after me, not thinking about others for a change! So that’s where we get onto the topic of creating an At Home Spa. 

My lovely mum and step dad came over to decorate the bathroom at the weekend and I’m just so happy with the result, it looks so much brighter and calmer in there now, so why not create an At Home Spa? 

Just a little disclaimer — everyone’s thoughts and ideas are different and these are just mine, I’m not saying you need to do it this way 🙂

Here was the before and after photos of the bathroom 🙂 

Before

After

I am beyond grateful for the work my mum and step dad put into the bathroom.. this room is where I like to relax my mine and body lol (I know that sounds a bit corny lol) but before the amazing transformation I’d never feel totally relaxed after a bath, no matter how many candles I lit etc.. however now.. is a totally different story! 

The Paint we used was Dulux Bathroom Apple White the ” Chatsworth tall boy” cabinet was from The Range UK the other things I already had.. and the candles are actually battery powered from Amazon.. overall I just think it’s amazing and I’m so happy with it 🙂

For me creating an “At Home Spa” is all about the environment and setting.. I like to have the main lights out and with candles (battery ones are fab). I also love bubbles and at the moment I use some of the radox bubble baths and I also use Epsom  Salts too which are super relaxing. 

I then like to have a little pamper session.. this usually involves washing my hair, face mask you know.. the works 😁😂

Once I’m out of the bath (literally had THE best bath tonight) and I’m feeling much more relaxed, I then like to have a little treat.. on this occasion it was a delicious Vegan chocolate made by my mum (yes she is just amazing lol) some fruit and a nice cold drink.. tonight orange squash with orange slices. 

Then I just relax, put on a nice film (tonight was Mrs Doubtfire – a classic favourite) and just relax whilst my hair roughly dries — I find that I need to rest after I’ve had a bath and regain some energy so relaxing with a nice snack is perfect. 

Sometimes I write in my Bullet Journal and I love creating and seeing inspiring pages on Pinterest.. I’m working on a page at the moment about “Things I need to do more often” so I can look at it and choose to do at least one thing a day 😊 

And I also love painting my nails so I chose a colour from my selection and do this too, I find it very therapeutic lol. 

(Tonight it was this gorgeous purple colour from Barry M)

To completely relax me before bed, I put my phone into airplane mode and out of the way at about 8:30pm and make myself this delicious drink that the lovely Jen from Tripping Through Treacle got me into called “Golden Milk” she had a pic of it on Instagram and I was very interested so decided to give it a go:-

Almond milk, ginger & cinnamon (I use 1/4tsp), turmeric (1/2tsp), sweetner of some kind and a light dusting of pepper (to help the turmeric absorb) 

Then it’s lights out and time to settle down into sleep – the Golden Milk really helps me to drift off to sleep, it’s so relaxing AND an anti-inflammatory super drink 😊

And this is how I totally relax.. and I need to keep the “relaxing” up… No more beating myself up, no more obsessively pushing myself… Nope… Now it’s actually taking care of “ME” time! 

I’m sorry this post has been long, I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read and I hope you all have a wonderful week. 

Lots of Love

Hannah xx