Ms Trust

MS is often diagnosed in your 20's when a lot of people are just starting out their working career. During 2020 many people found themselves on furlough, or being made redundant. In this episode we speak to Amy, who started not one but 2 new jobs during 2020. Amy also runs an online support group for young people with MS and we chat about how that was a great help during the year.

During 2020 we had to learn to live with the new norm where everything moved to online. But how does that work when you are expecting a baby? In this episode we chat to Jenna and Annie, two ladies with MS who both found out they were expecting during lockdown.

During lockdown a lot of us felt drained from doing nothing at all. Many people with MS struggle with fatigue during the best of times, but lockdown made things several times worse. In this episode we meet Ant Chapman, a musician and educator who worked all the way through lockdown remotely. We talk about his MS journey and how getting creative and starting to stream music making sessions on Twitch helped him get through lockdown. Ant even made this podcast theme tune as a part of a live stream for the MS Trust.

This past year has been tough on all of us. But imagine being diagnosed with a lifelong condition such as multiple sclerosis in the middle of it all. In this podcast the MS Trust chat to two young women, to find out how they coped with their MS diagnosis in the middle of a pandemic.

In this last episode of "It's all in your head", we chat about loneliness and anxiety with Claire from the MS Trust Information Team. We also talk to Catherine Seymour from the Mental Health Foundation about the impact of lockdown on our mental health, and how we can ease ourselves back to normality when lockdown ends.

In this fifth episode of "It's all in your head" we chat to Sara Coffey, a dramatherapist, who explains more about dramatherapy as an approach to dealing with mental health problems. Sara has worked with people with MS in the past, so shares some brilliant insights into how this kind of therapy can help, and dispels some common myths around it. We also talk to Jessie Ace. Jessie is a podcaster, illustrator, author, and all round inspiring lady.

The fourth episode of our 'It's all in your head' series focuses on MS nurses and how they can help people with MS with their mental health. We speak to MS Nurse Sally Fox about what an MS nurse does from day to day, why she thinks mental health is important and how you could talk to your MS nurse about it. She also shares some great tips like breathing exercises that you could try yourself. We also talk about our 'MS Trust in..

The third episode of the series focuses on anxiety, a feeling many people with MS will be familiar with. First of all we hear from Mike, a person with MS who talks about his experience of anxiety since being diagnosed with MS, as well as during the coronavirus outbreak. We then catch up with Jo Johnson, a neuropsychologist who guides us through a few exercises you can follow along with. These exercises are based on a psychological therapy called acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). They encourage you to be more aware of your feelings and approach anxiety in a slightly different way.

The second episode of new series focusses on the newly diagnosed and the impact an MS diagnosis can have on your mental health. Learning that you have a lifelong condition is a huge thing to try and deal with, so how do you get your head around that? In the podcast, we hear from Emily and Will about what has helped them come to terms with their diagnosis and Claire from our Information Team talks about some of the coping strategies which can help.

The first episode in our new podcast series all about MS and mental health. We chat to Gemma from the MS Trust’s Information Team about why mental health problems are more common in MS, neuropsychologist Dr Anita Rose shares her top tips for taking care of your mental wellbeing, and Chris and Carla, who both live with MS, share their experiences.

We're living in uncertain times and we know that lots of you, understandably, have questions about the coronavirus and MS. So for this podcast, we've pulled together some of the questions that have cropped up the most and asked Claire, who works in our Information Team, to answer them. We also chat to Carla King, who lives with MS, about her experience of dealing with lockdown. Please note: all information and advice in this podcast is correct at the time of publication.

In the podcast, we speak to Dr Anita Rose about how you can take care of our mental health during the coronavirus crisis. We also chat to Will Berard, who lives with MS, about how he is coping in the COVID-19 lockdown. Please note: all information and advice in this podcast is correct at the time of publication. For the latest coronavirus information please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus or www.nhs.uk/coronavirus

A lot of people with MS are very worried and confused right now about the coronavirus outbreak. We talk to Janice from the MS Trust info team about what coronavirus COVID-19 is and how it could affect your MS. We also talk to two members of the MS community about how they are coping and ask if they have some ideas to share on how to not get too anxious about it all. Please note: all information and advice in this podcast is correct at the time of publication.

It's thought that sleep disturbances are experienced by around half of people with MS, yet sleep disorders are still under-recognised and under-diagnosed among this group of people. We spoke to consultant neurologist Dr Kirstie Anderson, who has a special interest in sleep problems to find out more. Here she talks about which sleep disorders are more common in MS and shares her tips for getting a better night's sleep.

Welcome to the inaugural MS Trust Poodcast, all about – you guessed it – toilet troubles! Bowel and bladder problems are common in MS, but yet many people feel too embarrassed to talk about what they’re experiencing. In this podcast we want to banish those toilet taboos once and for all. Listeners will get an insight into the science behind why bowel and bladder problems occur in multiple sclerosis, personal insights from people living with MS, and a Q&A with MS specialist nurse Noreen Barker on everything from UTIs to constipation.