How did you come to terms with your MS diagnosis?

Hello everyone,

I recently commented to a discussion on here concerning tips and advice that we would give to those who are newly diagnosed with MS.

One of my recommendations was to understand that you will likely, if you are like me, to go through a grieving process and anger once you receive the diagnosis before you can finally come to accepting the diagnosis and enjoying your life within the limitations and diagnosis.

For me the stages of grieving were the 5 stages. After the diagnosis I was denial! I was certain the doctor was incorrect, so I sought out a few other opinions and still kept denying it was me. I was then angry with the diagnosis and upset that God would put this on me. I began to bargain and tell God I would do xyz, if He would just take this diagnosis away from me. I became depressed and found no enjoyment of life. I lived to control the symptoms, be in pain, and go to doctors visits and physical therapy. However, I finally, somehow, made it to the Acceptance stage where I am now able to accept the condition, my prognosis, my limits, etc. Acceptance allowed me to enjoy life once again, even if it was within the confines of the diagnosis.

Is anyone else's experience similar to mine? Did you go through the grieving stages?

@siemprelucha‍ yes. I did.

I still am somewhat in between stage 4, depression, and stage 5, acceptance.

Although I have accepted my diagnosis, my limitations, and my future, I am NOT happy about it. I try to make the most of everything, but I still get depressed because life is already hard and having MS does not make it one ounce easier. There are a lot of worries for the future which cause future anxiety and depression... I wish I could get out of stage 4 entirely, but I do not think that is a possible thing. I think I can grow in acceptance, but depression will always be a part of me.

I can understand this.

@siemprelucha i just shared in another post how for me, it was also a while before i was able to fully accept and come to terms with my disease. i think similarly to you, there are still days that i am sad and depressed about my new limitations but to me, i see it as how many days say out of a month did i just accept what i was dealt with versus the days that i let depression overcome me? and lately, it's most days that i feel as if i did not let depression overcome me. i don't know if it is possible to fully accept the limitations, i guess it is, but for me it's definitely been living in stages 4/5 with stage 5 being where i spend most of my time and for me, that's enough. 

Hello everyone,

How are you doing? Have you seen this older discussion?

How did you process or come to terms with your MS diagnosis? Did you go through different phases (shock, anger, depression...)? Can you share any advice with some of our newly diagnosed members?
@PaulFinlayson‍ @Twinters‍ @Blinddog21‍ @Mymslife‍ @missliz28‍ @phyllis‍ @MsTingles‍ @Jsanchez‍ @StormyC‍ @Alexis‍ @Louiswillisms10‍ @LostChild‍ @Traceyceneviva‍ @asccurtis‍ @Cassondra.ott‍ @Well0220‍ @Badgerland‍ 

Feel free to share your stories and advice with us!

Take care,
Courtney