26 msfocusmagazine.org Symptom Management The unpredictable nature of relapsing MS can make life especially difficult. Balancing home-life, work, parenting, and self-care is tough on its own, but when your symptoms come and go, it’s hard to know what level of responsibility you’ll be able to handle from day to day. It’s also tough to plan for social occasions, travel, household projects, or career advancement when the fear of a symptom flare-up constantly looms over you. As challenging as this uncertainty is to manage, it can be even more difficult to explain your concerns to those who have never lived through it. As a result, it’s not uncommon for people with unpredictable symptoms to be met with doubt by people who don’t fully understand the nature of their condition. The problem is compounded when your symptoms are both unpredictable and invisible. Invisible symptoms are sometimes treated with not only doubt, but outright disbelief. For example, you may have heard stories of people with invisible symptoms who have had cruel things said to them for using disabled parking spaces. But when a person has both invisible and unpredictable symptoms, it is not only uninformed strangers that may doubt them, but sometimes even those closest to them. When family and friends can’t see a pattern to your symptoms, and can’t see for themselves when you are experiencing them, they can develop mistaken ideas, wondering why you can’t do something today that you could easily do yesterday. They may question whetheryou are exaggerating your symptoms, or even faking them to garner sympathy or avoid doing something you don’t wish to do. Obviously, such distrust and doubt from the people you love can deeply hurt you and seriously strain your relationship. So, how can you prevent it, or repair relationships that doubt has already damaged? Preventing Doubt from Taking Root Whether you are newly diagnosed with Dealing with Doubters: The Secret Side Effect of Unpredictable and Invisible Symptoms