5 tips to help overcome cognitive problems — A 30 Minute Life

More than 50% of people living with Multiple Sclerosis will have some cognitive problems in their life. Because I live with chronic pain, Persistent Post Traumatic Headaches, and fatigue, I also have cognitive problems. This impacts me in many ways, forgetting things, short term memory issues, word finding problems and holding conversations. As these symptoms worsen, I have incorporated a few extra steps to my routines to help myself. They are:

1 — Pacing

Fatigue worsens every symptom, and it has a big impact on cognitive ability. To help soften this I make sure I pace myself, doing only what I can, not what I wish, I can do. Practical things like creating a daily schedule. With enough breaks in between doing things which require effort. I also have to manage how many projects I am doing. I have my limit of 10 hours work per week, so I make sure I don’t do more than that.

2 — Sleep

Creating a healthy sleep routine is so important. I go to bed at the same time every night, with a similar routine. I also don’t set an alarm for the morning, sleeping as long as I need. Yesterday, I went to Galway, the local city, and the effort of the day takes a lot out of me, so last night I slept 9.5 hours, instead of my usual 8. My body needed the rest. Because I…