New Line Of Makeup For MS (venting)

[NCStargazer]

Hello everyone, as an MSer and recently diagnosed with Meniere's syndrome too, life is getting more and more challenging...

I currently work full time, 50 hours a week usually and I go to college (on campus) full time, trying to get a PhD in my field. I only say this, so you understand my commitment to being "normal".

There are still days that I simply drag, have no energy, bad vision, stumble around etc, etc, etc,... (even when I don't have a "spell" happening)

I still get, "well you don't look sick..." ARGH!! So, coming in the office I thought, how cool would it be to have make up for MSers? The slogan would be, "It makes you look as sick as you feel".

Then, when wearing the makeup, no one would judge you on the fact "you don't look sick"...

Pardon my vent and weird sense of humor... Thanks for listening...

Don't misunderstand me, I have many wonderful people in my life (especially my family) that give me great support and they are the main reason I get up each day and face the world.... I am only talking about the few that don't understand the power of their words and attitude.

[jsage]

I still get, "well you don't look sick..." ARGH!!

How about "hey I have those same strange sensations too, everybody gets 'em."

Really, all day, hour after hour? Can't we just be left alone so we can feel bad in peace?



I hope today goes better for you, NCStargazer!

[mjan]

Cute idea~but.. could I relate to your post when I was in college. Draggin around.. sooo fatigued..kept calling it "stress"...

And dizzy spells were always a sign of a MS exacerbation. Everytime I took oral sterioids that dizzyness would stop. Are you getting help for these "spells"??

Hope you find improvement & soon hon

Warmly, Jan

[jifr]

LOL. Absolutely.

Someone actually said to me - "You're too pretty to be sick".

You know that scene from The Exorcist where green vomit is spewed?

That could have been me when (the nurse at my PCP, of all people) said that!!

"Too PRETTY to be sick?"

As if "pretty" has anything to do with anything.

So - is that a situation where you smile and say, "Thank you. I think." o.O

lol.

[Hawkgirl]

Yes, I wish too that MS gave us green spots, so we wouldn't have to hear about how great we look. I can pull it together to look great for the 10 minutes I spend with you. Ask my DH and kids how great I look by late afternoon. Come 4 p.m., I am collapsed. When I'm lucky, I get supper in the oven by then, so we have something to eat. We MSers have to choose what we want to do today: go to the grocery store or make the beds. Vacuum the living room or cook supper. Take a shower or go run that errand.

Big blotchy green spots on my face would be great!

[muse_7]

I have worn makeup a total of 4 times this year. When I went to a Fathers Day party with makeup on someone said to me, you look like you are doing a lot better! I didn't say anything but thought yeah, who knew makeup was the cure for PPMS? I could be rich lol.

I guess it's a good thing that they don't understand what I feel like or that it took 2 hours to make myself look that way and that I paid for it for a week after.

[chalknpens]

Straight and Strong and no one would ever know...`

I had a nurse practioner, ms trained, tell me in our first visit together "You are straight, and strong, and no one would ever know that you have MS." And I burst into tears, cut the visit short, and left, humbled, got into my truck with the HC parking placard, and drove home.

Now, I wanted no one to know that i had MS, because i was still trying to teach. She probably meant well.

But i wanted HER to know I had MS. I wanted HER to listen to my issues of fatigue, of fear, anxiety, sadness, inability to remember my students' names ... I wanted a little compassion, and a little direction in how to handle all of that.

I retired the following June. I don't worry now about people knowing that I have MS. I still don't look like I have it. I found compassion with a counselor, and medication with a psychiatrist. I can read and comprehend again. I can write and tell a story. I can laugh when I forget something.

I've written the story, and published it at Amazon. The title is Multiple Sclerosis, an Enigma. I'm at peace now, living in the land of Denial, off DMDs, and feeling stronger.

And, while I'm here, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, and Happy New Year ahead!

[valeriem2220]

I do not wear makeup at work, I work in a factory why bother.
My boss would ask me many times a week...."You don't feel well do you?" ...I always wanted to say..."No I don't, I have very few days that I CAN say I feel GOOD"...but I would just nod and leave it at that. I have a very pale complexion anyway so personally I think I always look sick no matter what.
I have started tanning now that the winter months have come and it just makes me feel better, plus it is 30 minutes I have time to myself and can just relax, being a single Mom that doesn't happen often.

My boss and even my Dr have said that they can tell I have been feeling better. My Dr said your color is so much better than when I first saw you. Can they not see that I am tanning? That's all it is. I don't feel any better than I did months ago.
I do want them to understand that I do not feel well all of the time and sometimes I just need to sit and relax...but at the same time I am glad the tanning has made me look better.

[bluenose95]

Thank-you NCStargazer for your comment about make-up...I wish I could click 'like' and make 'comments" about other people's "replies"...

I have often thought that that the next time I go to my doctor or neuro for MRI follow-up I need to "look worse" to match how I feel. Also maybe not sound so "together" with my questions, comments etc.

I find even my friends have a hard time understanding...and I don't always want to be talking about my symptoms to "justify" my diagnosis or how I feel.

Have a very Merry Holiday!

[BeneathTheLies]

It really bugs me that people can think that we look "too good" or "too young" to have MS. I don't know what people expect, but it's sort of ridiculous. Someone actually made the comment to me that I was too young to have MS. They insisted that I should see another dr for a second opinion. When I informed him that I got a second opinion from the head of neurology at Johns Hopkins he still had this look and tone of disbelief. It's so frustrating that I too wish somedays that we had a makeup to make us look how we feel. If only they knew, right?

[RoyaleMSer]

I have the PERFECT solution!!!

I use a green concealer on my face when I have red spots because they are complimentary colors and it covers up the red. But after I have applied it, I look green. Not exactly flattering until I put foundation over it.... So....

Want to look sickly? Use the green concealor on your face and voila! I got mine for about $4 at Walgreens.

[Thinkimjob]

Don't worry about looking too well to have MS. I don't want to sound awful, but enjoy it while it lasts.

[Skinny]

I just want to chime in and say... I love this post and reading all your replys makes me laugh. I too have the same problem. Oh your skin looks great, you must be feeling better look at you in that cute outfit. Blah blah blah....

One time someone asked me how have you been feeling? I said Fantastic! They said really? I said NO! But maybe if I say it enough it will come true!

[drgnlny]

Awesome!!

LOL - Totally!!!

In all truth, I don't want to look as sick as I feel...and often when I have to be in public I'm thankful I can blend in and not draw attention to myself (aside from limping and walking diagnally, sweating profusefully or the long pauses when trying to reply to others...I'm assuming they think I'm drunk or on drugs!!) but it often does create issues...this whole 'looking sooooo good!' thing!!

Apparently, MS is the the pretty disease since we all look so great according to the world! ha ha

But seriously - not physically looking like I feel or being able to expend all my energy focusing on answering questions in my doctors appt's and such I honestly believe has hindered me getting the appropriate level of treatment I need. Because it seems even my doctors go by how 'good I look'.

And they are suppose to know better!!!

[Guzzy]

Know what you mean NCStargazer.
This used to drive me insane too.

I don't know though, now I am starting to see it from another perspective. Others can never really understand MS, unless they have it themselves, and even then all the variations in symptoms and severity mean it's diffucult to truly understand another MS'er.

If you leave your makeup off, they will probably see how tired and stressed you look. Do you want them to see this, really?
I dislike looking that tired and I enjoy being taken for a normal person, while I can, so I mostly wear it to look a bit perkier.

I am sure one day I will look wrecked despite the makeup, but until that day comes, I will continue to enjoy my disguise!