Here comes the sun…

Ahhh the British summertime is a funny one, isn’t it? Full on melt downs (sun or otherwise with the current pandemic at the moment), gale force winds, and rain all in the space of a week. However, when the sun is out this is when I am at my optimum level and many of my symptoms seem to take a back seat for a bit.

There are many people who struggle in the heat and are a lot better in the winter months, everyone’s MS is different and it’s all swings and round abouts. I find that I am definitely worse in the colder months and this is when a lot of my exacerbations/flares/relapses take place. Always one to take a different approach to many situations, even with diseases, apparently.

Here in the UK we have had a relatively warm May, with temperatures reaching 27c at times and June hasn’t been too shabby either with a high of 32c the other day. I can assure you that I have enjoyed every moment of it – Vit D me up, yo! Going through lockdown, and especially with the ever changing adaptions to life, the sun and all of the goodness it brings mentally has definitely helped. There have been a plethora of studies linking vitamin D to the management and at times the prevention of chronic illnesses; including anxiety, depression, and MS to name but a few. So, this got me thinking would we be ‘coping’ with lockdown as well if the weather wasn’t as lovely as it has been? Yes, we, myself included have had our down moments through the past 3 months (wow, has it really been that long?! Jeeeeesus!), but do you think that more of a breaking point would have been hit if it wasn’t? I sure as hell think, no, I know that I would have paid plenty of visits to that town.

As we start to come out of lockdown, albeit slowly my end (I still have absolutely no desire to enter a Primark or go to Bournemouth beach), good grief am I thankful to be shuffling out this with A) Mental health intact B) Symptoms no worse, or dare I say it even eased and C) With a slight tint of a tan.

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Enjoy the sun guys, stay safe, and slap that sun cream on

Shuffles out

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