My MS Podcast

You're exhausted all day. Then you finally crawl into bed and you're wide awake. Maybe it's the bathroom trips, the muscle spasms, the hot flashes, or the 2am hamster wheel of what-ifs. In this episode, with the clocks just turned back and darker mornings ahead, I'm sharing why better sleep with MS actually starts in the morning.

I walk through how your body clock works, why winter makes it harder, and how to figure out what's really waking you up. I also share a personal story about how much our emotions affect our sleep. You'll leave with one small step you can start tomorrow morning.

Links are on the blog at alenebrennan.com/blog.

It's 3 in the afternoon. Your energy just fell off a cliff. And suddenly you're standing in the pantry, looking for something sweet.

You know sugar isn't great for you. You've known that for years. But knowing sugar isn't great for you has never once stopped a craving.

So today, we're talking treats. Why the cravings show up, and how to enjoy something sweet without the crash. 👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

Have you ever noticed that some of the hardest parts of living with MS aren't the big decisions? The big decisions, you have help with. Your neurologist. Your MRIs. Your follow-up appointments. It's everything in between. The in-between is where you actually live your life with MS. And it's where most of us are left to figure it out on our own.

So today, I'm sharing three simple tricks for the in-between.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

Someone told me your home should be a 3D version of your vision board… and I immediately thought: wait, what would that look like for a woman living with MS? Let's find out.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

If you only had 15 minutes today to do something for your health with MS… what would you do? Because taking your health seriously doesn't mean doing the most things. It means knowing what deserves your energy first.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

I don't want MS to make me less ambitious. But I also don't want my ambition to keep exhausting me. So this fall, I'm figuring out what it means to have ambition that's built to last. And this is my invitation for you to join me.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

Before we jump into today's episode, I want to ask you a question. What was your biggest win this summer?

If your first thought was... "Honestly... I don't know." You're not alone.

Last week, on one of our Healing Habits coaching calls, I asked our members that exact question. And I secretly wondered if everyone was sitting there thinking, "I didn't really accomplish anything this summer." Because I know how easy it is to overlook your own progress when you're living with MS.

Then one woman shared. Then another. Then another. And as each woman shared what she considered a win... the other women started recognizing their own. It was like one woman's story gave another woman permission to see herself differently.

I found myself wishing every woman listening to this podcast could have been sitting in that Zoom room. Because I have a feeling you're giving yourself far less credit than you deserve. So today, I want to help you recognize a win you may have completely overlooked.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

Last week I went viral on Instagram. A carousel I posted reached more than 65,000 people. And more than 1,500 people shared it. Fifteen thousand people sent this post about MS to a friend or family member. That's mindblowing to me.

And here's the interesting thing about it… they didn't share it because they learned something new about MS. They shared it because, for the first time, they had words for something they'd been trying to explain for years.... what it actually feels like to live with MS in the summer.

Not just the physical symptoms. The grief of missing out. The guilt of changing family plans. And the exhaustion of constantly wondering whether people believe you.

This is the conversation you won't get at your doctor's office. But it's exactly what your MS Sisters are here for.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

Ten years ago, I was terrified MS would take away my dreams. Not just my health. My dreams. The life I had worked so hard to build. I spent years watching other people achieve the goals I wanted.

Growing faster. Moving faster. Building faster.

Meanwhile, I felt like I was doing everything on "MS speed."

But this week, on the 10-year anniversary of my diagnosis, something happened that reminded me of a lesson every ambitious woman with MS needs to hear. 👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog

My MRI results are in.

And I'm incredibly grateful to tell you that 10 years after my diagnosis, everything remains stable.

But after sharing the good news, I found myself wondering something I think a lot of women with MS wrestle with...

If my MRI is stable, why do I still have symptoms?

In this episode, we're talking about what "stable" actually means, why stable and symptom-free are not the same thing, and the gap that so many women with MS are trying to navigate every day.

👉 Want the full transcript + show notes (including links and resources mentioned in this episode)? Read it here: alenebrennan.com/blog