The Brain You Can't See: What It's Like to Live Inside My Brain with MS and ADHD

What if the hardest part of living with a neurological condition is the part no one can see?

People can see a cane.

They may notice someone walking more slowly or needing to rest.

But they can't see brain fog.

They can't see the mental exhaustion that comes from trying to remember words, stay organized, or keep track of conversations.

And they can't see the invisible cognitive changes that affect millions of people living with neurological conditions.

In this deeply personal episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, Michele Weston opens a window into what it's really like to live with both multiple sclerosis (MS) and adult ADHD. She shares her own experiences with brain fog, executive functioning challenges, memory lapses, and cognitive fatigue, helping listeners better understand what life feels like from the inside.

More importantly, Michele offers hope. She shares the practical tools, routines, and mindset shifts that have helped her stop fighting her brain and start working with it.

Because while you may not be able to control every symptom, you can learn to adapt—and continue living beyond your diagnosis.

 In This Episode You'll Learn

• What cognitive dysfunction really feels like
• How MS and ADHD can affect memory, focus, and executive functioning
• The difference between brain fog and everyday forgetfulness
• Why cognitive symptoms are often invisible to others
• How fatigue and heat can worsen cognitive function
• Practical strategies for organization and memory
• Why adapting is more effective than "trying harder"
• How caregivers can better understand invisible neurological symptoms
• Why asking for help is a sign of strength—not weakness
• How self-compassion plays a critical role in living well with chronic illness

 What Does "The Brain You Can't See" Mean?

Michele explains that one of the greatest challenges of living with a neurological condition is that cognitive symptoms are often invisible.

She shares examples many listeners will immediately recognize:

• Walking into a room and forgetting why
• Losing your train of thought mid-sentence
• Forgetting names or familiar words
• Mixing up dates and appointments
• Underestimating how long tasks will take
• Feeling mentally exhausted after simple decisions
• Struggling to organize thoughts or complete multi-step tasks

These aren't character flaws.

They're neurological symptoms.

And understanding them can help reduce shame while increasing self-awareness and self-advocacy.

 Michele's Biggest Message

One of the most powerful moments in this episode comes when Michele shares that everything changed when she stopped expecting her brain to work the way it used to.

Instead of constantly criticizing herself, she learned to build systems that support the brain she has today.

That shift allowed her to move from frustration to freedom.

Her message is simple:

Work with your brain—not against it.

 Practical Strategies Michele Uses Every Day

This episode is filled with practical, evidence-informed strategies listeners can begin using immediately.

Michele shares how she supports her brain by:

• Using Google Calendar with color-coded events
• Setting multiple reminders and alarms
• Keeping written checklists
• Breaking projects into smaller, manageable steps
• Using sticky notes and visual reminders
• Creating consistent daily routines
• Working with occupational therapists when needed
• Simplifying her environment to reduce cognitive overload
• Protecting her energy throughout the day
• Giving herself permission to ask for help

These aren't shortcuts.

They're tools that make everyday life more manageable.

 A Message for Caregivers and Loved Ones

Michele also speaks directly to family members, friends, and caregivers.

Invisible symptoms can be difficult to understand because they aren't obvious from the outside.

Patience.

Communication.

Grace.

And a willingness to listen can make an enormous difference for someone navigating cognitive changes.

Living with chronic illness isn't just an individual journey—it affects the people who love us, too.

 Michele's Closing Thought

One of Michele's greatest hopes is that this episode helps listeners feel seen.

Whether you're living with MS, ADHD, another neurological condition, or caring for someone who is, you are not alone.

Your brain may work differently.

That doesn't make it broken.

It simply means you may need different tools, different strategies, and a little more compassion—for yourself and from others.

Because living beyond your diagnosis isn't about being perfect.

It's about learning, adapting, and continuing to move forward.

 Resources Mentioned in This Episode

CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)

https://chadd.org/

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/

Mayo Clinic – Cognitive Impairment

https://www.mayoclinic.org/

Cleveland Clinic – Brain Fog

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/

NYU Langone Health – Rusk Rehabilitation

https://nyulangone.org/locations/rusk-rehabilitation

International Multiple Sclerosis Management Practice (IMSMP)

https://imsmp.org/

Transcript

Speaker: 0:01

(Music) Hello, this is Michele Weston with Beyond My Diagnosis. Thanks for joining me. I wanted to talk about cognition. Cognitive changes in lots of neurological conditions. So some of you may know them, some of you may have them, some of you may be caregivers. And I hope that I can shed some light on this with this solo episode during the summer. (Music) Did you know that people who become patients with chronic illness often experience these diagnostic delays? It's symptoms that can contribute to significantly experiencing psychological distress. That's very, very dense jargon. But for me, one of the things I chose not to talk about enough with those people close to me is my cognition, my cognitive changes that are happening. Now, I've lived with ADHD as a grade school kid. And after high school, in my undergrad college years, I didn't need any. They were all a ritalin. And I didn't use them during my careers in fashion design, houses and magazines as an editor and director. But with my adult ADHD creeping back into my life, about probably a decade and a half ago, and then 25 years of living with multiple sclerosis, I've also experienced the cognitive impairment changes that can come with MS. Now, these two conditions can overlap in ways that are hard to explain unless you've lived them. Sometimes, let me give you an example. I mix up numbers. And sometimes I lose my train of thought in the middle of a sentence. And my response sometimes is, wait a second. I am searching for the word. I used to say, let me let the Rolodex turn. Now, many of you who are younger than me will go, what's a Rolodex? Well, you have all your information and you're working as an editor in a magazine. You have many Rolodexes in the 80s and 90s. And I definitely have those to know where all of everything is. But time for me can seem invisible. And I definitely can underestimate how long something will take to get to, or I suddenly realize that I've spent money very impulsively, or let's use a current event. So July 4th, the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. And my husband said, oh, we should do something special for July 4th. I said, yeah, that sounds great. Let's do something for June 4th. Did you hear what I just said? June 4th instead of July. Now imagine being married to me, dating me. I mean, I've been with my husband dating as my husband for eight years now. And I don't know if I always did that, but I think it's more interesting now. So he pointed that out to me the other day and I was like, oh, yeah, I do do that. Not on purpose. So sometimes I realize in regards to impulsiveness or executive functioning personally, that I want something I want to do an exciting opportunity, go to Broadway, go see something, go have an experience. I want to travel with so and so. It's something that I wanted to try even before I've had enough time to truly think, can you afford this? Instead of taking a pause, I normally jump right in. And that's years of ADHD that now are in adulthood, but also MS just crashes in. Now, some people, someone on the outside, these moments might look like carelessness or laziness or that I'm simply not paying attention. And some people have said to me, I'm not acting like an adult. Well, guess what? I have always tried acting like an adult and I pay close attention to things that people say to me. I'm a 50 something and I know I'm not alone in being told this as well. So if you're someone living with ADHD or MS, could be epilepsy or any other neurological condition that affects one's cognition, especially in the beginning for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, you may recognize some of these experiences. So if you're a spouse or a family member or friend or caregiver, I hope that this podcast episode helps explain what life can feel like from the inside. I also want to be very clear about something. I am not saying these challenges we face are set in stone or that I mean we can't ever learn or grow or develop strategies. It just makes taking longer for us than we ever thought it would. You feel like you're on a slow burn when I am normally six blocks ahead. And that's very different for many of us. In fact, most of us spend a tremendous amount of time doing exactly that, trying to figure out how to stay focused and on track. So we use calendars and reminders or sticky notes, loud alarms. Some of us use medication or talk therapy, searching for the best routines, whatever helps us function a little bit better each day. And I'm constantly learning new tools and strategies myself. I love working with the director of social work, Yedira, over at the IMSMP. The International MS program that's over here in New York on the west side. So I'm constantly learning, but I have to remember, along with many of us with neurological conditions that affect our cognition, growth doesn't happen overnight. And there are still days when my brain simply doesn't cooperate despite my best efforts. And on those days, what helps me most isn't criticism, it's patience, it's understanding and a lot of grace. I'm a work in progress just like everyone else. So today I wanted to share some of the thoughts and information from articles and blogs and many things out there that the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, the NYU Langone Rust Trauma Institute has written about, and also adult ADHD. There's a lot going on about adult ADHD today. Some kids are going from childhood ADHD to adult. Some of us aren't, some develop it later. So there's a lot of cognitive changes that happen within diagnoses and with MS, there's a ton of them. And these organizations that I've been reading about and collecting to share with you guys explain very well the science behind what many of us experience every day. And I hope hearing both medical explanations from the medical side, the healthcare teams and the patient's perspective helps bring these invisible symptoms into the light. And as I go through these descriptions, I hope and encourage you to think beyond that list of "symptoms." Because behind every bullet point is a person, they're trying their best to keep up with work, with family, with relationships, and everyday life, and while their brain processes the world a little differently. And if you've never lived with a chronic neurological fatigue, wow, it's kind of hard to explain. It's not being tired after a long busy day or a long trip. And even if you think you understand, sometimes you feel like, "I'll have enough bandwidth to help myself." But what if you had to help your kids with their math homework or read their papers that are due tomorrow? It's also like looking at a sink full of dishes and having to decide whether doing them means you won't have enough energy to make dinner for your spouse or your family later that night. It is constantly budgeting your energy. And for me and others diagnosed with MS, many of us feel like our brains are "cooking." You see, sometimes the effects of higher temperatures, especially during summer months here in New York, or if you're living in a hot, humid climate, they take a real toll up for some of us. And you may find that you're flipping things in your calendar, or now you need to keep stopping into stores so you can cool down, or you call a friend and ask them to meet you someplace at a coffee shop or grab lunch, instead of just whipping through all of your errands during the day. Now, that same thing goes for other patients when they're living or visiting places with much colder temperatures. Some patients may say that they feel like they have long legs, heavy, heavy legs. They don't feel like they're yours. And your limbs may feel stiffer, stiffer than normal, heavier than normal when you're walking around. So I found that my cognition with adult ADHD and my cognitive dysfunction symptoms with MS have persisted and expanded after 25 years since I was diagnosed with relapsing, remitting MS. That's the first stage of MS. And I hope to just stay there forever. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that all of you who were diagnosed after 1995 and are on DMTs, which means disease modifying therapies, are okay, are doing well, and that you're able to live your best life. So when we talk about caring for someone living with a chronic illness or a neurodegenerative illness, there's three questions that often tell us more than almost anything else when a person's told about their chronic illness. And hopefully you've got a great medical team headed by a brilliant neurologist who is an amazing diagnostician, one who specializes in your particular illness. I think it's really important to look for a noted hospital that's doing research that's on the cutting edge or a medical practice that does a good deal of looking forward what is the cause and the cure. We don't know for MS. We're still looking, but I know I'm with a team that is closer than farther because you want to be able to ask questions. And sometimes a family member can be your advocate, but you, as the person living with a chronic condition, want to do your own research. I beg you to do that. I implore you, and you're not sure about a doctor. If you're not comfortable with them or the direction of your treatment that they're suggesting or that you're trying, you can always get a second opinion. Don't hesitate. You won't offend the doctor. It's okay because this is about your journey, not theirs. They're to help you, and they've chosen their careers, and we hope that we're in the best hands. But remember that healthcare team drives the medical care for you, but you're the person experiencing the illness, and you need to be driving your own health and well-being in regards to how you'll manage your nutrition or how you'll find ways to de-stress yourself or consider mindfulness. And for most of us, even my husband says, "What?" Physical activities, because they can help you, can help you de-stress, can help you with inflammation, they can make your life more enjoyable. I never thought about that when I was in college. I hated the gym. But if you're mindful of your own needs, that gives you the power to help yourself so that those around you can support your needs, and you want to create the best quality of life you can have. Making lifestyle changes, learning tools and strategies for cognitive challenges is what has helped me to understand that we can really do this together. We can live our lives, but there's always the need for adjustments, and you will find ways to improve your own health and wellness. Everyone looks at the fork in the road and takes a different path. Whatever that path is for you, know it takes a village. Let people suggest things. Some may just fall dead to your ears, and some things may be more enlightening. So one of the first questions I'd ask if this is new to you is, "What's the primary chronic diagnosis with this?" So the needs of someone living with Alzheimer's disease can look very different from someone who's managing Parkinson's or epilepsy, MS, diabetes, heart failure, or another chronic condition. Those are the needs that they have to manage their illness. But when we're talking about chronic neurological conditions, for example, Alzheimer's disease often affects memory. It affects judgment, communication, and eventually independence with daily activities. Parkinson's has a lot of great, great research going on, new drugs, but it may initially affect your movement. It may affect your balance, your speech. And medication timing, long before memory, becomes a concern. So timing medications with some diagnosis is very, very important. With MS, our symptoms vary. Honestly, you can speak to somebody else who may have MS shorter or longer than me, and we may have entirely different symptoms. Some are fatigue, neurofatigue. Normally, you hear about mobility issues to cognitive changes. Cognitive changes are always the last to discuss. And conditions such as diabetes or heart disease, they require extensive medication management and lifestyle monitoring. My brother and sister deal with diabetes two and diabetes one. Thank God they're as focused and my brother is as linear and as on track as he is because he's doing well handling his illness. But understanding the diagnosis helps families. It helps caregivers and healthcare teams. Then they can anticipate what support you may look into exploring next. Okay, second question. Is there an age when people are diagnosed? How old is the patient? Now, age matters, not because diagnoses change, but because the experience of living with it often does. Let's say you're 27, you just got married two years ago. You're a marketing executive, you're flying in your career, you're making strides, and then you don't feel well. You have Bell's palsy. What the heck is that on your face and why does it look paralyzed? You find out with your husband when you go to the doctor, you have MS. Well, you were planning on having children. And then there's all of the nonsense of some doctor saying, "You shouldn't have children with MS. It will tire you. You won't be okay because MS goes into remission when you are pregnant." And then, of course, after those 10 months, it pops back and now you have a kid to take care of, and that's a lot of hours and a lot of energy. But I know someone who I went to do my master's program with, and she said to me, "I was told by my doctor, I shouldn't have kids, and you could just see it in her face." She was just heartbroken. I said, "You know what? You need a second opinion and maybe a third." So we talked about doctors in New York because that's where we live, and I gave her some that I thought she may want to talk to, and she ended up with a great one, and she now has two little girls, and that makes me hurtful. So don't always believe what you hear. Ask questions. What if you met somebody who was 45 years old with Parkinson's, just diagnosed 45, that sounds so young. They may still be working. They may be raising their kids. They may be managing a mortgage, traveling a lot for their work. Or what if you're an 82-year-old person living with the same condition, like Parkinson's, and then you face entirely different challenges because now you're involving mobility, fall risk. Now you need more caregiving support, and how do you maintain your independence? Definitely more with your older, but even when you're younger, you get scared. What if I need a walker, a wheelchair, a cane? What if I'm bedridden? Those are the things that fly through people's minds when they're given diagnosis. I don't say this to scare you. Any of you out there with a diagnosis knows what we hear, but that's why you have to do some research of your own. Today, many Americans are living longer with chronic illnesses than ever before. In fact, most people have two. That means healthcare is increasingly focused not simply on lifespan, but on health span. That means the ability to maintain your quality of life, your independence, and meaningful daily activities as we age. Lastly, ask this question. What would be the hardest challenge right now? Now, families often assume the diagnosis itself is the biggest issue, but that isn't always true. Sometimes the greatest struggle is letting others help you. I know. They can help you with keeping track of medications and your appointments. They can help you with managing behavioral or mood changes. They can tell you, "Is your day off? How do you feel? You're awfully short with me today." Let caregivers, let people help you. Let them see what's going on. They can help you with organizing daily routines and schedules. "I'll do this, and then you do that. I'll fill up your gas tank, and then you can go to the grocery store." It's little things, but it helps to have somebody helping you. They may need to help you prevent falls or maintain mobility. You may have to put ramps places. You may have to put a rod in the shower, so you need a grab bar. Put a damn grab bar in there, and I don't care if you're 27 or 38 or 75. If you need the grab bar, don't stand on, "I don't need it. Do it anyway." There's also something that you need to think about, and that's caregiver exhaustion and burnout. Those people helping us, we have to think about them too. You don't have to do it. They have to be aware that they're going through a process as well. The last thing is that you're navigating the healthcare system. As far as I know, in this United States of America, with this administration right now, healthcare is really weird. We're still trying to figure out how and why our premiums are so high. Why health insurance companies say no when you need something to live? Why they think that kidney disease is not end stage? Why you wouldn't still need care? Things are turned upside down, but it's been like that for a couple of decades. The answer to these questions that I listed, those three, they'll tell us where support is needed most urgently, now, not later. Because ultimately, good care isn't just about treating a disease. It is about understanding the person living with it, the stage of life they're in, and the challenge that is standing in front of them today. One thing that I've learned over the past years is that living with both adult ADHD and relapsing and admitting MS means I can't just quote "try harder." I need sometimes to run things by my husband to make sure he puts the time that we need to be someplace in his calendar as well as me having it in mine. Because I may flip some numbers. He probably won't. He's kind of a math guy. Or a relative. Or perhaps you could meet up with a close friend. But ask for help. Let people support you. I'm very lucky. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by others who are looking out for me as I get older. And I'm not always able to hear them or understand their message. Like, why should I slow down? And I should think before I do something. I used to think that if I were more disciplined and more organized, or if I just pushed myself a little more, I'd eventually figure it out. But the truth is, when you have more than one neurological condition affecting how your brain works, it's not about effort. It's really about adapting. I had to stop fighting my brain. And I've had to start working with it. And I'm definitely not signed off there. But I hope I'm still able to persevere. I'm lucky that I had parents who cared enough to make sure that I felt powerful, strong, confident, that I could do whatever I set my mind to. And I thank God that I learned about developing tenacity. Hope. And I'm glad I'm a girl who's more than about a glass half full than looking at the world with a catastrophic view of the universe. I got a husband like this. So I'm glad I'm the opposite of him. Maybe opposites do attract. One of the biggest lessons that I've learned is to get things out of my head and into my environment. What does that mean? So if I tell myself, "Oh, I'll remember that later." There's probably a good chance I won't. So if my iPhone has become one of my best tools, I use it. I use Reminders. And I make sure it's in my Google Calendar. I have a LART alert set up daily. So I'm running better on time management. And I use color backgrounds for various tasks as well in my Google Calendar. Green is for medical stuff. And then events are red or cool activities can be orange. And I make sure that these are duplicated on both my personal email and business email calendars in Google. You may use another calendar. I just like that one and that's what I use. So I also use Kalenleaf for scheduling patient clients that you can make an appointment with me. And I have Zoom workshop set up and WebEx for my work sessions with client patients. Because I want to make sure I don't overbook myself and that everything I'm discussing with my clients is HIPAA compliant for people's privacy rights. It's important to honor that. It's important to play by the rules in healthcare. We don't want to share things that shouldn't be shared. And this is interesting. There's a skill that I actually ironically reinstated. I post sticky notes on my front door, the inside of my front door, or sometimes in my journal to remind me of something. So I don't forget. I don't forget a letter I need to bring or a legal form that I need to have somebody notarize or any paperwork for a client's medical appointment or even my own grocery list. And I've been exploring using whiteboards. Even my husband and I talked about this is working on screenwriting and writing for TV. And I like lists. So I can cross things off when completed. And that definitely feels great when you can cross things off. And social media, for me, still challenging. I don't know. Maybe I'm not a 20 something, but I have to learn how to get myself out there to post. So when I do my podcast, I try and make sure that I get the podcast for the week. With at least a sentence, a quote, an idea on Facebook, on Instagram, on threads, on the darned X, then I'm still going to always call Twitter. And for my sub-stack articles, that's under beyond my diagnosis. I want to reach more people like you who have a chronic condition, but they're seeking ways like me to improve our lives, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and whatever that means in whatever way possible for us to live our best life. And I do laugh at myself because I'd rather laugh than cry. I still like using paper for longer notes. And I like putting things on a to-do list in my iPhone notes section. Again, I like to cross things off and know that it's done. But here's a trick that saves me the hassle of missing an appointment, meeting or date. I set up multiple alarms for the day in my iPhone, not just in the calendar. So it goes off, but I make sure that it's set up 10 minutes, 45 minutes, if I have to take the bus or subway and I have a longer distance. Because I know the first one that I hear my interrupt me and what I'm doing. I may go, "Oh, you have to do that." But I know the second one may actually be the one that grabs my attention. I mean, years ago, I would have been embarrassed to admit that. But something works for you. I say, "Do it." I fought working with an occupational therapist for several years. I'd say the first 10 years, honestly. But when I went back to Rusk and I started working with an occupational therapist, because I was getting my master's degree and it had been forever since I'd been in school, all those OT experts with their ideas really taught me great skills. Such as, I use a color ruler to help me not lose my place when I'm reading a book or a journal with empirical evidence and data that I need to get into my brain for a test or for me to know what the newest steps are. And now I see it differently. Now I see those aren't crutches. They're tools. And people wear glasses because they need glasses simply for seeing, short or long distances. And I use reminders because sometimes my brain needs some extra help. I've also learned that clutter isn't just messy. It can actually be mentally exhausting. My favorite books and working papers need to be put back on the shelves after I'd painted them, which took much too long, so I can find them more easily. They need to put down the new carpets. But I also need to clean the wood floor. That's a lot of energy. Or sometimes I just mark my own journals with dates and to make sure I know when I had that conversation or when I thought that idea up. And I always choose different colors for folders when I do my monthly budget resolutions. Budgets, I always sucked at budgets. I'll tell you the truth. In undergrad, I used to do a lot of work and I used to call my brother for $75 to pay my con-ed bill because I had spent it on what? Going out or a new dress or something silly. And then my father would check with him at the end of the semester to see what my father owed him of what I borrowed from him. Definitely ADHD. I would learn to simplify things whenever and wherever I can. And that doesn't mean my house always looks perfect. Believe me, it doesn't. But I've realized that creating more organized, efficient spaces also creates a common mind. I don't try and dust everything every week. I put things on rotation and I keep my mind calm. And I always make sure that the bathroom and the kitchen are clean and spotless. And another strategy that has made a huge difference is breaking things into much smaller steps. Now sometimes our brains look at a project and see one giant mountain. Instead of saying I'm going to clean the kitchen, I might tell myself I'm just going to load the dishwasher. And then maybe I'll wipe the kitchen counter later. Or maybe I'll clean the delicate wine glasses that are sitting on the counter from our card game last night. The night before. You see, it's one step at a time. I also had to give myself permission to celebrate those small victories instead of criticizing myself for not finishing everything. Medication, that's another conversation that's incredibly important. And everyone has their take on whether some medications may help some to test it. But that's a conversation that you need to sit down with your doctor and your neurological medical team and or your medical health professionals. If you have more than one neurological condition, it's rarely as simple as treating one diagnosis without thinking about the others. Ask my neurologist who's my psychiatrist neurologist. He just deals with the anxiety and sometimes the depression that happens with MS. That's why working closely with your neurologist and your healthcare teams is so important. Everyone's situation is different and finding the right balance can take time. So give yourself some ease and patience here. And remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. And finally, something I wish I'd understood years ago is that protecting my brain also means protecting my energy. Because stress is not something that we need with these types of neurological diagnosis. What have I been surprised to learn? I think my husband laughs every time I say this. Exercise, physical activity. I enjoy going to Pilates. I love building core strength so it's easier to get off of a chair that's low or a sofa that's deep. My friend found that she loves swimming. I have another friend who was shocked how biking outdoors on a bike team, as opposed to when he went to the gym, was much more his speed. And even looking into gentle movements like yoga or Tai Chi, Qi Gong, walking or listening to music outdoors, reading a book on the beach or at the lake, sitting on a boat, listening to water. And when it's too hot or too cold, my sister will tell you, go to the mall. Because you can really help to decompress yourself by taking a walk around there. No, you don't have to go into the stores. You can just walk with your friend. You can put on your earphones and listen to a podcast or a book. And another thing, getting enough sleep. If you can develop better sleep hygiene, that's because our brains need the rest for at least seven to eight hours, preferably eight to nine for me. And for some of us, taking a quick nap to reboot does the trick. For me, 20 minutes can make a big difference after a long day. So I'll say to you, giving myself permission to rest is important before I'm completely exhausted. And I've also found that hobbies I enjoy reading, need a point, listen to music, sitting and watching TV with my husband on Apple or whatever helps my brain recharge in ways I never expected. Now, remember, these things don't cure ADHD and they don't cure MS, but together they help me live a better life. With both conditions. And I think that's the goal. We're not looking for perfection. We're looking for progress. 25 years ago, I saw those little memory slips for just stress. When I was first diagnosed, nobody really talked about developing cognitive symptoms. I just come off a 10 city tour with a book on living in your body with better self-esteem and developing your own sense of style. I was sure it was stress. But my first neurologist talked about physical symptoms that are more quantifiable. Symptoms that are physical can be quantifiable. You can look it up. It's there. It's been proven. And doctors talk about mobility. They talk about vision, fatigue, even symptoms that were the most embarrassing for many. The worst things like bowel or bladder incontinence. Sometimes they talk about spasms and pain in your legs. I have a drop foot in one ankle. So sometimes it happens at night. But guess what? If I take enough magnesium and I drink enough water, it's much better. But no one prepared me for walking into a room and forgetting why I was there. For getting a word I've used my whole life or wondering where I put the glass. That I was drinking in my apartment. Sometimes people apologize to me for reminding me about something they think I've forgotten. Actually, thanks. Welcome to our lives. We need to talk about this more with other people in our lives because they can help us on this journey. And we can do it together. Not just alone. I want to thank you for listening. I want to encourage you to have a great day and always live beyond your diagnosis. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Beyond the Diagnosis. If something we talked about today resonated with you, if you're craving deeper understanding, better support, we just want to know you're not alone on this journey. Make sure to subscribe to my free substack at michelleweston.substack.com. That's where I share personal insights, expert takeaways, and extra resources to help you stay informed, empowered, and one step closer to the clarity you deserve. And if you found this episode helpful, leave a review or share it with someone who needs to hear it. Your voice helps this message go further. Until next time, keep asking questions, keep trusting yourself, and keep going beyond the diagnosis.